So I am doing a brake change I did the front ones successfully and now I am on the rear ones. I git everything out and installed the new rotor and brake pads now I am stuck with the caliper piston. I pressed the brakes and forgot that I hadn't had the calipers hooked up so now yhe piston is all the way out ( not out of the caliper just out as if it was pressing the pads to stop the car) now I know that you need to turn it clockwise and push it to compress it but it won't work I am using pillers no special tools I got it down a little but but it's not going down anymore also the rubber boot kept getting tangled when I turned it not sure if that should happen, the boot slipped of the piston while spinning it I put it back on it and now it does not tangle up and neither does it compress. I found out that I can use a nut and a drill for the hole in the middle which I tried and also no luck. Here are vids that might help to understand it abit more

first vid is with the pillers seocnd is with drill
https://youtube.com/shorts/0DUUumX7wmQ?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/0DUUumX7wmQ?feature=share


@Thermo would you have any ideas?

 

I did the brakes of my 2.5L X-Type 2004 not too long ago - I did a "Full Monty". i.e. I replaced the whole kit - meaning I replaced all the rubber seals.
Normally I would have posted already a DIY thread about it, but I just can't find the time.

You wrote:
> now I know that you need to turn it clockwise and push it to compress it but it won't work

But you are only partly correct there:
There are left rear and a right rear calipers - one of them turns in clockwise - the other one turns in ANTI-clockwise:
I think the one on the right side turns in clockwise and the one on the left turns in anti-clockwise.

I think this was the caliper piston on the left.


...thus this would be the one one the right.


And right again.

You can see, I also made my utterly rotten caliper "shiny" as well, while I was on it.

Please tell me if I was right about the RHS piston turning inwards clockwise...

 

HELP, first things first. TRUST ME, do not cheap out on this. Go to your local auto parts store and either buy a little $15 block that has nubs on it specifically pushing in a brake caliper or give them a credit card and get their loaner brake caliper tool (they will initially charge you for the kit, but when you return it, you get all the money back). Now that you have one of the tools that I told you about, put it on the caliper to make sure you have the correct pieces together as there are many styles out there and you have access to most of them.

Now, with all the tools ready to go, crack open the bleeder valve on the caliper. put a rag over it and then using the tool, push down on the piston as you also twist it (do not recall if it is clockwise or counterclockwise for your caliper, but it will be obvious which way you need to go). This will allow the piston to retract back into the caliper with very little effort. Yes, you are going to lose a little bit of brake fluid. Once you have the piston all the way down, tighten the bleeder valve closed. Install the caliper and then with an extra pint or quart of fluid, bleed the caliper to get out any potential air that you could have gotten in there.. Just make sure to keep your brake reservoir filled. Hate to see you introduce air to other parts of the system. If the fluid coming out is a dark green, time to bleed the brakes and flush out all the old brake fluid and get it flowing essentially clear. You can leave the old fluid in there, but now you are destroying your brake lines from the inside out and potentially causing sticking calipers. Brake fluid is cheap. Should be done every 3 years or so.

If you are by yourself, do not worry. Get yourself some clear tygon tubing that just fits over the bleeder valve (5/16" ID tygon as I recall, might be one size smaller, worst case, pull your bleeder valve and take it with you). You then can cut a 5 foot piece of the tubing. You then install one end to your bleeder valve, masking tape the tygon to the top of the wheel well (2 pieces of tape to either side of the highest point) and then let the tube hang down and put the open end in a glass container. You can then open the bleeder valve, pump the brakes a few times, refill the reservoir, pump the brakes a bit more and you can see the fluid change colors and this will create a column of fluid to prevent air from being reintroduced to the caliper. You can then close the bleeder valve. From there, you pop the tube off the bleeder valve and put the free end in the jar. 2 things you have to worry about doing things this way: 1) keeping the brake reservoir full of fluid (you will learn how many times you can pump the brakes and not drain the tank), and 2), keeping your hands clean so you can remove the masking tape and not get brake fluid on your paint.

Once you are done doing all 4 calipers, toss out the old fluid and make sure your brake reservoir is full. You can then return the rental tool if you went that route.

