I replaced the front rotors and pads on my 94 xj40. Now I get a “break” warning light with a “fail” code. I cannot seem to get the air out of either front wheel. I have run 2 quarts of fluid through the system and still get air. I tried gravity bleeding and pumping up pressure and then opening the bleeder valve. I still have the front of the car jacked up from the brake work. Could this possibly affect the system bleed? Is there a way to check the fluid sensor? The “fail” code indicates low fluid level, but the level is full. Could I need to bench bleed the master cylinder?
The fronts are a real pain to bleed, at least in my experience.
The bleeders on my car seemed to input as much air as they expelled and I struggled for hours trying to get the system bled, buying a new bleeder valve first then even going as far as driving 80 miles to a mate’s place to get a replacement caliper in the middle of a storm …and of course the replacement was almost as bad. The bleeders are notorious for leaking air when opened.
I had perfect brakes before I began and brought this on myself by deciding to replace all the fluid.
Eventually I got the system working but If I ever do the job again I think I’ll try to bleed the system at the caliper hose and forget the bleed nipples.
Even now I’m sure I still have SOME air in the system, a year later.
Good luck and maybe someone else has some advice (for us both!)
I just emailed the speed bleeder company (no affil) asking if they stock a unit for our cars. Maybe a pair of these would help - I see guys on the XJS forum recommending them for Teves front caliper bleeding.
Will post results here when they get back to me.
http://www.speedbleeder.com/feature.htm
EDIT: Ok, just spoke to the speedbleeder folks, the model for the 94 XJ40 is SB8125L #
This is a M8 x 1.25 bleeder valve 1.28 inches long.
The “#” after the part number denotes it is also available in stainless.
I’m going to order a pair.
I bought speed bleeders for every corner of my car. Cost me around $60. The BEST $60 bucks I spent on my car! Since then, brake bleeding is a breeze.
Gotta be an upgrade we all need Joe - just wish I knew about it before!!
Oh well, learn something every day with these old Jags!
all the best
Larry
Larry,
I bought these speed bleeders in May of 2012 and did the brake job in the following month. I didn’t write in the XJ40 forums but uploaded some pics of the job. I agree with Jay Leno about the brakes: no matter what vehicle you have or how old it is, do an upgrade to the brakes. And the speed bleeders are really worth the upgrade.
Cheers!
Checked out the pix Joe, - I guess you must have the best brakes on any XJ40 anywhere!
Great job!
Larry
Thank you Larry!
Last Oct. I replaced all 4 rotors with Brembo and installed Jaguar OEM pads. Flushed the previous brake fluid with ATE Type 200 (amber color). It was the 2nd time I bled the brake fluid with the speed bleeders and it was really easy. I hope more XJ40 owners are going to discover and use it.
Let us know how you like it when you use these bleeders.
Take care Larry!
Just a ‘work around’ to that problem I used once when struggling to bleed the brakes. I intended it as a temporary measure to get the car off jack-stands and back on to the road but it worked that time and every subsequent time I needed to bleed the brakes after that single application.
I wrapped the bleed screw threads in PTFE(?) ‘plumbers tape’ (that thin white stuff you use on water pipe threads etc). That effectively stopped air being sucked in to the calipers past the threads on that first occasion and although I expected to have to re-apply it on each subsequent occasion, in fact it didn’t need replacing and the original continued to work well thereafter - but of course I wasn’t bleeding the brakes every day. 
A bit of a ‘bodge’ I know, but at about one penny one time, not a bad investment - and the heat in the calipers did not seemed to have a bad effect on it either.
Shoulda woulda coulda! 
Yes, I’m sure the teflon tape would have worked, oh well, too late now!
At $7 per bleeder or $15 in stainless, the aforementioned bleeders w/valves are going to be on the car next time. Slightly more money than a roll of tape but not exactly a large investment either!
all the best
Larry