I've been noticing brake squeal the past week or so on my 2011 XKR when I lightly press on the brake pedal. The pads and rotors were last checked about a month ago during a pre-purchase inspection, and the mechanic said they're perfectly fine. The brake pad light hasn't come on, so I'm assuming the brake pads haven't worn down yet. But I'll take a look at the brakes this weekend just to make sure. I don't notice anything odd while braking. Other than the minor inconvenience the squeal causes, the brakes work great. I know others on this forum have had similar problems for other Jag models, but I haven't seen much info for the X150. Is this a common problem? Thanks in advance.

 

My 1st question would be have the brake pads or the rotors been replaced. Also if the PPI was done by a Jaguar dealer they should have told you the percentage of brake pad life and what that thickness was. Squeal is usually caused by the pad backing rubbing against the caliper piston. Usually the pad backing lubricant or the anti-squeal material is the issue. I would pull the pads and check the backing. Re-install using the appropriate brake grease and see if it still happens. The other potential problem other than to much wear on the pads is the hardness of the pad or rotor.

 

That ^

Or, I got lucky by giving them a good cleaning. I removed the wheels (front for me) and sprayed Brake Clean on the rotors, pads, pad contact area. Gave the rotor a spin, did it again. No more squeaks.
for now......

My pads looked fine. The rotors are a bit worn to the point there is a lip on the outside of the rotor (where the pad does not touch, I assume)... Dealer said rotors are still within wear spec though.

 

Just wanted to give a quick update. I used some brake cleaner and used a small amount of brake grease on the back of the brake pads. This has mostly fixed the problem. I still occasionally get some squeal when I lightly apply the brake pedal after the brakes have completely warmed up, but it's a minor inconvenience at this point. I'm hoping the squeal will go away when it comes time to replace the pads and rotors.

 

Mintex do a good product called anti squeal grease can vouch for it

 

The other things to make sure are clean/free/lubricated are the pins that the caliper moves on and the points were the pads sit on the calipers. This is rarely done in a shop. Home mechanics probably have more time to do stuff properly

 

Ditto... Mine (2013) had new pads and rotors Sept 19 - when I bought the car in January they started squealing shortly after. I assumed I had a different driving style to the previous owner and my tendency to lightly trail brake rather than jam on the anchors heading up to intersections may have caused it. Either that or the fact it had been nearly 40 degrees celsius that weekend I picked her up and drove 2000km's home.

I took it to a local Jaguar specialist, who had the rotors machined and cleaned and chamfered the brakepads. I asked them to prep the back of the pads with either copper paste or the anti-squeal grease mentioned by George and asb, not sure if they did. They were quiet for 3 drives (not very spirited, just enjoying the beast!) and the squeal is back again. It is always medium pressure when the brakes have some heat in them.

So... I am thinking that I may need to replace the pads and I am confident mechanically, but those spring clips on the calipers look like a right pain and I also don't want to scratch the calipers if I get it wrong - wish there was someone local to me here in Australia I could do this with to see how it all comes apart and goes together Either way I am thinking of the EBC Yellow pads or factory OEM.

 

Apparently a lot of Porsche owners have complained about brake squeal as well, so much so that Porsche even uploaded a video on Youtube explaining that it's normal. I guess having some squeal is unavoidable when using big brakes.

But if you think that's bad, there's a video of a car reviewer driving a McLaren F1, and the steel brakes on that are so loud you can hear them over the engine! So even though our brakes may squeal, at least we're in good company.

 

There are reasons for brake squeal and for all non race brake components there should be no squeal. The rotor/pad combination for racing has a hard compound and high temperature materials. Even some of the metallic compounds for street driving if installed correctly won't squeal. Big brakes don't make any difference. Most pads today come with an anti-squeal pad on the back of the pad. Usually the cause of the squeal is the back of the pad vibrating on the caliper piston causing the squeal. Either insulators or brake grease prevents this so there is no squeal. I never had any squeal on my 2012 XKR but never had to change the pads as I sold it with 26K miles . Another common problem is buying cheap rotors and pads. I would go back to the installer and tell them to fix the issue.

 

@jagtoes totally agree with you and I would go back if the installer wasn't on the other side of the country.

How does one tell which type of brakes their car has? Can it be determined from the VIN or description in the build list?

 

The disks were all the same unless you had the GT. The only option on the 2014 XKR was caliper colour.

 

Hey jon-izumi, if you're worried about how to take off the clip and want to inspect/change the brake pads yourself, I suggest following the steps in the video below. It's basically identical.

 

Thanks for the replies

@u102768 I thought the Alcan calipers were available as a performance upgrade all the way through to the end of production, but I could be mistaken. I just read that the Alcan's are a fixed body caliper and mine definitely have the slides between inside and out, so I'm guessing they are the normal 5.0 XKR units... Was hoping someone with the Alcans could chime in and say whether their build summary stated different to mine.

- Thanks for this - I'll watch that tomorrow

 

U102768 is spot on. All 5.0 XKRs bar the GT have the ATE 380mm/376mm cast iron discs with twin-piston floating calipers at the front and single at the back.Front OE pads are by Jurid and the rears are ATE. The Jurids use a high-friction compound (DOT edge code GG) and you will be hard pushed to find a better all round road pad for these cars.

The Alcon-sourced brakes were only available for the 4.2 cars.

 

Thanks @neilr for the clarification and feedback on the factory Jurid pads.
I rang the werkstatt that performed the pad and rotor replacement last year and they confirmed they had used an aftermarket pad and couldn't confirm the brand, so I'm assuming they're not very good. Pity they're on the other side of the country otherwise I would try and get them to reduce labour costs to fit correct ones...

 

So a good news update for everyone and might help others down the line

A friend who is a professional mechanic helped me fit Ferodo pads last Friday, the ones that came out were Delphi - and the awful squealing is gone! Still find myself feathering the pedal now and then, but then realise all is well, haha
Mechanic gave the thumbs up to the rotors so this is all good. Lesson for all, I guess don't use Delphi pads, must have a low Dot Edge rating.

Bad bit - supposed Jag specialist here in Brisbane who I mentioned in a previous post above, that looked at the brakes a month ago left some baggage: they snapped the stainless seats on the outside of the caliper that the anti-rattle clip sits against on one brake and scratched both calipers when they pried the rattle clips off I guess without protecting what they used to remove them. Can I prove it was them? Of course not, but do they get the next service or recommendations - nope.

 

The problem is the pads move about this can cause squeaking also , Years ago I had new pads fitted on a previous car and we had went away on a weekend holiday , the squeaking drove me mad , Took car back to the garage that fitted them told him , he said they won't squeak again and put a weld spot on them to the calipers . I also know some garages will remove them clips on the back of the pads