While brushing up on changing rear pads and rotors, one of the videos said to disconnect the Neg cable on the battery in order for the car to remember...;.something. He was a Jag mechanic. Other videos make no mention of the battery cable, so what do you guys do....normal brake job, or disconnect the battery's Neg cable?

Also, there isn't an allen screw on the rotor, but it's tight to the hub. Past method on other cars has been to use a 3 pound sledge hammer and pound it off, but is there a more polite method for a Jag?

 

If the disc's been in place for some time or in salt from the sea or road treatment, it's not unusual to encounter this. A good blow top, bottom and each side usually does the trick. You'll like want to clean up the hub/rotor mating surface prior to fitting new discs.

 

Negative, the car's been driven regularly and, while there's rust, of course, I'm concerned that there are brake shoes pushing out, making removal not only harder, but potentially damaging to the shoes. Beating a rotor isn't the problem, it's collateral damage. Are there shoes pushing against the rotor? If so, how to release?

 

With the caliper out of the way, there aren’t any “shoes”.

 

If I had the new rotors in front of me, I'd have the answer, but I've had cars that had the E-brake drum inside the disc, which is what I am/was worried about. if there isn't anything like that on our cars, then I bang away. Thanks for your counsel, I'm learning as I go....and using tools I haven't used in years, so that's a good thing.

 

Your trim has a single hydro/mechanical caliper/park brake. Some versions had dual calipers.

 

If you're saying that my hammering on the rotor won't hurt the E-brakes, then that's what I needed to hear.

 

Once the parts arrive next week, I'll have the left side of the rear with new lower control arm, sway bar link, tie rod, rotor and pads, and a lot of education.

 

i believe the concern is, if the rear pads have worn down, then the parking/e-brake has been self-adjusting down to below-spec thickness in order to actually hold the car (if you've been engaging it). consequently when you put the new rear pads on, even in the "relaxed" state of having the e-brake off, it could be starting off from a "too tight" adjustment and the pads will drag on the rotors. since these are the drive wheels, you will quickly destroy a bunch of the pad material you paid for, maybe without noticing.

disconnecting the battery completely and touching the leads together for a few moments runs every system down to a soft-reset state, including this self-adjustment. the e-brake starts from fully relaxed the next time you engage it, and it learns the new pad thickness.

i'm not actually sure the extent to which any of this is true, or for which model years.

 

The logic seems good, and if anybody else can add their experience, it would be great. Parts are all coming in this week, so next weekend should see the rear brakes and suspension finished up. I can't imagine a scenario where doing a reset would hurt anything, can anybody?

 

Soft reset is fine. The only specialty tool you will need is a caliper tool that rotates the piston back in place.....it can not be pressed. I has to be rotated. I did a full brake job on the wifes XK's a few months ago, fairly simple job. I got the caliper tool for free at the local auto parts store.

 

See the "Sticky Threads" at the top of this Forum for the link to the Workshop Manual that's available to download for free.

 

With good guidance from jahummer and others, the driver's side rear is completely raw, awaiting parts to install. The caliper piston tool needed the pins filed in order to fit, and wasn't worth much more than the $20 I paid for it, but it will get the Jag done properly. I didn't suck brake fluid from the reservoir, though, instead I connected a tube and cracked the nipple to allow the piston to get screwed back in.

Once I knew that there wasn't an e-brake shoe inside the rotor (as there are in some Jags), I gave a couple of whacks with a 6 pound sledge and got the rotor off. When i do the right side, I'll be removing the rotor as one of the first steps in order to remove the lower control arm bolt.