For the love of god I need help, I have a 1989 V12 XJS and after changing the front brake calipers I cannot get brake fluid to the front left, no problem on the right but zero on the front left.

 

Welcome to the forum lutonnick1,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to XJS forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

If the brakes were working ok before the work, the first steps would be to start looking at the replacement caliper before diving in further to the brake system.

Carefully remove the bleed nipple and see if the bleed hole in the nipple is blocked. This can happen. If not, carefully try bleeding anyway with the nipple removed. If no joy, disconnect pipe from caliper and see if fluid will flow from pipe under pedal pressure. If it does, then try using a footpump to carefully check airflow through the caliper and out the bleed nipple (Put a bleed pipe on the nipple when you do this as fluid should spurt out!).

Good luck

Paul

 

Thank you for the quick response Paul, I have removed the brake pipe and pumped and even tried a vacuum pump with no joy, I have even tried at the ABS module with zero fluid

 

sounds like the solenoid for that particular brake is stuck in the closed position

this is located in the solenoid block under the brake fluid reservoir

a if you tap the solenoid block while pressing the brake pedal it may free it up , or you can access the solenoid electrics and apply voltage to try and unstick it ,

the internal wiring can break to the individual solenoid, what was the reason for the brake work in the first place

after that its a new solenoid block i think

BB

 

I will try thank you for the detailed response

 

Just had an XJS in the shop with exact same symptoms and as these guys said..it was a solenoid in the block. Got a tested, used unit. Fixed the issue.

 

Isn't there a link, or thread in here, where one of the members took the block apart, and got the stuck valve working again?

 

Been there done that don't want to do it again, So I know how you feel!

Never mind for the 'love of god' I wanted to slit my own wrists!

If it turns out to be a Solenoid on the Valve Block, this is 'The Post' that you are looking for, from djinaustin, who made the impossible possible!

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xjs-32/abs-valve-block-fail-hard-pull-left-113913/

 

Having just had some more thoughts about this, I've got a good idea what may have happened.

If your Brakes were working OK before you replaced the 'Brake Pads and Calipers'

The Chances are that at some stage, you may have done something 'like easing back the brake pads' 'Without The Bleed Nipples Open' on the Calipers.

This may then have sent Brake Fluid back up to the Master Cylinder, which can be 'The Kiss of Death' for the XJS.

I know because I have done this myself and while it may not matter on any other Car, its absolutely crucial, that you do not do that on an XJS.

So it could either be a Solenoid Valve or The Master Cylinder.

If you wanted to buy the whole 'Shebang' New! It would probably cost you (and you better sit down for this!) Over £1,000 (UK) and that is if you could find one!

If I was going to place a bet my money would be on the master cylinder, which again, is very hard to obtain, though 'and you better check this out' one from an XJ6 may be the same.

Or you may be lucky like me and get one from a 'scrapper' but do the electrical testing first before you get into the serious spanners.

 

but wouldn't the master cylinder cause an issue on all brakes , not just the one ?

BB

 

I cannot say for certain but my Car had an unexpected and violent pull to the right, which happened immediately after I changed all the Calipers and Brake Pads.

Which in a way seems to mirror, what is happening here as during the fitting of the above, I levered the Caliper Pistons back using a screw driver, to get them over the rotors, which sent fluid the wrong way up to the ABS.

In my own case this resulted in Carnage, which I only know how to fix because of the help provided by djinaustin, who if I remember also had to buy a new Master Cylinder.

That's not to say for certain, that this is the cause of the problem, as it could be something else altogether.

djinaustin knows far more about the possible cause of this than I ever would so its best to ask him.