I have an '88 with a dana and the rear calipers are leaking, and by leaking I mean the whole reservoir in about 15 miles.
So i got a new seal kit knowing this job would be a pita but also not knowing exactly what I needed to do.
Now, after getting the left caliper unbolted I cannot get it off, its been really cold here lately so I haven't been able to try anything but I though maybe the pads have to come off, leaving enough wiggle room to somehow let the caliper off??

I don't get it , there is a hole between the top and bottom of the cage but the e-brake part of the caliper hits on the top not allowing clearance for the bottom. Its like the hole is too small.
I read somewhere about pushing backwards on the top, up on the bottom then "twisting to the side" but how the hell does a caliper twist off to the side??


anyone have any help on this one? I found some stuff searching in the forums but no specifics..alot of people just take the whole rear out.

 

Not sure if I'm understanding you 100% but, if you haven't done so, you need to remove the parking brake calipers from the main calipers...then remove the main calipers.

Yes, take the pads out. It can only help.

Cheers
DD

 

how in the world do i do that?
I can barely see them better yet figure out how to disassemble them.
Right now all I have done is taken the 2 bolts out of the left caliper and unhooked the parking brake cable.
I don't remember being able to see anything on the parking brake caliper and figured it was attached to the main caliper and just removed or put on with it out of the car...

 

Use the eyeballs on the end of your fingertips :-)

There are two bolts (7/16 wrench as I recall) that might be disguised as globs of dirt and grease, but they're there. Actualy, they're more like pins with a threded portion and hex head but that's neither here nor there. Anyhow, basically look at the top of the caliper and you'll find them.

I'll see if I can find a pic

Cheers
DD

 

Click here:

http://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/ht...cationType=JCP

Select XJs, then select the earlier VIN range, then brakes, then handbrakes...eventually you'll get to a good diagram of the handbrake caliper showing the two pivot bolts.

Cheers
DD

 

alright i probably wrote two paragraphs asking for clarification on the pins you spoke of, where exactly they were because the diagram seperated them unfortunately and then asked how the two pins going through the handbrake held them to the main brake caliper.

Well i decided to delete all that and start over since I figured it all out and thought it was a waste of time.
I wanted this to be decent in case someone needs to do this again and searches the forums which i know always happens.
There could be a good write-up in the forums for this, idk since i didn't look for handbrake removal just rear caliper removal.
Anyways here are two pics that clearly show what needs to be removed and how it works.


I saw these in the diagram but were seperated i figured they were on top of the caliper and they are!


then i was wondering how two pins on the handbrake held it to the main caliper, well as you can see pretty easily in these pics the pins first go through the main brake caliper which they thread into then the pins continue through the handbrake caliper and back out into the main caliper.

im at a friends house because i dont have internet at my place, besides it is too cold to work on my car atm, but this all makes sense now and i hope someone can use this if they ever need to.

funny i erased so much stuff but still ended up making this a big post.

*** beware I recall reading somewhere these brass forks are designed to bend and constantly keep tension on the brake caliper. if you are not just removing this and are actually replacing the pads I believe you have to replace this or somehow bend it back to the right size.

PS thanks for the help doug!

 

Hi, having replaced one of my rear calipers recently...its a real pita up on stands. Yes get new brass forks as you will be putting in new pads. It will take you ages when you come to instal them otherwise. Also replace the e-brake pads while your in there, and, you can remove the mechanism while the caliper is out. The manual says to push the e-brake mechanism around the back of the diff/disk to remove at the bottom otherwise.

Its a good time to make sure the mechanism is also nice and free...and adjusts.

Also a little feature when putting the e-brake cable back.......if you have pushed the cable back in its sheath a little ==== not long enough to re-connect ==== scratch head, it came off !!! Its like putting the handbrake on a little, so do a release.
Steve
xj-s 3.6 1988

 

i thought id post some pics of how this goes, its been the same 40 degrees all week but i said screw it and put on some coverall and removed the left caliper.

and this is why it was leaking lol...
old british rubber vs American Dot3

 

Keep posting pics as you go Sidescrollin, it all helps.

One good thing I suppose, is that you can tell that the other end is pushing fluid to the calliper.

PS, love the 'Bins' BTW

 

I remove the whole cage. Other people have mentioned that you can leave the cage in place and rotate the caliper slightly to get it out.

Good Luck. Definately not an easy cold weather project.

 

Hmmm

You're not really suppose to split the caliper as it is bolted together using special high-tensile bolts, which should really be replaced on reassembly. Also AFAIK there should be an O-ring seal for the hydraulic fluid passage between the two halves of the caliper - did you find one and if so how did it look when it came out. From the look of your calipers, if it was me I would be very tempted to fit a pair of service exchange calipers.

