Walker 4 Ton jack, J-134 93657, what to do

Well, I was looking for a good floor jack, I have two crappy ones that are dead and i'm tired of **** tools. Problem is, I'm also somewhat frugal. I came across this jack, and I've read enough on here to know Walker is a good name, and I was assured the jack worked and didn't need rebuilt. I drove 30 minutes to go take a look, we tried to jack up a car and it wouldn't do it. At the same time I finally got a clue as to just how BIG this jack is. But my eyes were bigger than my garage, and for a fair price it is now in my garage and is my best non-working floor jack, hands down. Problem is the jack was supposed to help me get some of my projects done, not become another project. Any ideas how to quickly get it functional again? I'm assuming it needs rebuilt, but I'm no expert. I tried everything listed in the manual (although when checking fluid level, I cannot see the cylinder as they suggest, was I looking in the wrong hole?), but it will not lift anything and definitely will not reach full height.

Questions:
1) Hiball, how much is a rebuild kit for this puppy?
2) what is the filler port below (I thought it was the only one not painted)
3) Any clues what year it was made (SN B 357 B13133, I think)
4) Anyone want to trade for a smaller (good) jack?

another pic

The Fill Plug is the Allen, With that Said that is NOT OEM equipment, LOL.. Those jacks should have a Vent to allow it to Breathe. That style of Filling is Trial and error, The fill vein is very small and they are a pain to fill once everything is closed up. I generally fill them prior to installing the Release assembly, This gives the Air a path to exit while filling. Its a slow process when trying to fill a assembled jack with Unknown amounts of Oil in the Reservoir. Try adding oil, Then see if you get any more lift, Rinse and Repeat till you reach full Height

Geez.. Someone has mangled those Valve plugs.

Thanks for the reply Hiball. Heh, yeah one of those plugs doesn't look like the other ones! I'll try your suggestion tomorrow, the manual had me worried about overfilling it, so I was at a standstill. Can you tell at all from the pics if it's leaking? It seems a little wet, but the guy i bought it from had spilled fluid attempting to "top it off" but he only had a little fluid to add. Is it at all better to drain it of oil and put a known amount in?

Yes, someone really boogered those up, but all in all, it's in good shape, um, well, except the non-working part. Those pics are as I bought it, as I wipe it down, it shining up a little more.

augustus said:

Thanks for the reply Hiball. Heh, yeah one of those plugs doesn't look like the other ones! I'll try your suggestion tomorrow, the manual had me worried about overfilling it, so I was at a standstill. Can you tell at all from the pics if it's leaking? It seems a little wet, but the guy i bought it from had spilled fluid attempting to "top it off" but he only had a little fluid to add. Is it at all better to drain it of oil and put a known amount in?

Yes, someone really boogered those up, but all in all, it's in good shape, um, well, except the non-working part. Those pics are as I bought it, as I wipe it down, it shining up a little more.

Click to expand...

I don't see anything extremely excessive, If they are just damp, Try tightening the compression rings, This will compress the packing and might take care of any light seepage. Don't go Crazy, Just snug them a bit and try it for a couple days.

That jack is old, maybe 35 to 40 years old. There is simply no way that the main seal is going to last that long, assuming it has never being rebuilt and even if it was rebuilt once before, the previous owner would have been lucky if he got 15 to 20 years service from the new seal. By now that seal is old again even if the pump was rebuilt 15 or 20 years ago and if it wasn't, it is way to old. See that the parts breakdown below is dated 11/74 near the top part of the breakdown. Even if it works after adding oil (I would be surprised if it does) it would be a good idea to replace the seals for safety's sake.

This is the type of old jack you hear about in the news after someone lifted a car and it came crashing down, on top of the person, a few minutes after the car was lifted. The u-cup had hardened over time and became brittle, breaking apart at the worst moment.

I would be wary of using an old jack that has never been rebuilt/repaired. Other type of hydraulic equipment is rebuilt on a regular basis but there is an unfounded belief that hydraulic jacks seals last forever and persons are surprised when they find out that their 15 to 20 plus years old jack has a broken main seal.

