my brakes are gone and the wear indicator is squeeling. My neighbor, who is very handy with cars, took a look and said they are way too complicated to do at home. Any input on this? how long will it take a repair shop to do all 4??

 

Strange how someone who is supposedly handy with cars can say they are too complicated, that is an absolute load of rubbish.
I would really like to know which bit during replacement is complicated?
They are the same brakes carried over from the Ford Mondeo Mk3 in 2001...easy!
Nothing at all hard about them, even did mine (on my 2002 X Type 3.0)myself with no special tools

 

BuckMR2...isn't there a special tool required for the calipers?

 

No, makes it easier but I used long nosed pliers and brute force.
Once the caliper pistons start to turn it gets easier

 

You can do that, but with the money youre gonna save you can buy a cheap caliper turing tool from the auto parts store to fit. Remember the piston on the left side(drivers us) turns in counter clockwise, the pass side(right us) goes clockwise. ( unless youre almost metal to metal, then you can useally get them both to turn in clockwise)
while not hard, i have seen my fair share of broken rear calipers from owners and shops forcing them in and or turning the wrong way

 

A piston rotation tool looks like this: http://www.diseno-art.com/products/t...tion_tool.html


It costs about $5 from an auto parts store, and makes the job of turning the pistons really easy. It safer than using pliers, because there's less chance the tool will slip and rip the rubber boot around the piston (that would be bad). Well worth it, IMO.

I also agree with others that your "handy" neighbor doesn't seem to know what the hell he's talking about.

 

Lauriel, the brakes on the X are very simple. Other than having to twist in the rear caliper pistons, I am sure I could talk you through doing a brake job even though you have no mechanical background. If you lived near Maryland, I would tell you to come down. In about an hour I could probably have a complete 4 wheel brake job done for you. It isn't tough.

 

As stated by many, the brake replacement is easy and not any more difficult than any 4 wheel disc brake car. The important thing on the X-Type, especially here in the rust belt, is to be sure the rounded groove where the pads ride in the caliper bracket is cleaned down to shiny bare metal and a proper silicone paste lube is applied to this slide area.

 

On that note, ReaL_Tech, Thermo, BRUTAL or anyone - have you guys tried the Ceramic brake anti-squeal/lubricant yet? I usually use red lube out of the bottle (CRC I think is the brand), but I picked up a packet of ceramic lube just for sh*ts and giggles....wonder if anyone had any experience with it.

And to echo everyone's comments - I wouldn't take your car to your neighbor anymore. Hopefully he is just not wanting to help you do them, not that he's really that clueless about a very straightforward brake job. Either way his advice is suspect.

 

I use Sil-Glyde exclusively. Thick enough to stay in place and high temps wont melt it. I've been using this product for at least 15 years and I don't get brake jobs back squealing ever.

 

Another example (see the Hourly dealer rates in your area thread) of how things are cheaper in US
Here the rewind tool was £20 (over $30) when I priced it which is why I carefully used pliers.Once they start turning it gets easier.
Definitely worth $5