problem with floor jack

[street131]

Alright.... from reading around on this forum for last year I have figured out that theirs a few of you very familier with floor jacks and how to rebuild one. I will try to explain my predictament and hopefully some people can give me some help. I bought a cheaper 120 dollar 3 1/2 ton torin jack at tractor supply around a year ago. When i first got it, it would lose pressure when i would lift up a vehicle, and very slowly lower itself. I have never put jack fluid in it since i got it. I have used the jack many times since i got it. Recently i had to lift up my vehicle with the jack and with a full swing of the jack handle, it only goes up a little at a time and lowers much faster than it used to if you just leave the vehicle on the jack. So i finally looked in the fluid resovoir and it had almost no fluid. I put fluid in it and it made no difference. Did i ruin something inside of the cylinder, and if so, will a rebuild kit fix the issue? And if a rebuild kit is necessary, where would a good place to get it be?

 

[Hiball]

Alright.... from reading around on this forum for last year I have figured out that theirs a few of you very familier with floor jacks and how to rebuild one. I will try to explain my predictament and hopefully some people can give me some help. I bought a cheaper 120 dollar 3 1/2 ton torin jack at tractor supply around a year ago. When i first got it, it would lose pressure when i would lift up a vehicle, and very slowly lower itself. I have never put jack fluid in it since i got it. I have used the jack many times since i got it. Recently i had to lift up my vehicle with the jack and with a full swing of the jack handle, it only goes up a little at a time and lowers much faster than it used to if you just leave the vehicle on the jack. So i finally looked in the fluid resovoir and it had almost no fluid. I put fluid in it and it made no difference. Did i ruin something inside of the cylinder, and if so, will a rebuild kit fix the issue? And if a rebuild kit is necessary, where would a good place to get it be?

Well.. It could be numerous things, I seriously doubt anything is ruined. First off is there a possiblility of exchanging it with Tractor supply? That would be my first Move. If that fails you are gonna have to tear into it, I would first Inspect valves to make sure everything is where its suppost to be etc.. If you get me some pics i can certainly get you started in the right direction. But i would definitely try and exchange it, Most jacks even the overseas versions have a year warranty and they would be more likely to exchange rather than refund your money. I would venture to say you wouldnt even need a receipt. Lemme know...

 

[street131]

Oh, i already tried to exchange it, they said i did need a receipt, and they told me without the receipt they couldnt verify the date i bought it for the warranty. I definitly tried that already because i was pissed off that it wasnt working right. In reality, in some way it could be my own damn fault its not working right. When you buy a floor jack, does it typically come with the hydraulic fluid full?

 

[Hiball]

Oh, i already tried to exchange it, they said i did need a receipt, and they told me without the receipt they couldnt verify the date i bought it for the warranty. I definitly tried that already because i was pissed off that it wasnt working right. In reality, in some way it could be my own damn fault its not working right. When you buy a floor jack, does it typically come with the hydraulic fluid full?

Did you talk to the Manager?, Generally they know they sell junk and they are willing to exchange to keep a customer, mind you its not all torn to hell and they still offer the same product. Back on topic, They are not suppost to be completely full there has to be room for air to move, but there should be enough jack oil to allow the jack to reach full height without sucking air into the intake. Did you try jacking it up with NO load while the fill plug is out, Then release the jack and listed to see if you can hear Air re-entering the resevoir?

 

[Elroy]

Don't let Elroy get in the middle of this as HiBall is the expert. It almost sounds like you have some air in the cylinder or the valves are not seating correctly.

Might I suggest the big foot method. With the jack full down and the release valve closed. Put your foot on the front wheel and pull the load saddle up with your hand.

That will do two things. It will flush the check valves with oil. There might be some trash on the valve seats and this fill help flush them. It will also help flush out any air that could be trapped from your low oil condition.

That's all. Please continue

 

[turbotank]

with the handle tight or loose?

Don't let Elroy get in the middle of this as HiBall is the expert. It almost sounds like you have some air in the cylinder or the valves are not seating correctly.

