Hey g"uys, started the rear brake job today...all went smoothly until I got to rewinding the caliper (piston). I thought I could do it with pliers...yeah right. So I went to 3 stores trying to find a rewinding kit...all I got was the "cube". Took it home...tried and tried and tried...I can't get the darn caliper to budge.I even opened up the bleeder...no luck. So now I'm going to just order the kit that compresses as it turns. I need a place with fast shipping and good price...so I found this on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Astro-Pneumati...3344634&sr=8-1

It doesn't list Jaguar...but do you know if it will work?

Just to make sure, I was turning clockwise on the passenger side, and counter on the driver side. Correct???

 

i just did mine the other night
ran into same issue

i didnt use a kit though, i rented one and threw it to the other side of the garage when i got to that part.

this is what i did:

loosin the bleeder screws, didnt take out so not to loose to much fluid (dont have super dot 4).

i took a torx bit rachet head (might be calling it the wrong name, matches perfectly with the pistin head center) kind of like a star with many more points.

i connected it to a ratchet,
passenger side is clock wise
push as hard as you can and turn it clockwise, it will retract.
get it on the pads and bolt the ****er down.

driver side same, except push and turn counter clock wise.
it took me about 45 minutes after i threw the 'brake kit' from auto zone out of my way.

 

Guy with an X type told me Halfords here in UK sell similar for £3.99...socket head with pins designed for rewinding caiper pistons

 

I think both Buck and Speilnicht might be talking about the same tool:

http://www.motorera.com/dictionary/p...PistonTool.gif

These work great for me - just find the right side for your piston, plug the opposite end into a socket wrench and twist the wrench to tighten the piston. Super-easy to do, and the tool itself is only a couple of dollars to buy.

 

I used a clamp, and a makita grinder key my friend had laying around.

I had to release the parking brake to make it easier.

 

dont forget after you are done to pull the e-brake a few times to set the pistons back in place.

 

I used a tool set that's looks like this one to turn in the pistons on my X and S Types. Only mine came from the local Harbor Freight store for about half the money.

Regards:
Oldengineer

 

Yeah, the cube is what I got yesterday (in the pic) but it didn't work for me. I found a thread on our UK friend's site for a tool kit and I lucked out they had a store near by...so I drove down yesterday and got it. Best $$ I ever spent, took me less than 30 secs to push the piston back in. No worries about the cost cause these tools are for life, you know.

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-piec...kit-97143.html

Off to bleed the old girl now. I got lucky (as well) yesterday and found Castrol Synthetic DOT 4, so I'm going to bleed all the wheels to try to get as much new fluid as I can.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

where did you find castrol synthetic dot 4?

 

Done. It was so much easier to bleed the brakes with my wife's help. I didn't go for any fancy bleed kit, just picked up 3/8" hose from Home Depot, worked out great.

I got the brake fluid from Pep Boys. Generally we only have Advance Auto or Autozone...useless stores, useless products. But the area I was at yesterday to buy the brake kit had a Pep Boys...found it there, cheap too, $8 for 1qt.

 

I just did this on Sunday. I can echo back that a big C-clamp and the off-the shelf cube from AutoZone did the trick. Here's the procedure I had to use - and it worked like a charm:
*Grab a huge c-clamp, universal caliper cube, screw driver and a piece of carboard
*Fold the piece of cardboard over on itself and place it on the back of your caliper (there is a screw right there from the e-brake assembly that makes the clamp want to slide off)
*Have someone hold the cube on the piston with the flat side of the cube facing outwards (your clamp will rest on this)
*Place your clamp with the adjustable end on top of the cube and the solid end on the back of your caliper (resting on the cardboard)
*Crank the clamp until everything is tight
*Stick your screw driver into the cube and turn only a little (the piston will only want to rotate in one direction)
*Tighten the clamp again
*Turn only a little at a time and tighten as you go
*Profit!

I stole this method from another member on the board. He did it the smart way - had his kid crank the clamp while he turned the piston. In any event, once you get everything settled onto the caliper and piston, it turns out to be pretty easy. By far, the hardest part is getting the clamp, cardboard and cube in place since there are three things that can fall (and you have one hand on the clamp and one hand on the caliper!)

P.S.
I did not remove the e-brake bracket either - this saves on some frustration.

 

Jeez...why are people doing it this way? You don't need a C-clamp...take a look at the picture:




Notice that there's a square hole on each side of the cube? That hole happens to be the exact fit for a 1/4" rachet. All you need to do is:

1. Find the pattern that fits your caliper piston
2. Plug the opposite side of the cube into your ratchet
3. Place rache+cube on the piston, and turn the ratchet to push the piston back

Couldn't be any easier...

 

You may have to exert some pretty good force on the ratchet sometimes to get the piston to retract. I had one side that went in pretty easy, the other side required a few curse words and a good deal of ooommmph to get it in. I think this is why some people use the c-clamp. I have the compressor tool as well, but typically it isn't that hard with the cube.

 

I tried to just crank it with the ratchet on the end and got no love out either side. I would strongly agree, though, that not having to use the C-clamp makes the job that much easier - it's a pain trying to get the clamp to stay on the cube AND the caliper because the caliper has the e-brake retaining bolt in the center of where the clamp rests.

 

Yep. Believe me I've been there. You have to be a Hulkamaniac to get the rear pistons on my SAAB to retract while turning the cube. I thought my head was going to explode last time so I bought the compressor tool after fumbling with the c-clamp method and getting pissed that I only had two hands. I actually positioned the caliper up against the rear spring, damn near got in a 3-point stance like I played in the NFL to get my weight behind it (225lbs - 6'5"), and PUSHED while slightly turning the piston. Finally worked and I could cancel my gym membership. But I won't do that again so I bought the right tool.

To add insult to injury I had to grind the studs on the cube to fit into those pistons. Dang Swedes....er...GM.....

 

I got the caliper tool from harbor freight for less than $30. Used is on over 5 brake jobs now and still works like a charm. no force needed as it has a plate that pushes against the caliper to push the piston in as you turn.

 

Thanks guys. Didn't realize so much force was sometimes required. I haven't had to do the brakes on my X-yet, but the cube + rachet method has worked great on other cars.

If I run into the difficulty you guys did, I'll be inclined to first try a "breaker bar + cube" before the C-clamp method. The additional leverage might be all that's required to move the piston.

 

was this on the driver or passenger side.
i did the same damn thing lol.

 

I think the passenger side was the easy side, the driver side was the tough one. This was on my 2007 Saab 9-3 turbo. The X's haven't been quite so stiff, thankfully.

I still don't know why the heck they even have to use those rotating pistons, just a PITA.

 

besides for autozone, where else can i rent a cube or the amazon kit????

these dam rear calipers turned this job into a real pita