Leaking floor jack

[dghii]

Don't know if it is reparable..never really notice spare parts for floor jacks so I guess it depends on weather or not is is simply a fitting.

I had a craftsman do that one. I simply replaced it as I had lost confidence in the thing and would not risk using it.

[The Radium King]

the leaking oil might just be oil escaping from the pressure bleed due to too much air trapped in the unit. if you follow the procedure to bleed the air from it, it may stop. if you don't have the manual, it looks something like this:

- oven the valve you use to drop the jack by one turn and let jack drop to lowers position
- pump 8 times with valve open
- close valve and raise jack to max height
- pump 8 more times
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air
- drop and test

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

the leaking oil might just be oil escaping from the pressure bleed due to too much air trapped in the unit. if you follow the procedure to bleed the air from it, it may stop. if you don't have the manual, it looks something like this:

- oven the valve you use to drop the jack by one turn and let jack drop to lowers position
- pump 8 times with valve open
- close valve and raise jack to max height
- pump 8 more times
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air
- drop and test

Cool ..!
Thank you for the tip, I will try it as soon as I get home
.

[mikehkang]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

the leaking oil might just be oil escaping from the pressure bleed due to too much air trapped in the unit. if you follow the procedure to bleed the air from it, it may stop. if you don't have the manual, it looks something like this:

- oven the valve you use to drop the jack by one turn and let jack drop to lowers position
- pump 8 times with valve open
- close valve and raise jack to max height
- pump 8 more times
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air
- drop and test

Hello King,
Are these same valve or the two different valves?
- pump 8 times with valve open
...
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air

Also, is there a special "oil" to used in a floor jack?

Thanks

[The Radium King]

you can buy jack-specific oil.

re valves, there are two of interest - one that you open when you want the jack to drop and close when you want it to lift (the raise/lower valve) and another that you open to bleed air (bleed valve). on my jack it is just a rubber plug in the main cyl that you pinch to let the air out. so , procedure looks like this ...

- open the raise/lower valve by one turn and let jack drop to lowest position
- pump 8 times with the raise/lower valve open
- close raise/lower valve and raise jack to max height
- pump 8 more times
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air
- drop and test

[mikehkang]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

the leaking oil might just be oil escaping from the pressure bleed due to too much air trapped in the unit. if you follow the procedure to bleed the air from it, it may stop. if you don't have the manual, it looks something like this:

- oven the valve you use to drop the jack by one turn and let jack drop to lowers position
- pump 8 times with valve open
- close valve and raise jack to max height
- pump 8 more times
- find the bleed valve and release any build-up air
- drop and test

King,

Can you explain how "too much air trapped" can cause oil to escape or leak?
After I changed the oil and bled the jack, oil did leak at first.
I bled the jack again a few times and now the jack is not leaking oil.
You might have fixed my problem!
However, I can't get my head around how the "too much air trapped" can cause oil to escape. I would be grateful if you or anyone else can explain this for me.

Thank you.

P.S. Do you bleed every time before you use the jack?

[The Radium King]

in my case the oil was leaking out of the bleed valve; there was so much trapped air in the jack that it popped the valve and shot air/oil out. the first time lots of air came out, but now i bleed it fairly regularly. still, ibit of oil continues to seep out of the bleeder.

[jcb986]

A lot of the best jack makers are gone because of the China cheap throw away jacks. Check out Snap-On, maybe they are made here.

[mikehkang]

Originally Posted by jcb986

A lot of the best jack makers are gone because of the China cheap throw away jacks. Check out Snap-On, maybe they are made here.

Thanks jcb.

I searched the Snap-On site and their jacks too are from China.

In fact, you can buy the same 1.5 ton jack I prefer from Amazon for much less than their site.

If you had made in USA jacks before, how long did they last?