I just picked up a caliper and will be replacing it over this weekend. Thermo helped me out so much on this issue.
The caliper i've bought (right rear caliper) includes bracket and piston so i'm thinking i have less work to replace it...no need to struggle with reinstalling the old piston...
But not sure whether i could just keep my original bracket and replace only the front component - actual caliper.
Also, how do I bleed the brake system? I haven't done any brake work before...
Do i need do bleed all four calipers once the work is done or just the one?

Thank you!

 

Sean, the need to replace the support bracket is not necessary. So, whether you replace it or not is up to you. Some people like to have the new component in there, others want an easier job.

As for bleeding the brakes, this is how I do it. Get your hands on about 6 feet of 7/32" tygon tubing (I believe that is the size). Now, using a little bit of masking tape, attach 1 end of the hose to the bleeder valve, run the hose up to the top of the wheel well, tape it in place and then let the hose hang down into a metal/glass container. OPen the bleeder valve. Now, make sure that the brake fluid reservoir is full and then pump the brakes about 10 times. Verify that you have adequate level in the reservoir and then look at the tygon tubing. You should see some brake fluid in the tubing and it will more than likely be a dark green color. If you see it start to lighten up, then you are getting close. What you are shooting for is for the tygon to be free of air bubbles rising and the fluid coming out to be roughly the same color as what you are putting in (clear). Keep adding fluid as necessary to the reservoir and pumping the brakes till you achieve this. At this point, shut the bleeder valve and remove the tygon tubing. Your caliper is now full and free of air.

Do you have to do the other brakes, No. Should you, might as well. You are going to have plenty of fluid and this may help with preventing future problems as the fluid changes colors due to water getting into the fluid and changing its characteristics and leading to rust build up inside of the braking system. If you do the other wheels, do the left rear, then the right front, ending at the left front using what I talked about above.

 

While I am very familiar with XJ brake replacement, there maybe similar issues with the X type. When I replaced a rear caliper its also required the core(used part) to be returned for credit, which would require the old bracket if one was supplied.

Please review this post and its attachments for additional help.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...service-61323/

 

Thanks much Thermo! I've your instructions printed!
Thank you Ed. Yes i need to return the old one to get my core back and i was thinking to give back the bracket with the old caliper.
If it's not much harder to replace the whole thing, i'll do it.
Thank you all and Happy New Year!

 

The new bracket only requires 2 more bolts to be removed. So, if you have it, go for it. But, like I mentioned, not something that must be replaced.

 

I just got it replaced but on my to get more fluid. I wasn't able to confirm whether i've things right and wasn't sure whether the e brake tension has to made... I dont think thought... I should finish it up by tonight and confirm my e brake is back to its life. Thank you Thermo!

 

Sean, no, the e-brake is not normally under tension. You may have a little bit of play. But, there shouldn't be a lot of play either. You may also find that you will need to cycle the e-brake up and down a few time (15-20, possibly more) to get the proper setting of the new caliper internals. Essentially you will be able to raise the e-brake handle quite high and then over time, you will find that the handle will come down and start engaging at about mid stroke for the handle. This is where it should sit.

 

That's strange... It's all done but the symtom is still the same. I see the lever on the caliper functions properly when i pull or release e brake but it cannot supply enough strength to hold the wheel from rolling. I'm presuming either the rotor or the pad had burned thinner especially compare to the left side.
I drove the car for about 500 miles with the bad caliper which probably was freezing the pads on the rotor while driving.

 

Sean, have you cycled the e-brake a few times to self adjust the caliper to the proper position? If not, that is your issue. The one caliper is backed off too far, which is allowing the e-brake to not reach a seated position with the piston firmly pushing the pads on to the rotor. Cycle the e-brake lever a bunch of times and see what you get then. Like I mentioned before, the lever should not come all the way up. It should only come up about half way if the piston is properly positioned.

 

Cycle meaning applying the e brake via the handle from inside the car right? Yeah i've done that about 50 times and was also watching the new caliper's cable was pulling and returing to the proper position. It's only that the caliper was not pulling the cable hard enough.
But yes i pulled the handle as high as it could go so that it can get to the new caliper. No luck. Is there an adjustment to be made on the caliper itself?

 

Sean, the only other thing that I could say is to manually spin the piston out using the special tool. It may take a few tries, but you can do it that way to atleast get things close to where they should be and then see what you get.

 

I see what you mean. But wouldn't either the brake or abs light come on if the brake pads are applied properly? I'll try to have someone hit the brake while the car is jacked and i'll try to rotate the wheel to check the piston is tight enough. It is a rebuilt caliper with a new piston so i'm hoping the piston has no issue in auto adjusting itself.

 

Sean, that is a problem too. Not saying that the company you got the caliper from is lacking in quality, but, because the item sat on the shelf for some time, anything could have happened. This is where using the piston tool to manually rotate the piston may help free up the internals. But, like you are hoping that it isn't, you may have had 2 calipers fail at the same time too. I know the odds of that happening are pretty low, but confirming it is easy to do too now that you know what to look for.