Old Blackhawk jack questions

[henry29]

I picked up this Blackhawk jack from a friend earlier today, and I know nothing at all about it.

Hope someone can help me with a few questions.

The u-joint on the bottom isn't connected to anything, I'm guessing I can I just pull the handle out and reconnect it?

What is supposed to be under the plate with the six screws? It has a gasket with some milky looking oil under it.

It looks like it should have a lever on the handle not sure what it would do if it were there, Can anyone tell whats missing?

What model is it?

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[ShadowRuleZ]

That looks like the one with the light in it, an S4. There'd be a switch in one of the handle ends. Nice find!

Edit: Quick link with some pictures of the handle. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92985

 

[zkling]

Looks like an old S-4, 4 ton unit. The cover you are talking about is most likely the oil resevor, I'd flush, clean and put in new hydraulic jack oil. The U joint on the release is a known issue with those and hard parts such as that are non-existant. There have been a few good repair methods, IIRC member Bull, modified a craftsman socket U joint to work in place of the original.

Those are cool jack, but the rebuild kit cost is expensive and hard parts are usually make your own. So use caution. I'd give it a thorough inspection before sinking any real money into it.

 

[henry29]

It looks like it's missing the lever on the handle and the cover.

How do I flush the old oil out of it and how much does it hold?

If i drain all of the old oil out do I need to bleed it?

If I tighten the valve it seems to pump up just fine.

 

[henry29]

Tried to do some searching for S-4 Blackhawk, looks like that's what it is, but apparently parts are pretty much nonexistent.

Is this jack worth restoring? Will I ever find any parts for it?

 

[sselander]

Plug this into google, these have been discussed many times on the forum

blackhawk s-4 site:http://www.garagejournal.com/forum

 

[henry29]

Thanks, I tried searching here with the search function and could only find a few threads.
I had no idea what model it was until I asked.

 

[Hiball]

Just a little FYI on your jack, it's correctly been identified as a blackhawk S4, but it also is the aluminum framed version which is a bit more rare I believe. Everyone else is spot on in regards to hard parts and seal kit prices. The reservoir is underneath the cover that houses the light, and absolutely it will need to be bled if you drain the oil, and more so if you invert the jack.

 

[henry29]

I jacked up the front of the 57 about an hour ago and it seems to be holding fine with no leaks, it was very easy to pump.

Should i drain all of the oil and refill it?
The oil in the reservoir looks a little rusty.

How do I drain it and bleed it if I do?

 

[Hiball]

I jacked up the front of the 57 about an hour ago and it seems to be holding fine with no leaks, it was very easy to pump.

Should i drain all of the oil and refill it?
The oil in the reservoir looks a little rusty.

How do I drain it and bleed it if I do?

Its really up to you.. As I described earlier the reservoir cover is under the light, once the cover is off, you will either need to **** the oil out or invert the jack to dump the oil out. Once the reservoir is empty, there will still be some oil in the valve system so you will need to bleed the jack because there will undoubtably be pockets of air introduced when you drain the reservoir. The bleeding process is no different than any other jack, fill with oil, handle in the release position, pump the jack 6-10 times as this will flush the circuit, check the oil, use jack.