 

I ****ed up i was taking a look at the piston and boot and the piston came out the boot still insode the caliper. There was alot of brake fuild that came out when the piston came out. I undid the bleeder also. Now I have no clue what to do. There is a cut on the boot too. Get a new one or just fix this up by changing the boot and seals. Here are some pics to help see what hapoend



@Peter_of_Australia

 

My mail above was only a quick one (it was late at night for me here) to let you know that there are different turn-direction on the left and right caliper.
I could have otherwise written the long story, which Thermo added. All he wrote is right. I was just stumbling over one detail: That "tape on the wheel well" - I can only assume that the idea is to let the old brake fluid go uphill first to avoid getting air back into the caliper-bleeder and hence the long tube. I do that differently: No detour to the wheel-well, but a tube from the bleeder to a bottle on the ground (or positioned elevated on some bricks on the ground - makes for a shorter requirement of tube again). The tube needs to go to the bottom of that bottle or jar. The jar needs to be filled already with a bit of old brake fluid, the end of the tube need to sit below fluid level. And as it is pretty likely that you require a brake fluid change anyway: That old brake fluid in the jar is the fluid that you removed with a syringe from the brake fluid reservoir before putting new fluid in and before pumping (with the brake pedal).

Now for your other issue - the torn rubber - as I wrote above: I'd wish I had written my DIY guide about that already:
Rubber gets old over time, hence it is a good idea to swap those seals/rubber bits anyway. No need to buy new calipers.
It just would have been better, if you had ordered those seal first before doing the calipers. Now it takes time to get the rubber parts.


Thus spoiler alert: This is what the kit for the rear calipers looks like (I will write a DIY guide about it).

I bought 2 kits for the front and two for the back, as I have two 2.5L X-Type. This saved on postage. I should have ordered the kits for my 2.1L X-Type as well: Note: those would have been different - they use different brake-calipers. Different brake calipers = different seals.
I bought my kits on ebay - the listings are below. Scroll down in those listings - they list, where the kit fits. For the rear kit they have also this tiny - but important - note:
"Models with rounded end brake pads & calipers with 145mm gap between bold holes". If you have those, that kit is for you - my 2.1L has different brake pads and a different gap.

These are the kits I bought - REAR - P/N BRK203847:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/284800963698

Front - P/N BRK205729K:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313988828935

 

Help, you are not as F'ed as you think you are. First things first. Go to your local auto parts store and get a new seal kit. Here in the US, you will probably end up getting the Centrix kit. Specifically for you, you are going to want the rubber boot for the outside and the o-ring that goes on the piston. I would honestly say to put the o-ring on the piston, get it screwed in most of the way, then put on the boot. The boot can be put on about any time as I recall. With no fluid in the caliper, things should get much easier. Should be able to pretty much screw in the piston by hand now. But, this also means all the more reason why you are going to want to bleed the brakes and for this wheel, especially well.

If you look up my name and caliper rebuild in the search area, you will see where I broke down a caliper all the way and built it all the way back up. Granted, thinking about it, you may need to get one more special tool. It is called a pentasocket. As you may have guessed, it is a 5 sided socket. There is a bolt that is supposed to hold the piston in place to prevent you from pulling it out too far. In your case, you will need to get a 14mm pentasocket. I think it can be obtained through Amazon (I got mine through E-bay). read what I posted many years ago. I step you through a complete rebuild (like what Peter just recently did).

 

@Thermo @Peter_of_Australia Thanks for the help, but sadly where I am there are no parts store near me that carry the seals or the rebuild kit. I manged to get the piston back inside the boot I coudl not remove I had to take out the cailper and stretched the boot then my brother slide in the piston I got it all hooked up but forgot to bleed the brakes so ig there is air trapped inside cause now the break pedal is very loose like i doesnt stop the car until the pedal is being pressed to the floor... would that be the reason? also I am now doing the passenger rear side and I all ready came into a issue I cant get the lug nut out, I dont have impact driver so I used the thing that comes with spare tire and sadly it round off the lug nut cover case thing. I manngged to get that out too though to find that the bolt has been rounded off too here are some pictures any help on these situations would be appreciated. here are some pictues of the lug nut

 

Help, what exactly are you doing? You did not buy a new rubber seal (to replace the torn one), yet, you put everything back together???
That's a no go (needless to say).
I think you mentioned that you tried to get the piston out, but you could not?
If I remember correctly, it was child's play after I totally removed the caliper and I build some kind of temp. seal adapter for my air-compressor-gun to shoot pressurised air into the caliper from the back and the piston came shooting out on the other side - obviously you want to make sure that the piston will land in a very soft and padded place - you don't want to have that one damages.

