Sears/Craftsman 3 ton floor jack

[Goldboattail455]

I've had this Craftsman 3 ton floor jack for maybe 6-7 years. I bought it new. Lately when I pick up my car the jack drops in small increments until eventually the weight of the car is off of the jack. The jack can pick up my car fine, but no sooner than me reaching for my jack stand does it slowly drop maybe 1/4", and again and again. What type of fluid should I put in the jack? I'm making the presumption that there is air in the system and that is why it drops. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[thatcoder]

take it to sears for a swap.

 

[cubfarm 1]

The ram seal is worn out. The lip that holds pressure just wears with time and gets weak. The oil is seeping past the seal and flows slowly past it and is pushed over the top and back into the tank. Big happy circle. If you can find a place that handles seals locally you can fix it yourself. At work it is a simple cure but i have the parts at hand.

 

[Hiball]

I've had this Craftsman 3 ton floor jack for maybe 6-7 years. I bought it new. Lately when I pick up my car the jack drops in small increments until eventually the weight of the car is off of the jack. The jack can pick up my car fine, but no sooner than me reaching for my jack stand does it slowly drop maybe 1/4", and again and again. What type of fluid should I put in the jack? I'm making the presumption that there is air in the system and that is why it drops. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Have you noticed Any leaks? It might not be the Seal, It could be the overload has backed off. Generally when the seal starts going bad splintering etc you will find a leak at the tank region, Your jack is gonna use a Ucup and the lips dont generally wear like a piston seal would. If it has the UCUP shell with Oring version and these do fail as the oring loses its flexibility to keep the edges sealed against the cylinder . There is no way to diagnose the seal without taking it apart but i keep most of the common sizes in stock and can fix you up if thats what you need.

 

[melliott28]

Thanks for starting this thread. I have a Craftsman 3 ton jack as well with the same problem. I was trying to decide if I should try to tackle the repair myself. You guys have any idea what a repair shop would charge?

 

[Hiball]

Thanks for starting this thread. I have a Craftsman 3 ton jack as well with the same problem. I was trying to decide if I should try to tackle the repair myself. You guys have any idea what a repair shop would charge?

Any Real Hydraulic shop will tell you buy a New one, I wouldnt tear one down and repair it for less than $65 bucks. If you need the parts i can suppy you with the required soft parts as long as you give me some measurements. I have a Import Tutuorial around here somewhere that will give you a good start.

You can probably rebuild it yourself for about 50% of my Price.

 

[melliott28]

Thanks Hiball! I will do a search for your tutorial before I start the teardown.

 

[ibedayank]

I've had this Craftsman 3 ton floor jack for maybe 6-7 years. I bought it new. Lately when I pick up my car the jack drops in small increments until eventually the weight of the car is off of the jack. The jack can pick up my car fine, but no sooner than me reaching for my jack stand does it slowly drop maybe 1/4", and again and again. What type of fluid should I put in the jack? I'm making the presumption that there is air in the system and that is why it drops. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Jacks are to LIFT not to hold.
Are you using jackstands rated for the weight you are lifting in pairs?
To many people have been KILLED because a jack failed and what they jacked up crushed them.