Might I suggest the big foot method. With the jack full down and the release valve closed. Put your foot on the front wheel and pull the load saddle up with your hand.

That will do two things. It will flush the check valves with oil. There might be some trash on the valve seats and this fill help flush them. It will also help flush out any air that could be trapped from your low oil condition.

That's all. Please continue

 

[Hiball]

with the handle tight or loose?

Im not real familiar with Elroys Patented "Big Foot Method" but it is common for jacks to become Air bound and quite simply the only way to remove air is to replace it with oil and force it out.

The manufactures instructions for purging Air is to:

1. Open Release valve by turning the handle counter clockwise.

2. Pump the handle several full strokes to purge the air from the hydraulic circuits.

3. Close the release valve, Turning the handle clockwise. Pump the handle raising the lift arm to its maximum height.

4. Continue pumping several times purging air from the ram hydraulic cylinder.

5. Lower the lift arm by turning the handle counterclockwise.

6. the jack should now be free of air. Repeat the procedure if teh jack still feels spongy when used.

Of course all this is a mute point if you dont have enough oil in the resevoir, Make sure the jack is Lowered, Pull the Plug and inside the hole you will see the inner cylinder, The oil should just cover the cylinder if there is no oil visible fill it to this point.

 

[street131]

ok, ill try what you guys have discussed with me tomorrow and report back to you tomorrow night. One question though. How could i have gotten air inside the jack? Wouldnt i have to have some type of whole where it could be sucked in?

 

[Hiball]

ok, ill try what you guys have discussed with me tomorrow and report back to you tomorrow night. One question though. How could i have gotten air inside the jack? Wouldnt i have to have some type of whole where it could be sucked in?

Not enough Oil, Tilting of the jack... There is numerous ways to get a jack air bound but the most common is lack of oil. You could essentially pumped air inside the jack valves instead of OIL.

 

[street131]

hey Hiball, i tried the method you told me to do in order to get the air out ofthe jack and it still was VERY spongy. I did it many times over. With a full swing, the jack only goes up a little at a time and only starts moving up once that valve that the handle presses on is almost all the way compressed. Got any other diagnostic procedures that i can perform? With doing the tests i performed today and coming up negative, what could my final result be?

 

[Hiball]

hey Hiball, i tried the method you told me to do in order to get the air out ofthe jack and it still was VERY spongy. I did it many times over. With a full swing, the jack only goes up a little at a time and only starts moving up once that valve that the handle presses on is almost all the way compressed. Got any other diagnostic procedures that i can perform? With doing the tests i performed today and coming up negative, what could my final result be?

Assuming there is plenty of OIL in it and all these test were done with NO load, Sounds like the Pump Oring is Worn and not maintaining enough pressure to **** oil into the pump resevoir or out into the cylinder. Maybe a Picture of your jack, specifically the Pump area. I need to know if this is your common overseas jack or somekind of Quick pump jack.

 

[street131]

well, i dont know if this would help you or not, but whenever i put a load on it, it mades a loud squelling everytime i pump the handle, i will post a picture of the jack in the next week sometime when i can borrow the camera from my girlfriend. You have been a real help though hiball. YOUR THE MAN!

 

[Tennesseepowerstroke]

Subcribing. I have a Craftsman 3 ton doing th same thing. Sometimes it works and it won't now. I think the temperature somehow affects it. I tried exchanging mine years ago and Sears says "no way after a year".

 

[rhandwor]

If you used a charge card pull your monthly statements. Find a Tractor Supply purchase for what you paid for the jack.
You can also try another store take your wife to back you up on the purchase date.

 

[HillbillyTool09]

well, i dont know if this would help you or not, but whenever i put a load on it, it mades a loud squelling everytime i pump the handle, i will post a picture of the jack in the next week sometime when i can borrow the camera from my girlfriend. You have been a real help though hiball. YOUR THE MAN!