It is no news that the "thing, which comes with the spare tyre is more or less just decoration. Definitely not to be used, then a wheel-nut is stubborn. The way to go would have been first penetration spray and then a proper (I think 19mm) socket on a big lever wrench, potentially with wrench extension (1 or 2m long).

I do not recognize/understand the tool (if it is one) that you hold in your hand.
But I can see that you definitely buggered up your rims.
Plus, I do not understand/recognize the 2 different kinds of things, you have stuck in the rim, where normally wheel-nuts would be.
So again" Penetration spray and a perfect-fit socket on a long lever would be used.

 

I had all ready sparyed it with wd40 couple hours before I tried to take the lug nut off and also some before I tried. the tool I am holding in my hand is bolt extractor simmialr to this:
the extractor also did not work maybe I need a drill to do it but I dont want to damage it more then it all ready is you know....

For the piston I need it to go inside not out, and for the rubber boot I am in vancouver,CA and no auto store near me sells them so I just put it back to gather but forgot to bleed the brakes ig there is air trapped in the caliper which is why the brake pedal needs to be pushed down to thge floor to stop?

 

There is of course a proper procedure to get the air out of the system, to flush the old brake out replacing them with new, etc.
But all of that is irrelevant at the moment, as I do not think you should drive with a torn seal. After you brought new seals (I wrote above, where I found mine online),
you need to pop the piston OUT, replace all the seals, push the piston back in with no hydraulic brake line attached (i.e. before you re-install the caliper in the car).

OK, so that is an extractor - I have never seen one before.
Why does the wheel nut in the centre picture look like a wheel nut, while the ones to the left and right look odd (a thread inside)?
I read your text above again... - is that what even the nut in the centre picture would look like after you "disassemble" it?
What is that? Lock nuts? It the tread inside a "normal" thread, or is it by any chance a left hand thread - i.e. to screw a bolt in there, would you turn the bolt anti-clockwise by any chance?

 

Help, you are compounding your problems. First things first. Before you even think about doing the passenger side, lets get the driver's side taken care of. Follow my instructions on how to bleed the brakes. I know it is not the answer you want to hear, but this is for your safety. This is a DO NOT DRIVE UNTIL COMPLETED!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for needing to replace the rubber boot. It is not a "Oh my god, do not drive the car until" situation as I see it because I have driven a car with a torn boot for months. The issue is, that boot is there to keep grime and whatnot from messing up the piston and causing it to stick. So, the longer you drive the car with that ripped boot, the more likely you are to need to replace the entire caliper the next time (a new caliper runs about $100). The kit you need can be obtained from here (Rear Disc Brake Caliper Rebuild Repair Kit for Jaguar X-Type 2002-2005 | eBay). It will get delivered to your house in a matter of days. if that is too long, then you can go through amazon Prime (assuming you have it) and get it tomorrow ( ). Because of all the stuff you have done, I would "stress test" the caliper by bleeding the brakes and getting them to where they should be and then with the wheel off, press on the brake pedal as hard as you can. If you see any leakage out of that caliper, then yes, DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR!!!!!! But, in most cases, you should be fine to drive for a short while until you can get the caliper properly repaired.

Now, for your passenger side. I recognize that tool and that is what you are going to need along with new lugnuts once you are done. Look very closely at the ones around for 2 reasons. Jaguar (following the logic of Ford of this time) uses a very unique thread size. Most are 12x1.25MM as I recall, when, your car uses a 12x1.5mm lugnut. Yes, both are available and you may have to special order them most likely. I may have the sizes backwards, so, before ordering, check the sources to make sure it fits your car. The second thing is to try and find a 1 piece lugnut, not the 2 piece style that came with the car from factory. You found out why that 2 piece lugnut is detested by most people. That cap is a real pita. The only real solution I found to reduce the chances (does not eliminate) is to use an impact socket vice a standard socket. Impact sockets do not expand like a normal socket does, so, it will keep a better grip on the lugnut and not allow it to slip as easily. Did I say that it will not cause slippage. NOPE!!!!!!! But, reduces your chances.

