Advantage 4 post lift pump problem

[NBN]

Last night I moved cars around in my shop. I had a car stored on the lift, on the locks. Pulled it down and moved it out. Put another car on the lift, went to raise it, and it only lifted about 2 feet before it stopped raising.
The 120v motor spins with no odd noises. My thought is that the pump isn't working.
What is a good supplier to buy parts from? Advantage does not show parts on their website, but I will be calling them tomorrow when they open to see if they sell parts.

 

[finn]

The power units seem to be pretty generic. I have a couple of Advantage four post lifts and a Bendpac two post. The motor on the Bendpac failed a couple of years ago, so I did a search online. Parts aren’t generally available separately. One vendor in I think Dekalb Illinois told me the only lifts they provide motors for are high end Mohawks, etc for companies with hundreds of lifts. Otherwise just replacing the motor isn’t cost effective.

The pumps are pretty simple gerotor designs, so it’s unlikely a bad pump. The pump is a direct drive off the motor shaft, so if the motor spins, it’s either a bad motor spline, or debris stuck in the pressure relief valve, so it’s constantly bypassing through the relief.

There are dozens of imported power packs out there with various names, plus Bendpac had a replacement available. I ended up getting an SPX (Stone?) hydraulics from Best Buy hydraulics (not the tv store), who markets lifts and parts. I chose that brand because I was familiar with SPX from a previous life, where they owned Sealed Power, an engine Oem component supplier who I worked with previously.

Casually looking at the Advantage power pack when I set up my four post lifts, the power pack is almost identical to the SPX and the original Bendpac. The SPX was a direct bolt on replacement for the original Bendpac.

I would look at the relief valve and verify that the gerotor is spinning before I spent any money.

 

[NBN]

I've pulled the cap on the reservoir and can see the pressure relief dumping fluid. Guess that's where I'll start.....

 

[finn]

Unless it’s a broken spring, look for Teflon tape in the seat area. Alternatively, stray metal under the seat. I don’t recall what the valve looks like.

I still have the tank and pump from the BendPac if you need it.

 

[dagofast]

You can try clearing any debris from the valve by holding the lever down while pushing the power button. Keep pushing the button while releasing and then depressing the lever a few times. You'll know it worked if the lift begins to rise when the button is being pushed with the lever released.

Depending on the age of your lift, your pump might still be under warranty. Advantage offers a 5 year warranty on their lifts.

 

[NBN]

Following up on this.
Advantage was very helpful and was able to diagnose the problem quickly as a faulty "start up" valve. I'm assuming that is another word for pressure relief valve. Either way, they are sending me a replacement and apologized that I had a problem.
Will get it changed out this week and get back to work, hopefully.

 

[ratflinger]

Good for them, I like seeing companies that actually stand behind their products.

 

[thirdgoat]

Advantage has a full warranty on everything for 5 years after purchase

 

[Blandshop]

Following up on this.
Advantage was very helpful and was able to diagnose the problem quickly as a faulty "start up" valve. I'm assuming that is another word for pressure relief valve. Either way, they are sending me a replacement and apologized that I had a problem.
Will get it changed out this week and get back to work, hopefully.

Interesting as I had the same exact issue. When I called the support person they said the startup valve was bad. They are sending me a replacement. It would be nice to find the source of the valve for future reference. My lift is a 2020 model with very little use. Hard to believe a valve wouldn’t last longer than 4 years with very little use. I asked what they cost and was quoted $75.00.