So I’m changing my pads and rotors for the first time on this car. I have done this before on other cars I’ve had but this one is giving me a bit of trouble. The pistons seem really hard to compress to fit the new pads over the rotors. Not sure if there is a safer way to compress these ones but they do seem harder than they should be. Don’t want to damage anything so any advice would help.

Thank you for your feedback.
Yes caliper is completely off. I’ve already removed the cap off the brake fluid reservoir but I didn’t remove any fluid. I put some wood against the pistons and applied a pretty fair amount of pressure against it with another piece of wood but the pistons didn’t budge. That was concerning to me. On my Vette the pistons required very little pressure to compress, so I guess I’m I little more cautious with applying more pressure than I’m used to. I’ll give it a go with some g clamps tomorrow.
I also tried to put the car in maintenance mode a few times but without success. Following the instructions listed on this forum. I thought that may have something to do with it but from what I’m understanding that is more for the rear than the front.
Thank you

Ok. Great. Thank you. I appreciate all the help on this forum that people provide. I prefer to do a lot of things myself rather than going to someone else. It’s a great way to learn and I know when I do it I am more thorough than most. Couldn’t do it without the help of other car enthusiasts, as I am not a mechanic. Unfortunately Not too much info out there for the diy person with this car.
Looking forward to being part of the community as this is my first Jaguar. Sold a 2014 c7 corvette with methanol injection, an A&A supercharger, as well as other mods and moved into a 2014 v8 s. I loved the Vette but have always wanted an f type. So far I’m happy with my choice.

I can’t see why the brake maintenance mode would impact pad replacement on the front, but who knows for certain? If you haven’t already seen this particular set of more detailed instructions for putting the car in brake maintenance mode, here they are again:
1. This procedure requires the vehicle in the Park or Neutral position, with the ignition turned ON (the engine must be OFF) and the parking brake system released (Parking brake button pushed down for a second while clutch or brake pedal is depressed).

2. Press (down) and hold the parking brake switch in the release position.(do not release until told to do so)

3. Wait 2 seconds, then press and hold the accelerator pedal in the wide open throttle position.(do not release until told to do so)

4. Wait 2 seconds, then turn the ignition Off and back On immediately.

NOTE: An audible noise will be heard to confirm that the parking brake has been released in Service Mode.

5.ONLY NOW, Release the accelerator pedal and release the parking brake switch.

Not true. The parking brake relies on an electrically triggered actuator. If that is not deactivated, that caliper piston will not budge with a C-clamp. (I tried).

This helps a lot. I was missing a step in this process which is why I was unsuccessful. When I move to the rear it should make things much easier.
One thing That was surprising is how heavy the rotors are in this car. I bought the R1 concepts rotors which are about the same weight as the stock ones. I will definitely be looking to upgrade to the wortec rotors in the future.

Yes, I was able to get about a mm of movement as well, but needed 3-4mm to install the Porterfields. (I too unsuccessfully tried to wind back those rear pistons). Rear pistons retract fairly easily once the service mode is activated.

NEVER push back the piston without releasing the bleed nipple, do not push potentially dirty fluid back through the system. It will only take a small amount of dirt to possibly foul seals or the ABS unit.