Then there is the handbrake caliper assembly, which normally needs new release forks, new pivot pins and new auto-adjusters to make it work again.

 

Sorry, just realised from the picture the rear calipers, unlike the fronts, have a transfer pipe between each half, so no internal hydraulic passage, but there are still the high-tensile bolts. I would not be happy putting back the originals.

 

yeah I was thinking "wtf is he talking about" when i was reading your previous post haha.

Im not worried about the bolts, the weren't on that hard, alot of it was the excess corrosion. I will tighten back up to where they were and add 242 or 243. I have 271 but I've never put it on anything before and have heard its completely ridiculous adding up to several hundred ft/lbs, but i don't actually know.

I've only done this once before on a pathfinder and haven't had any problems with it.

I was looking for the prongs/ retraction pins today...where can you find them lol?

Lol new calipers would be nice so would just letting some shop do the work in the cold but i don't have any money so thats a no go

 

Have you tried Dan at Nalley Jaguar? They might be able to help, and he will give you a deal for forum members.

 

Hi Sidescrollin

Virtually all the parts for the calipers are freely available, at least here in the UK, in fact, I think you can get stainless steel pistons too, the standard ones are hard-chrome on steel. So, you need: -

- a seal kit
- pistons, try not to reuse the crappy ones you have taken out or the pressure seal may not work.
- possibly a new fluid transfer pipe between the 2 halves of the caliper.
- handbrake parts, - the forks are pretty common. There are little spring thingy adjusters inside the actuator arm that always seize up and rust away - replace 'em!

The handbrake pivot pins, (which also clamp down the retraction forks), seize in the pad holders - you think you're undoing them and the heads just break off leaving the shank in the holder, at least that is what happened to me way back in the 80s !!

 

Huh, I forgot the adjuster nuts themselves which are circular, and about 3/4" long which have external notches on them that the adjuster thingy bears on. The notches wear out so the self-adjust fails, so these need to be replaced. If you loosely assemble the handbrake without the cover over the adjust mechanism you will see how it is supposed to work, but it is a bit flakey to tell the truth, yet Jaguar managed with it for over 40 years !

 

no, i usually avoid dealerships like the plague because of their prices.

When i needed a power steering like for my old Infiniti they would only sell me the whole system for 400 dollars... needless to say i found a local hydraulic shop.

but i may go check it out if i can find the right parts on the internet...just means i gotta drive the beetle...

 

what adjusters are you talking about??

and no there aren't as many parts here, I only located 2-4 places for the handbrake pads and they were $30.
I can't find the fork anywhere....




does anyone know the deal with the tab that goes on top of the fork? all the ones I have seen are flat and mine is bent on the edges, I guess to prevent the nuts from coming out but its not possible to flatten them back out under the car (a wrench overcomes them)so I don't see why theyd be flat to begin with.

 

David Manners has the forks and the lock tabs and also the return spring.

I have to say a picture is worth a thousand words on this !!

The adjuster nuts screw onto the end of the long bolt-type rod that connects the two halves of the hand-brake caliper, and when the actuator lever is pulled acts to pull them together against the disc. Its a long time since I had one apart, (it was for a Mark 2 in the mid-eighties). Looking on the internet, these parts seem now much more difficult to get, although I expect they are available somewhere !

If you could dismantle the whole lot and take a pic against a white sheet, I can maybe help further, but I don't remember the technical names for these parts. The adjuster nuts don't look like normal nuts they have external teeth on which the spring-loaded adjuster pawl makes contact. As the actuator lever moves out the adjuster pawl moves along the nut in an arc,along the depth of the tooth groove, and if the travel gets too much, it will slip over a tooth, then, when the actuator is returned, the pawl will start to move along the next tooth groove and (hopefully) instead of slipping back over, it moves along the "new" groove and screws the nut along a bit and adjusts the handbrake ! The teeth profile is shaped to prevent the pawl returning, to force it to turn the adjuster nut.

It really does work when new and well lubricated, but over the years, and getting no attention in its hidden location on the XJS (and XJ6), seizes up and people (and mechanics too), adjust the cable instead of the stripping the caliper down and relubing the adjuster mechanism. The Mark 2 is OK because the brakes are outboard and easy to find and fix.

 

PS
Best thing is to take off the thin metal cover on the actuator lever, and then try pulling it and see what happens to pull on the handbrake. Watch how the pawl of the adjuster pawl moves along the nut in an arc. Everntually, if the travel is enough it will slip over onto the next tooth. The nut teeth corrode and lose "sharpness" and the nut seizes on the bolt, so the ajuster pawl cannot turn the nut; it just slips back.