Now for getting the passenger wheel off, break out your muscles. It is only going to come 1 of 2 ways. You are either going to get the lugnut to slip on the threads like it should and come off or you are going to need to apply enough force to sheer the lugnut (which you will then need to replace). so, spray with a quality penetrating fluid (most recommend PB Blaster), let it set for 20 minutes, spray again, repeat 3-4 times, use your nut removal tool to grip on to the lugnut and try to twist the lugnut off. You may need to beat the nut removal tool on to the lugnut a little initially to get it to bite into the lugnut. You are also going to want to keep the extension on your wrench to the minimum length possible to apply as much twisting force to rotating the nut, vice trying to twist the nut removal tool sideways (chewing up the metal surface of the lugnut). PUtting one hand down at the nut removal tool point of the wrench and using the other hand to turn the wrench is best so you keep the tool from moving around other than the twisting action to remove the lugnut. it is not going to be a fun job, but, this is the spot that you are at.

 

Yes, I intended - but forgot - to write that too: I also used only WD40 in the past, but I have now a proper penetration spray for when the going gets though. It really is better.
Also: Maybe you gat that little extra bit of "advantage" when applying proper penetration spray AND heating up the wheel-nut - which is to be removed - with a heat gun.

So what you are fighting with are the OE 2-part-wheel-nuts... I knew there was a reason as to why I replaced all those with proper wheel-nuts back then.
I heard back then that those wheel-nuts are yet another designed-in disaster...

I just had an idea: So is it correct that all your 5 stubborn wheel-nuts are 2-part nuts, where you can "remove" the outer part an then be left with the thread, which can be seen on your left and right picture? So the question again about that thread... Is it a normal thread when normal bolts fit? If so, I'd suggest you buy 5 bolts, which fit, screw them in, then weld those bolts to your wheel nut, then use a socket on a big lever-tool attached to the head of the new bolts to get the welded units out.

 

Help, when you go after the lugnuts, it may be you have too big of a nut extractor and you need to go down 1 size.

If that is not workable, you have Peters idea which is welding a bolt on to the end of the lugnut and then using a big wrench to break things free. You are either going to break the rust free or you are going to break the stud. So, that gives you an idea of the amount of force you are going to need.

A third option is to get yourself a set of impact sockets (yes, they are called this and are different from normal sockets) You are then going to take either a 15mm or 16mm socket and literally beat it on to the lug nut. Beat it on as far as you can make it go. You witll then want a large 1/2" breaker bar to twist that lug nut off. It is working on the same principle as the nut extractor that you show. But, this is a bit more old school. Again, keeping a hand at the socket to help hold it still is going to be helpful. Once you break it free, you will most likely have to put the socket into a vice and then use a punch to get it out unless you can get lucky by just hitting the lugnut nd having it fall out. Once you do the nut extractor, welding a bolt into place, or the impact socket trick, NEW LUGNUTS ARE MANDATORY!!!!!!!!!

I say this because you have done major structural deformation to the lugnuts and using them again is 1) putting the strength of the lugnut to test and failure is not good, and 2) putting back on something that was a beyotch to get off in the first place is just asking for insanity later. I know no one wants to hear "you gotta go and buy ........", but there are times when you have to bite the bullet and just pay the dollars to make sure the car is safe and driveable.

 

I would have thought that's a GIVEN that those sad have-beens of wheel nuts (you seem to call them lugnuts) are only good as decoration on the wall of a men's shed (man-cave) at the very most (once HELP removed them)... As I wrote before: I read long ago that those original 2-part wheel nuts are another faulty design - I think there was even a recall action about them. So regardless of their condition, they need to be replaced with solid proper wheel nuts. Hence, HELP would require 20 new wheel nuts - or 16 plus 4 locknuts, but as I do not think anyone would attempt to steal his rims, HELP should go for 20 wheel nuts.

I googled, I can't find a recall, but there are most certainly several recommendations to swap the OE nuts for solid nuts.