We are still waiting for a picture of what this floor jack looks like. I had a jack do that and it was a piece of ****. I took it back. The best floor jack I bought was my craftsman. I bought the crappy one at Harbor Fright.

 

[HillbillyTool09]

If you used a charge card pull your monthly statements. Find a Tractor Supply purchase for what you paid for the jack.
You can also try another store take your wife to back you up on the purchase date.

Woman are always the best to take when you return something. I make my wife do it. She gets mean with the person and tells them how it is. So you should also have your girlfriend go with you. Woman are crazy when it comes to something like that.

Also you can make her mad before you guys go in and than she would be even more crazy. Just don't make her too mad she may even get back at you.

 

[Hiball]

We are still waiting for a picture of what this floor jack looks like. I had a jack do that and it was a piece of ****. I took it back. The best floor jack I bought was my craftsman. I bought the crappy one at Harbor Fright.

After years of working on jacks, i think the "whistling" you guys are hearing is actually oil slipping by a seat that isnt properly seating when oil is being transferred from the resevoir to the cylinder, Now this could be coming from the working valves or by a overload valve that isnt set properly. This in normally caused by poor QC and sometimes can be recitified very easily with a "Proper" sized punch and a Hammer.

 

[the spyder]

What oil do you recommend Hiball?
I need to fix 2 of my friends jacks, both I assume are plain out of oil.

 

[Hiball]

What oil do you recommend Hiball?
I need to fix 2 of my friends jacks, both I assume are plain out of oil.

1st question you need to ask yourself, Is where did the oil go? Any kind of Hydraulic jack oil will work, You can pick it up in any Autoparts store. I generally buy my oil 55 gallon at a time and from whomever is offering the best deal.

 

[tjmonsen5]

Im having the same problem with my crafstaman 3 ton jack. I returned it, and the new one worked for about 3 months, and now this one is ALSO doing it!

I have done the air purge procedure many times, it works alright for a few days then. My jack loses pressure, and will drop back to the floor over night. I also have a horrible creaking noise when i pump the jack handle under load. LOUD creaking, and the handle is hard to pump, and its not smooth to pump anymore either.

 

[Hiball]

Im having the same problem with my crafstaman 3 ton jack. I returned it, and the new one worked for about 3 months, and now this one is ALSO doing it!

I have done the air purge procedure many times, it works alright for a few days then. My jack loses pressure, and will drop back to the floor over night. I also have a horrible creaking noise when i pump the jack handle under load. LOUD creaking, and the handle is hard to pump, and its not smooth to pump anymore either.

These jacks dont have the best hydraulic valve systems in them, Compared to some of your Name brand stuff its like comparing a Atari to a Xbox 360. I have great concern with these companies slapping "3 ton" on some of these jacks. The creaking noise is very common, the loss of pressure isnt and they might be related. I would recommend to keep returning it till you get one that is better. Ive said it a 1000 times the QC is not the greatest on these jacks.

 

[tjmonsen5]

Whats funny is that my dad has 2 jacks, 1 or maybe 2 tons at the most, Craftsman jacks. They are about 20 years old, and they work great.
My new craftsman 3 ton jacks don't even last a year.

 

[Hiball]

Whats funny is that my dad has 2 jacks, 1 or maybe 2 tons at the most, Craftsman jacks. They are about 20 years old, and they work great.
My new craftsman 3 ton jacks don't even last a year.

The older jacks were probably manufactured in Japan, Have a Ucup on the ram and i suspect the Qc was better back then. I have had numerous requests for repair kits for those old sears jacks. Generally they are Green in color and have model numbers in the 328 *** range.

 

[street131]

Hey, sorry it took so long getting these pictures, i have no digital camera so i had to borrow a friends. The jack has been getting worst on how much pressure it loses. Anyways, i took 2 pictures of the jacks inner workings and if you could tell me anymore procedures i should do or what i should buy to get this thing working good.

