I had my 2008 XK serviced last week at the dealer, in the Bay Area. The Service Adviser informed me that I need to replace the rear brake pads. He told me that the cost would be almost $400 for pad replacement only. They do not machine the rotors if they have the minimum thickness, which is the case for me.

I am curious if anyone out there has had the pads replaced, without machining the rotors? Additionally, I would like to know if the price ($400) is in line?

Thanks in advance...

 

How many miles on the pads and how thick are they when the dealer measured them. Same with the rotors and if they are flat and within thickness I do not usually replace them. How does the $400 sorted out between labor and parts. I have not replaced the Jag pads yet but if the rotors ar in spec I will not change or machine (turn) them.

 

I had mine replaced as part of the service before I took delivery of my car - they charged the service department $300 for pad replacement only.

20,000 miles later it was time to replace them again - I think the after market pads I used cost around $100 and the special tool needed to screw in/compress the calipers was $37 on Amazon. As far as replacing brake pads go, the Xk is fairly straight forward - took me about an hour to do.

$400 seems pretty high for just a pad replacement

 

The dealer did not provide any specs, nor did they break down the labor/materials. He did however say that the rotors were within spec. That aside, is the replacement of the pads a difficult repair?

 

Tahoe Dave,

I had my dealer replace my front pads at 30,000 miles without turning (machining) the rotors. Turned out fine, but key to that result was having the technician inspect the rotors for excessive run-out and scoring and thoroughly cleaning them, and my properly bedding in the new pads. You need to brake gently for at least 300 miles and avoid panic stops at all costs. No shudder, noise, or pulling; quiet and smooth. Although my car has Alcon brakes, you should get the same result with the standard brakes provided your rotors are in good shape, you use the same OEM pads, and you take care to bed the new pads in properly.

See my post #3 in this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ke-dust-75789/

For more information, see this explanation from Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/tech/....jsp?techid=85

Brake pad replacement is not a difficult repair. A set of OEM rear pads for your 2008 XK should cost around $80. See: http://www.jaguarmerriamparts.com/parts/2008/Jaguar/XK/?siteid=215718&vehicleid=204320§ion=BRAKES Labor and other minor parts (i.e., springs, lube) are additional.

Hope this helps. If so, please click "Thanks" at the bottom right.

Stuart

 

I would always turn the rotors. Your starting out with new pad surface and your matting up to an old rotor surface? As critical as brakes are why not start out with two new surfaces?

 

I know every body jokes about it, but I am getting mine serviced at the local Ford Dealer. The owner is a friend and I trust the shop to tell me if there is something they should not do.

Just had them do all four wheels last week, with Akebono Ceramic pads and turning the rotors (They and I agree with Fastlane'sCat, "always start new pads with smooth rotors)

Anyway, all four with an oil change...just over $600.

 

Not to go off topic but has anyone here yet done a rear brake pad replacement of the 2010 on , gen 3 XK with E-Brake. Just wondering what the process was for retracting the E-Brakes and resetting them after a pad change. The calipers look pretty straight forward but I haven't tackled the E-Brake part yet. Just thinking ahead.

 

Rear pad replacement is very routine, any indy mechanic, including a back yard mechanic should be able to do it in 1 hour, if no rotor turning or replacement is involved. Given the price of $80 for set of pad, I would expect to pay no more than $200 for the job. I personally would do it myself in very little time while probably also looking at flushing the brake fluid, if found dark and dirty.

 

'Turning the rotors' at pad change is an outdated and unnecessary practice frequently promoted by shops that are trying to upsell a customer. It is not required or beneficial in probably 90% of cases.

Kudos on the dealer for using their heads and their honesty.

The cost of changing the pads yourself is little more than what your local car parts store charges for your favourite brand. Tool rental is usually free.

 

Yup, I did all 4 corners, including new rotors in an afternoon. Still had to buy the brake retracting tool set at Harbor Freight as none of my simpler tools fit the Jag. But i found it a basic job overall, and had no issues with the e-brake.

Vince

 

Had all four rotors and pads replaced a year ago by an indie shop.

They needed replacement plus I was sick of cleaning brake dust off the wheels every other day. I used EBC rotors and EBC "Red Stuff" ceramic brake pads. Dust was reduced by a good 90%.

The rear pads cost $95/set and the rotors $247/ set for a parts total of $342. Labor was an additional $200. Four hundred bucks for just the rear pads is probably the norm at a dealer.

While they had the wheels off, I had the calipers painted black. The Red Stuff pads are actually red and some of it shows through the calipers. A fun look for me...

Best regards.

 

I was mostly interested in the XK's that had the E-Brake (electronic brake system) where it is integral to the rear caliper. I would like to know how to retract the E-Brake motor . The pad change is rather simple but the E_ Brake motor is the question.

 

Well, keep in mind that nearly all rear calipers have an e-brake cable attached to them, and the Jag is no exception. The electronic is only the motor pulling the cable tight in place of a hand lever. It does not reside on or near the calipers themselves. That said, I tackled it like any other brake job. With my e-brake off, I had just enough slack to disengage the parking brake cable (with a few hefty tugs) from the actuating arm(basically a hook on the caliper with a eyelet on the end of the cable itself). I then pressed the piston back to its seat, installed the new pads, reconnected the e-brake, and put it all back together.
If you have the Alcons things may be different, or maybe I just got lucky, but I didn't need special electronic equipment to slack or reset the e-brake. It all tested fine after reassembly.

Just tossin thinking kinda brain thinggees.... errrr thoughts... out there...

Vince

 

Anybody rebuild a motor and use the old bearings? do you put in a new piston and rings without honing the cylinder wall? Thats how you should treat rotors. Fresh pads fresh surface and if the rotors are at min wall thickness change them out as well. Overall cost of pads and or rotors is not that much but how much you depend on them. We each have our own opinions but i have not heard a good reason not to.

 

OK now you have me interested and I'll have to put mine up on the lift this week and take a look. Where my confusion comes in is I assumed that the E-Brake motor was part of the caliper similar to Audi. If this has a cable attached to a motor then I think it should be easier to detach. With Audi you need to go into the OBDII port with a factory tool and back out the e-brake motor to free up the pads. Thanks for the info

 

On the Alcon brake system 2008-2009 Portfolio Editions, the rear braking system has 2 calipers. The red Alcon 4 piston caliber and a black Brembo brake caliper for the emergency brake. The Alcon caliper is large while the black Brembo caliper is quite smaller compared to the Alcon.

 

I haven't a clue about how the E-Brake works, but just got the July issue of JWM, and it warns against working on the rear brake pads if the E-brake is not in the "SERVICE MODE". It "could crush your fingers" says the article.

 

Interesting... Anything is possible, but something would have to activate the brake for it to do so....
I guess if you're in doubt, one could just pull parking brake module connector, or the battery lead.
I am not a Jag mechanic, but have done dozens of brake jobs in my life (have never taken a car to a shop for it), so I just took a look at it, and went to work... I was prepared to have jag calibrate the system if needed, but it was pretty straight forward, and worked well when I was done.

I will warn, that if you lack mechanical skills or proper tools to re-torque things to spec, I would never recommend you work on your own braking system.

-Vince

 

Any possibility we're getting a tad off topic here?

Best,