Figured I would contribute to this thread as it has been very helpful.

For swapping the rear calipers the copper crush washers are Jaguar part number C2C 31805 something like $4 at the dealer but 0.70 online (see TSB XJ206-03 )

I thought regular OEM Ford ones would work, they are too thick by 2x. Instead I am going to try NAPA UP 26442. They are within 0.005" of the correct ID, about 0.025" larger than stock for the OD, and about 0.010 thicker than the used ones coming off our 2004.

Will report back.

 

I admit, I am at work and did not read this entire thread. I would like to ask advice though as I need to address this as soon as I get home today.

About 2 months ago I put new front pads on my wife's 2004 XJ8. The brakes tended to be squeaky after that so I figured the rotors needed to be replaced as well. Yesterday I finally got around to installing new front rotors. The squeaking is completely gone now but there is a faint rubbing sound heard during low speed braking. It's only audible from inside the car if the windows are down. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

Hopefully you read my instructions completely at the start of this thread. Flushing the old fluid out and bleeding the system is extremely important after servicing the brakes.

When you apply the brakes the pistons in the calipers are pushed out against the pads squeezing the rotors. When the pressure is released the piston does not spring back, but can drag lightly. That could cause the sound. Secondly when you replaced the pads without replacing or resurfacing the rotors the new pads will not make solid contact with the rotors and will "wear in" to the uneven surface. Now you replaced the rotors and the pads are worn uneven and the high points maybe dragging causing the sound. Finally the dragging sound could be a piston hanging up in the caliper bore. This could also be the sound of the dragging pads.

First I would road test to determine if one wheel is dragging. After a short drive you can lightly touch each rotor and feel if one is excessively hot without burning you fingers or by jacking up the car and turning the wheels by hand. It will be obvious when comparing left or right side. Also look for a lot of extra brake dust on the dragging wheel or the car pulling toward the side of the dragging wheel.

I you find one wheel dragging. It may be the piston is hanging up in the bore or your assembly process. Disassemble and check the pads fit correctly into the calipers. You can try flushing and bleeding that caliper with brake fluid. Make sure the caliper mounting bolt shafts are clean and lightly lubricated. If that doesn't work you can install a rebuilt caliper and bleed the entire system again.

If both wheels seem the same then, check the pads and see if they are worn uneven. Since the rotors are now "true" and the pads are not it may be simpler to just replace the pads and bleed the system.

 

The wheels spin freely and the sound only occurs during braking, so I feel confident, based on your thorough guidance above, that the sound is being caused by the pads being worn uneven and not making complete contact with the new rotors.

I lubricated the slides when I changed the pads, but I generally don't bleed brake lines unless I have breached the system. I flush the system with new brake fluid every couple of years but don't worry about bleeding during service unless I have disconnected a brake line somewhere. If there is something different about the Jaguar system necessitating that I bleed the lines when ANY brake work is done, then I'll certainly go out and do so (I have a power bleeder).

With regard to the uneven pads; should I allow them to "wear in" to the new rotors or should I take them off and attempt to sand them smooth? I can appreciate the simplicity of simply putting on new pads, but these are virtually new ceramic pads. It seems like such a waste.

The reason I changed the pads and NOT the rotors originally is because we had just bought my wife the car and the pads were very worn. The rotors looked good and I did a "fast" repair to get my wife back on the road intending to address the brake system more thoroughly once we'd had the car a little while.

So again, Wear them in? or sand them down? or do you have an option #3?

Thanks again.

 

Regarding bleeding. I generally don't flush and bleed after a brake pads and rotors since its a closed system. However, after reading the Jaguar technical bulletin, that was what was advised, anytime the brakes are serviced. After completing my typical brake service pads and rotors on my VDP, there was a soft pedal and poor stopping action. I raised the car pulled the wheels and bleed the system which solved the problem.It may be an issue with Jaguar brake systems. Also bleeding the rear caliper has a special procedure that I included. If the pedal is firm and the stopping power is adequate then you could wait. There's also a thought that when you compress the pistons back to install new pads you're pushing crude that has settled down in the calipers back up into the system, which may cause other issues. If the fluid in the reservoir is clear and looks clean that's a good sign.

Since you eliminated the other issues, the simplest conclusion is that the pads worn irregular when you installed them against the worn rotors. Since they are new pads, I would inspect them and if they all look the same, just reinstall them and drive the car. The car will resurface them flat.

 

Umm... This may sound obvious, but you say there is a "faint rubbing sound heard during low speed braking." I would expect the hear to sound of the brake pads rubbing the rotors during braking.

 

I get what you are saying and yes, some friction noise would not seem to be unexpected; but this is enough to indicate something being a little off. None of the brakes on my cars over the years have made rubbing noises. My other XJ8 has silent brakes also.