 

[street131]

here are the pictures of the jack i forgot to put in my last post

 

[Hiball]

Hey, sorry it took so long getting these pictures, i have no digital camera so i had to borrow a friends. The jack has been getting worst on how much pressure it loses. Anyways, i took 2 pictures of the jacks inner workings and if you could tell me anymore procedures i should do or what i should buy to get this thing working good.

here are the pictures of the jack i forgot to put in my last post

Its definitely overseas, Without taking it apart its impossible to determine if the pressure loss is due to the Ram cup or a valve failure. I would first remove the tank nut and pull the Ram for inspection. If its good.. Next step is to tear into the valves looking for Problems.

 

[glenmore]

As if it needs to be said, this is why you never get under anything that can squish you with just the jack holding it up, even if it is just for a quick look-see.

 

[street131]

ok Hiball, what is the tank nut and what is a ram cup?

 

[Hiball]

ok Hiball, what is the tank nut and what is a ram cup?

Im sorry. You will have to take the Jack Unit out of the Frame, There should be some bolts (4) on the side near the rear that secure the Unit inside the frame. The Tank nut is the nut that secures the resevoir to the jack, It is located at the Cylinder End of the Hydraulic Unit. The Ram Cup is the on the end of the ram and is what holds pressure to allow your jack to lift as it extends.

 

[street131]

haha, thanks hiball, now i understand, i will try that tomorrow when it gets light again and ill give you my findings. You have to dummy down for me a little....Your too smart!!

 

[street131]

I took out the unit from the frame. how would i be able to visually tell if the ram is bad?

 

[Hiball]

I took out the unit from the frame. how would i be able to visually tell if the ram is bad?

You will have to disassemble the unit starting with removing the tank nut (opposite end of the pump) After you loosen and unscrew the tank nut you can pull the Ram out and then you can visually inspect the Ram Cup.

 

[HillbillyTool09]

You will have to disassemble the unit starting with removing the tank nut (opposite end of the pump) After you loosen and unscrew the tank nut you can pull the Ram out and then you can visually inspect the Ram Cup.

Do you think it would be best for him to just buy a better brand if he can't get it fixed? Thats what I did. Now I'm just great lol.

 

[Hiball]

Do you think it would be best for him to just buy a better brand if he can't get it fixed? Thats what I did. Now I'm just great lol.

I dont like spending other peoples money for them, I will give him the info and its up to the Him whether its something He wants to undertake or just buy a new jack. Me personally i take pride in fixing my own stuff, It gives me justification to buy tools and Not fall into the "throw it away and buy a New one" crowd. There was a time when Products where built to last now we buy something expecting it to go bad and then just junk it.

 

[street131]

I like learning about how to take **** apart and diagnosing it. I hate it when people just throw something away instead of using their brain and finding the knowledge the repair something.

 

[HillbillyTool09]

I like learning about how to take **** apart and diagnosing it. I hate it when people just throw something away instead of using their brain and finding the knowledge the repair something.

Well that is good. I don't have time to work on things like that. I'm always busy. Either with the wife or working. I work for a towing company.

 

[benjamming]

Well that is good. I don't have time to work on things like that. I'm always busy. Either with the wife or working. I work for a towing company.

So why post in this thread?

 

[HillbillyTool09]

So why post in this thread?

Because I was replying to his post that he posted, when I asked him. I had also said I had about the same problem from a jack I bought a while ago in this post and I just threw it away because I don't have time to work on things.

Why wouldn't it go in this post, when I had mentioned it a while ago?

 

[street131]

ok Hiball I finally took out the piston from the cylinder and found the ram to be in perfectly fine shape. What would be the next step in figuring out what exactly is wrong? Somehow check the valves? Took me a couple days to get a 2 inch socket to get the pump apart.

 

[street131]

ok, i took everything apart except for the pump part and the valves. The cylinder and piston and cylinder housing, i dont see any cracks, all the o-rings fit nice and tight, BUT there is alot of metal shavings in my jack oil, i mean ALOT. I also had two metal screens fall about when i pour the oil out of the cylinder. Where should i go now hi ball?:-/