 

I did the brakes on my VW wagon a while ago and I had the same problem of not being able to get the pistons back in. Buggered around for hours trying to press it in before I finally googled it.. bought the right tool for $100 (aussie) and had the job done an hour later.

A brake failure is no joke and you've damaged some parts already, so unless you're confident you can do this maybe it's time to ask a mechanic for help.

 

@ Dangoesfast: Being from Australia, your handle should be Dingofast...

@ HELP: Indeed. Do not hammer something together, which kind of roughly looks like brake calipers - it needs to be flawless. Thermo is probably right that the rubber you damaged does "only" keep the dust off, however, we don't know, what else you slightly damaged. The outer diameter of the piston for example must not have any deep scratches. If everything else is OK, driving with that torn rubber is only a short term solution anyway, hence, I do not see the point in going thru the process of brake fluid change/air bleeding twice within a couple of days. Get your rubber seal kit online first (obviously by link was only to show that those parts exist - if you can get it online from the US, order there obviously), then replace the brake fluid and do the brake bleeding (there is an order which of the 4 calipers comes first and which last - from longest to closest distance from the brake booster).

 

@Thermo @Peter_of_Australia alright so I read what you guys said, and I did the steps I flushed the brake system and bled the brakes. I noticed that after doing the brake flush the dlpedal still kept go8ng all the way down to the ground to stop so I took another look I took off the calipers and found a issue the caliper with the boot ripped driver rear does not push out it stays in one place I am guessing that it's seized but not sure the brake pads are on properly the pins seem fine not stiff. So I don't know what can be the cause. Also for the passenger rear my friend got it out using the bolt extractor ig I didn't apply enough force to losses it. Here is a video of the caliper not coming out

 

Well, I am not sure as to why you are pulling (and pushing them back in) on those accordion style rubbers. Do you know that you only have to move the rubber lip at the end (the end with the tread) to be able to pull the bolt-like out? There are tiny details regarding grease in there and about the calipers in general and applying copper paste and not applying oil or grease on other spots and not damaging the piston surface (which might well be corroded severely and thus it does not move). All those details are something you need to be aware of before fiddling around on the safety item called "brakes". Maybe you did not tear that rubber - maybe that rubber was torn since years. Maybe that is why the surface of the piston is rough and corroded and does not move anymore. It is also possible to buy a kit with all the rubbers including the piston (or of cause the whole caliper). But whatever: The person working on the brakes needs to know, what he or she is doing. ON the other hand: That odd behaviour of your brake pedal...: Maybe there is a leak in the pipes to the caliper. Maybe your brake-lines need to be replaced. The are a lot of maybes and someone with brake-knowledge needs to have a look at that in person.

 

I am not taking it out and putting it back in... Initially, what was happening is I'm changing the brake pads and break rotors on all of the 4 wheels and on the driver side rear. The issue that happened with me is the piston inside. The caliper was not compressing because i was going clockwise but you guys told me it was the other way, I started doing it properly but it fell out, so I got it back in the caliper and then the rip that I was showing was from before. I did not make that happen or anything that was from before aging and stuff, the seals did look fine. There's no brake fuild leaking... for the pedal, there is no leakage or anything, there's nothing because before I was doing the change. The brake pedal was perfectly fine, so I'm not really sure what's happening. And why the brake pedal is like that.

Also I changed the passenger rear side rotor and brake pad with no issue expected for the lug nut 👍

 

Then this is a mystery to me as well.
I would however suspect that you ran your brake fluid reservoir empty at one stage. This is a bad thing.
Also also do not now exactly what is happening then, but something with air in the brake booster or a unit nearby. And this air is not easy to get rid of.
There is something called "bench bleeding" to solve this issue - I never had to do that before.
There my be another way, but i would hate, if you would do something wrong in the process and cause even more damage.
In short, what I once did: I took some old milk bottle lid, drilled a small hole thru there so that I can fit the end of an air-pressure-gun thru, then I pressed the lid over the brake fluid reservoir (with one of the bleeder nipples open with a tube over it). This would hopefully drive the air out.
And i regards of the stuck piston: I'd disconnect the caliper from the car, remove the piston, clean it and re-insert it.