What do I do? Help with car jack..
What do I do? Help with car jack.. It seems like the hydraulic in my car jack is going out. I haven't used it in about 7 months and under load it just doesn't go up anymore, it's about a year old and barely used. It's a Craftsman too. It lifts to about 10" out of the 16" then when I try pushing it down, it goes down almost all the way w/o jacking it up. How do I fix this?
Last edited by blind527; Feb 5, 2006 at 07:52 AM.
Originally Posted by lsevenl
You take that bastard back to sears and say "hey, this pos isn't working!" there you have it.
Originally Posted by CashMoney
Its leaking somewhere.. Your best bet is to take it back if you can if you can't check the valve for a good seal it sound like it might be leaking there..
I don't understand how it could be leaking. I barely used it and got it about a year ago. It sat in my garage for about 7 months w/o being used. It pumps fine until it gets under a heavy load, then it just goes down more than half way and doesn't pump anymore.
Is it possible that it just needs more hydraulic jack fluid?
Originally Posted by blind527
I don't understand how it could be leaking. I barely used it and got it about a year ago. It sat in my garage for about 7 months w/o being used. It pumps fine until it gets under a heavy load, then it just goes down more than half way and doesn't pump anymore.
Is it possible that it just needs more hydraulic jack fluid?
Is it possible that it just needs more hydraulic jack fluid?
Yeah I retract my last post after re-reading. I was thinking that it was jacking up then slowly comming back down. But since it goes up and stays up (not all the way) then you need more fluid..
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Originally Posted by CashMoney
Yeah I retract my last post after re-reading. I was thinking that it was jacking up then slowly comming back down. But since it goes up and stays up (not all the way) then you need more fluid..
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position the jack so the drain/refill plug is the highest spot, then fill with hydraulic fluid. I'm cheap and just use tranny fluid in my old one. My new one has never needed refilling.
I learned that with my old one, you have to make sure the pressure valve is tight while you are storing the jack. If you simply loosen it to lower your car, then sit the jack aside for months you get air in the system. Don't do that!
I learned that with my old one, you have to make sure the pressure valve is tight while you are storing the jack. If you simply loosen it to lower your car, then sit the jack aside for months you get air in the system. Don't do that!
Originally Posted by white2001s10
position the jack so the drain/refill plug is the highest spot, then fill with hydraulic fluid. I'm cheap and just use tranny fluid in my old one. My new one has never needed refilling.
I learned that with my old one, you have to make sure the pressure valve is tight while you are storing the jack. If you simply loosen it to lower your car, then sit the jack aside for months you get air in the system. Don't do that!
I learned that with my old one, you have to make sure the pressure valve is tight while you are storing the jack. If you simply loosen it to lower your car, then sit the jack aside for months you get air in the system. Don't do that!
Ah, so manually put it to the highest position, then fill it? I didn't do that, and it still did it a little.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 374
Likes: 1
If it's one of the newer quick lift ones (they come up to whatever you're lifting with like 2 pumps then they revert to the normal lifting circuit), then just take it back, some of them just quit like that an you'll spend a lot of time screwing around and not really get anywhere. For that matter, if they’re still packaged with jack stands you can usually get a free set of jack stands from them from your trouble.
FWIW, yea, you really should keep the valve closed when it’s stored and you shouldn’t pump it much when the valve is open. Both can force air into the oil and prevent them from working right.
FWIW, yea, you really should keep the valve closed when it’s stored and you shouldn’t pump it much when the valve is open. Both can force air into the oil and prevent them from working right.
