My brother is coming into town this weekend and wants me to help him change his Pads and Rotors on 2007 XK. I am a novice/beginner at mechanical work - I've probably changed 10 different vehicles brakes and rotors. Usually goes OK, sometimes hard to get the caliper bracket off or getting the rotors themselves off. But I live in NE with lots of road salt and corrosion, where he is coming in from Charlotte, NC which should negate that frustration. Is there anything special I should know about this particular brake job before beginning?

Since he's coming in from out of town, I don't want to have a problem in the middle which would prevent him from heading back after the weekend.

 

I did have to go buy a special size for the job, but I encountered no real issues. Other have said they had problems with the e-brake afterwards requiring the shop to reset, but I did not experience this...

 

Be sure you have the necessary tools to reset the pistons for the rear brakes, if those are also to be replaced.

It is also a good idea to change the brake fluid if that has not been done within the past two years. Be certain to use the correct specification brake fluid.

 

opps... fergot about dat tool... needed it too.... (Free rental from AutoZone)
Thanks for the catch...

V

 

Thanks for the info. Knowing it was going to be pretty straight forward going into it helped. Whole job was done - all 4 with pads and rotors in a little over 3 hours. Lost about an hour b/c somebody already rented the tools for the rear. I was able to do it with a little square tool they sell, but not without a lot of wasted time. You have to really push in (a lot) while turning the piston. After I figured out to push harder, we got it done.

 

OK, so the trick to resetting the caliper piston, is to insert a tool with a "square" that allows one to "turn" CW while pushing to recess the piston?
This sounds like the old FORD process from years ago.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Exactly, and push in hard. I was turning while pushing and nothing was happening. You have to really push down hard while turning.

 

The cube "square" one is a pain to use so if you can borrow or buy one of the better tools do that.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...+tool&tbm=shop

 

Thanks , I have one like this cube. But the other style shown would be much easier. Anyone know the measurement between the pins?

 

Get a universal brake caliper tool kit from Harbor Freight ................it will push and rotate rear caliper................

Cheers, Adrian

 

PS............
Always bleed off old fluid from caliper into a container; you don't that stuff pushed back into the system.................

Adrian

 

Should you not, determine if the HF tool's pin distance is correct for our Jag caliper pistons? I'm just trying save someone the aggravation of buying a tool getting home and finding it not be correct.

 

A friend of mine has a kit from Snap on which has an assortment of ends that fit most cars. There was one that work in my 77 Ferrari so there were others that would fit Jags. I know there are other cheaper kits but you would need to look for them.

 

I bought the Harbor Freight tool some years back and it works fine, multiple adapters. 04 XJR and 07 XKR.

 

Again, Autozone loans tools for free (deposit required).... Great for those one time (or once every few years) jobs...