Even if a jack is working all right it is a good idea to have it rebuilt after 10 to 12 years of use, just to be on the safe side. Earlier if the jack is used daily or if it is seldom used. A jack that is not used for long periods of time promotes the hardening of the seal and its eventual failure. The seal needs to be "exercised" so it remains flexible for a longer time. So use the jack once in a while, even if you don't need to, just to exercise the main seal.

http://www.hcrcnow.com/uploads/drawings/Walker_J134_Series_J_Service_Jack_4_Ton.pdf

Edgar, I appreciate your caution, there are some serious pressures involved in all this and I don't want anywhere near them if something gives. That being said you can be sure i'm not going anywhere under that car without jack stands.

Hiball, I added quite a bit of hydraulic jack fluid (well, it may have seemed more than it really was since I was filling slowly and checking quite often) and the jack began to work! I added until the jack was able to reach full height (25 inches) with a small load (my daughter, she thinks it's a blast). Do I need to add any more fluid after that point?

Then I slid it under the Pilot and noticed something very useful about this jack, I can slide it from the side of the car and still reach over to the center front jacking point, that's really nice and actually makes it MORE convenient than my old small jacks where I needed more room in front of the car. Anyway, it jacked the car up, all the way up!

After jacking the car up and getting disinterested looks from my wife at my rejoicing, I lowered the car and noticed a few drops that came from the small piston shown in the picture DSC04273 above. Is that little spanner nut(s) one of the nuts you were suggesting I tighten slightly?

Thanks again for all your help!

augustus said:

Edgar, I appreciate your caution, there are some serious pressures involved in all this and I don't want anywhere near them if something gives. That being said you can be sure i'm not going anywhere under that car without jack stands.

Hiball, I added quite a bit of hydraulic jack fluid (well, it may have seemed more than it really was since I was filling slowly and checking quite often) and the jack began to work! I added until the jack was able to reach full height (25 inches) with a small load (my daughter, she thinks it's a blast). Do I need to add any more fluid after that point?

Then I slid it under the Pilot and noticed something very useful about this jack, I can slide it from the side of the car and still reach over to the center front jacking point, that's really nice and actually makes it MORE convenient than my old small jacks where I needed more room in front of the car. Anyway, it jacked the car up, all the way up!

After jacking the car up and getting disinterested looks from my wife at my rejoicing, I lowered the car and noticed a few drops that came from the small piston shown in the picture DSC04273 above. Is that little spanner nut(s) one of the nuts you were suggesting I tighten slightly?

Thanks again for all your help!

Click to expand...

If its maxing out in the lift department and your not hearing air rush back into the reservoir on the way down, its probably sufficient. Yes.. Both pump pistons have packing under those compression nuts, with that said they can only do so much. If the seals are worn internally, it won't matter how tight you crank them down.

Good call on the Jack stands, I can't stress it enough around here, Regardless if the jack is brand new or has a unknown history, they are a must.

My concern is that even if the jack works, yours, or anyone elses reading this, an old jack that never has been repaired is very dangerous as it can fail at any time without warning. The problem is that even if you use jacks stands, as anyone should always do, the jack could fail the moment you are almost under the car looking for a place to set the jack stands as a jack with a brittle main seal is most likely to fail soon (a few seconds, a few minutes) after the jack lifts the car. At least a big scare if you don't get hurt.

Still my recommendation is that anyone with a jack older than 10 to 15 years old should consider rebuilding it, even if it works OK, just for the sake of safety.

Hi Hiball
I just rebuilt one of these in my shop
Ya...took about a1/2 hr to fill n' bleed..
Rebuild all in all took appx 3 1/2 hrs...
Works great
Ted

I have a Walker 4 ton (J-134) that I got after my Dad passed; it seems to me he said it was a 1957...when I brought it home (from Houston to the Austin area), it leaked like nobody's business. At that time, I had a fleet of vehicles I maintained and needed the jack to perform properly. Checking around Austin, there was some hydraulics parts and repair outfit that said they could rebuild it. Even the tank had to be replaced; it was a heavily used unit for many years. Now for the purpose of my post: 2 important problems--1) the jack leaks down when under load and is progressively getting worse. 2) the "quick lift" feature is inoperative....anyone that can help me as to how I can rework this old girl to her old glory? Thanks in advance for any responses!!! Bruce