I'll be doing my first brake pad replacement job on my wife's 2006 XK8 within the next 5,000 miles or so. I assume I can compress the caliper pistons at all four wheels with nothing more than a good-sized (maybe 6-inch) C-clamp - yes or no?

Our 2005 S-Type's rear calipers require one of those special tools that spirals and compresses the piston at the same time. From everything I've read here on the forum, our XK8 does not seem to require this....

Just looking for experienced confirmation prior to doing the brake pad change....

 

Jon,

I've just done front pads and discs on mine. The pistons pushed back in very easily on the Brembo calipers - more easily than on standard calipers. No reason to think the rears would be any more difficult.

I was surprised at how tight the steel retaining pins were. They do seem to pick up on the caliper and needed careful cleaning. At a staggering £60 ($90), I wasn't about to replace them!

If you use aftermarket pads, make sure they don't bind on the caliper at the top and bottom of the pad backplate. I had to take around 2mm off the backplates to get mine right.

Graham

 

Yes....no problems with front or rear brakes with a wide enough C-clamp....at least with the Brembo's.

 

I always use one of my old pads between the G-Clamp and the piston/s to prevent any damage. One of those tricks my father showed me when I was a young fella.

 

+1 on using the C-clamp method. Worked perfectly for my non-brembos. Nothing overly exotic about the Jag's brakes (thank goodness).

 

I did the pads and rotors on the front of my 2004 XK8 and just the pads on the rear. Used Akebono=no dust. A C clamp was all I used and it worked fine. One thing. I had to remove some brake fluid when compressing the cylinders or it would have overflowed the brake reservoir. Be sure to open it. Keep some fresh fluid around to top it up. Don't reuse what you take out.

 

Thanks for the tips, guys. I've had the XK8's new front and rear Wagner ThermoQuiet semi-metallic brake pads since late March when I purchased them on sale through rockauto.com. Like Spuddyo, I always use one of the old pads to spread the C-clamp's load over the piston surface. When I tackle this job, I'll report back here (hopefully with no problems). The current pads still have some life left in them, so it should be a few thousand miles yet. We'll see....

 

Be sure to watch the fluid level in the master cylinder as you compress the calipers. If you've topped up the fluid in the past it may overflow.

 

I used the Wagner ThermoQuiets for my '01 and am very happy with them. Quiet, stop well and almost no brake dust.

 

+1

There is very little free volume between the fluid high level mark on the reservoir and overflowing.

Graham

 

As a 'good working practise', I always attach a brake bleed tube to the bleed point and open it when compressing calliper pistons.
That not only prevents the overflow problem, but also avoids pushing dirty fluid back through the system, especially the ABS/DSC unit.

 

Way to go Astromorg! I was hoping someone would mention your technique. It is the simplest and best practice IMHO.

 

Siphoning out a couple of ounces of brake fluid from the reservoir prior to doing any piston compression can be time well spent. I've done this in previous pad changes on other vehicles....