I see you too are in NC. I bet that XJR is a rocket! I am still amazed at how fast our 04 XJ8 is and yours has considerably more power.

 

Pads are cheap and usually under warranty. Do NOT sand them down. You'll never replicate even wear. If it's not a performance issue, you'll eventually wear them in by driving normally.

If it's a performance issue, and it doesn't sound like it is, replace them.

If it's making you nuts when you apply them and you realize the dinosaur screams are coming from you, not the brakes, replace the pads.

Old school trick was to find a very large parking lot, drive backwards and apply the brakes hard. Not so hard to lay rubber or lock up the wheels. Do it for about 15 minutes. Qualifier, when I used to do this, all pads were asbestos and rear brakes were often drum, so grain of salt here....

 

It seems after driving a few more miles today the sound went away. It was just a short run into town for some errands, but I never heard a peep out of the brakes and they worked great. I feel kind of silly for sounding an alarm on here for something that corrected itself, but I do appreciate the feedback.

The warranty comment is a good point. I buy tons from that place and if I asked to trade out those pads for new ones I doubt they'd give me much argument. If they start making noise again that's probably what I'll do.

 

Thanks for the post, it was great. This is the third time I've done the breaks. Replaced rotors last time and used ceramics, didn't like them at first because the felt hard. I had never disconnected the battery before and didn't have any problems however, I must admit I felt more comfortable doing it as instructed in the post, as I felt the calipers calibrate themselves. But as some pointed out, had to reset clock, radio was fine didn't have to reprogram it but the windows lost the one click roll up. Glad to have read in the other posts that the instructions to set them back up are in the owners manual, will do it in the morning. One thing I saw you left off in your post was uncovering the break fluid reservoir so as to not blow it off. I also find this helps me avoid the need to bleed the lines as the air bubbles, if any, escape through the reservoir. Also when you do this be ready to siphon the extra break fluid out.

 

Just ordered these 4 Rotors and Brake pads (pr) from Amazon.com for $275 as an update to this thread.

Front rotors Centric Premium@ $65.19 part #120.61077
Rear rotors Centric Standard@ $30.39 part #121.61062

Front pads Centric Posi Quite ceramic pads@ $46.34 pr. part #105.09330
Rear pads Centric Posi Quite ceramic pads @ $37.42 pr. part #105.09440

Same as the pads and rotors indicated in thread #1 but now cheaper.

 

Thank you.

My X350 parking cable broke at the tip and caused parking brake fault. The broke parking brake cable flexed and marred the stainless steel rear hydraulic brake hose. The hydraulic brake hose actually ruptured while I was flushing the brake fluid instead from while driving ( thank god). I was lucky enough that there was a 2005 X350 parting out on Craigslist and got the hydraulic brake hose and parking brake cable for $30.00, locally. The brake job replacing pads, rotors, and calibration went smoothly. Thank you for the instruction.

 

OMG!

It is stainless steel braided too.

 

You can pick up one of those caliper tool sets for about $16 on ebay, free shipping. Might be worth it for those who don't feel like making a trip back and forth to Autozone.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13PC-Univers...AAAOSw2gxYumNx

 

Amazon has them for $20 with two day shipping and free returns. That's where I got mine.


Thanks to Ed for the write-up, very well done.

 

My front discs were rusted/frozen on, and using that technique likely would have bent or cracked the caliper bracket tabs and required replacement of the expensive steering knuckle. Very risky and unnecessary. For $66 with coupon Harbor Freight sells a "5-ton" hydraulic puller that will break loose the most frozen rotor. One of my fronts was on so tight the thick iron disc flexed outwards before popping off.



Replacement rotors are Zimmerman (made in Germany) which have an "e-coat" a flat gray coating to prevent or reduce that ugly rust. Flat gray doesn't look pretty so I spray painted high temp metallic silver on the hat and edge vents and put a small amount of high temp grease on the rear surface where the previous one rusted, so it should look real sharp and be easy to maintain in the future.

Included Akebono ceramic pads and caliper epoxy painted bright orange, did the parking brake reset, and tested fine with the minor exception of some overspray on the rotor needs to wear off.

 

excellent post..

 

Hello

I need to replace the cables to my rear calipers to my 2006 Vanden Plas, do you know the part number and where I could get them?? Thanks

 

Anyone tried the Bosch Quiet Cast , Semi Metallic pads? They say no noise and I need no noise. I need new front pads on our 2006 VDP.
More Information for BOSCH BP1241 (rockauto.com)
Thx all

 

I used the Bosch Quiet Cast pads on my Mercedes and I am very happy with them. No noise whatsoever.