Hello, anyone change their brake pads on their XJ? I saw the how to for the xf on this site. Is it basically the same procedure? Thanks, Ernest

 

The same as on XF

 

The moment my original warranty runs out, two days from now, I will seek to replace my OEM brake pads with aftermarket ceramic pads, and install aftermarket disc brake caliper covers. The current OEM set-up generates totally unacceptable amounts of brake dust on my XJL wheels and tires.

 

will be interested to hear your views after you replace these items.

 

Will do! I had ceramic brake pads and caliper covers installed on my my 2009 Corvette, and it made a huge difference; I would estimate an 85% reduction in brake dust build-up on the wheel/tire assemblies. I would be happy with a 50% reduction on my XJ.

 

Confirmed. Replaced the rear pads with ceramic on the XJ in June. Definitely less dust. The fronts never really got dusty, only the rear. Replacement is pretty straightforward if you've done brakes before. You do need the dohickey to retract the rear piston. Autozone has them to borrow.

 

Interesting. My front brakes generate more dust, as would be expected, since the front brakes normally do more work than the rear brakes. Anyhow, your comment is still encouraging.

 

I did a very detailed "How To" in both the XF and prior vintage XJ section. Those procedures would be virtually identical and also have pictures for illustration. I changed my XF SC pads at 11K miles and may do the same to my XJL because of the black brake dust.

 

Hey mate, I have never changed the brakes before, so any tips/advice to do it? I am assuming that I may be able to find some videos online on You Tube or something?


My dealership is saying that it will cost approx. $700-800 per axle for the brakes, which is ridiculous. Their prices for other maintenance items are otherwise very good and competitive, so not sure why the brake replacement would be so much. They indicated that besides the costs of the brakes themselves, the sensors would need to be changed/recalibrated etc. which all adds to the cost.


Thanks in advance for your help/advice/tips!

 

Thanks mate, I will certainly take a look at your post there! Cheers!

 

I believe Jag dialed in a bunch of anti-lift in the rear, along with quite a bit of rear brake bias. This keeps the back end down and the car level under braking, but works the rears hard under 'spirited driving'.

 

edobernig has you covered for instructions. Just remember never to let the caliper hang on the brake line. The rear brakes are a bit of a pain if the disc is worn, leaving a lip of unworn disc on the edge, because the pistons don't retract very far (due to the integral parking brake), and it's a bear to get them over the lip. Your local auto parts store should have a brake caliper tool for borrow/rent, and that's what you'll use to retract the piston once you get the caliper off. Be very careful jacking up the car, I'm not sure how strong the flanges are at the jacking point. I put jack stands where the rear trailing arm meets the subframe - there's a nice flat place there. Also, the bolts for the calipers are hex cap type, so you'll need the right tool there.

I always bed in new pads by Carroll Smith's method, but that from too many years of SCCA driving.

 

Thanks mate. What is this Carroll Smith method?

 

Basically, you find an open road where you can drive for ~20 minutes without having to ever stop and with no traffic. Start out going 50-60 and brake fairly hard to 20-30 (not so hard as to make the ABS kick in). Do this several times to get the brakes good and hot. Then drive for about 15 minutes without stopping or braking to allow the brakes to cool evenly. Obviously, be careful and aware of other traffic when doing this.

The idea is to cook off any remaining material left from the pad manufacturing process and relieve stress in the brake rotors. One of the main reasons is to prevent rotor vibration. For a technical discussion, see -Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths

Probably completely unnecessary for how most XJ's are driven, unless you drive mountain roads where the brakes get used hard.

 

I am doing this job right now... car is up on jack stands. If there's anything specific you need me to document, let me know! I wanted to paint the calipers on the front, and the brackets front and rear while doing this, so I've been taking my time. I also wanted to go with ceramic pads on both ends due to the horrible dust generation. I chose Akebono Euros in the rear and Centric's on the front (ceramics for the front are hard to find!). My rear needed new rotors (huge lip on it) so the project completion has been delayed by a week. It's been relatively painless... and I won't mention my LR piston breaking its seal during my retraction attempts.

 

Wow, this is a bit of shocking news! I don't think I'm willing to spend $1,400.00 to $1,600.00 to have the standard pads replaced with the ceramic pads I already have, just to reduce the obnoxious brake dust.

Any further information would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

John,

At first, I doubted that a simple "pad slap" without new rotors could cost $1,400 to $1,600 and suspected that the price quoted by the dealer must have included 4 new rotors. As explained below, I was surprised that I was wrong! The price quoted by the dealer could not have included new rotors.

Out of curiosity, I checked Gaudin Jaguar's online prices for Liquid Ice's 2011 XJL 5.0 brake components. Here are the links to their website. Fronts: FRONT BRAKES for 2011 Jaguar XJ Rear: REAR BRAKES for 2011 Jaguar XJ At a minimum, he would need the following parts:
2 front rotors list $240.50 each (discounted $195.40) = $481.00
2 front caliper repair kits list $25.20 each (discounted $20.48);=$50.40
2 front brake pads list $211.00 each (discounted $158.25)=$422.00
2 rear rotors list $349.00 each (discounted $283.56)=$698.00
2 rear caliper repair kits list $25.20 each (discounted $20.48);=$50.40
2 rear brake pads list $79.25 each (discounted $59.44)=$158.50

I couldn't believe that the total for all the above parts at list price was a staggering $1,860.30! Even at the discounted prices, those parts would total almost $1,400. And that's without labor! So the price quoted must not have included new rotors, in which case the parts list price would go down to $681.30. Add to that the charges for labor to turn the old rotors and installation, plus other miscellaneous parts and shop charges, and it's easy to see how the dealer quoted $1,400.

I think I'll make less use of my brakes.

Stuart

 

Stuart brake pads are usually priced per axle and not per wheel, but still not cheap. One thing missing are the brake wear sensors ($53.38 each) that may need replacing if worn through to illuminate the brake wear warning light and why would one need to but a caliper repair kit if the brake calipers are not leaking?

 

Stuart those prices are very high. Usually brake pads are sold in wheel sets of 4 pads per axle which reduce you estimate for parts. Centric Posi-Quiet ceramic pads can be found easily for about $70 front set and $45 rear set at Auto Parts Warehouse. At $115 for the complete job. I've posted Brake Service How To's in the XF and previous model XJ 350-358 which are virtually identical, with the tools required. Centric rotors are about $50 for each wheel or $200 for all for wheels. That's about $320 in parts to your door. That's a substantial savings for a complete four wheel brake job and add in $7 for a quart of brake fluid if you wan to flush the system.

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Stuart: after reading your information I may come to the same conclusion as you.