Torin floor jack leaking...can it be saved?

[Lhorn]

I've got a Torin 1.5 ton aluminum "racing" floor jack that decided to spring a leak tonight. Changing body bushings on the car I noticed the jack was not pushing the body up further. Removed the jack and found a puddle of fluid under the jack. Looking under the jack, the body of the hydraulic ram is wet and the piston of the ram is wet also so I think it's leaking around that seal. It doesn't leak bad enough that I can see an active leak (with no weight on the jack).

It's at least 5 years old, but hasn't been used more than a handful of times per year for oil changes etc (I use stands under the car when I'm under).

Any ideas, advice, links would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[STELLA]

Hi,

I'm not an expert, but had a similar problem with a Craftsman a few years back. I found a pneumatic repair shop, and they repair jacks. Talked to the counter person, and he informed me most of the newer jacks aren't rebuildable. The issue was odd sized o-rings, he told me the cheaper jacks are impossible to fit a standard o-ring & get the piston to seal in the cylinder. Not that the Craftsman, or Torin jacks are cheap, but rather just not serviceible. Good luck, maybe try Torin direct? I tried Craftsman/Sears, no parts to be had, legal issues...

 

[balane]

Does it happen to look exactly like this?

.

 

[Lhorn]

Similar but not exactly. Mine has a blue body. Instead of individual front wheels it has one wide roller. Perhaps other difference but I cant tell from the pic.

 

[balane]

Ah. I have an extra rebuild kit and service manual for the one shown, but it won't work with yours. They were very helpful with me. I think the US office is in L.A. but it's been a while. Try to look them up.

 

[EDGAR]

Practically all jacks are rebuildable. Some may have odd sized seals that are not carried in stock by local hydraulic shops because the number of o-rings available and u- cups is very large and it would be very expensive to carry all sizes. Most hydraulic shops don't want to repair low priced imports, because it is not cost effective for them, so they tell the owner that the jack is not repairable. They only want to repair expensive equipment so it is up to you to take the jack apart and remove the main seal at the end of the ram. You have to measure the inside diameter of the o-ring (best done by measuring the groove on the ram) and the thickness, or cross section, of the o-ring. This is assuming, of course, that the main seal in this case is an o-ring and not an u-cup.

Take that o-ring to a local hydraulic shop and hope that they have that size in stock. In the cases where a size is not available, a different shape or size seal can be used but this requires some machining of the ram.

There are o-rings in inch sizes (SAE) and in metric sizes. Many of the inch sizes can be used instead of the metric sizes because they are about the same size.

1/16" = 1.5mm
3/32 = 2.5mm
1/8" = 3.5mm
3/16" = 4.7mm
1/4" = 6.35mm

Common metric sizes come in:

1mm, 1.5mm, 1.6mm 1.9mm, 2mm, 2.4mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm, 3.1mm, 3.5mm, 3.6mm, 3.65mm, 4.0mm, 5mm, 5.7mm, 8.4mm. Other 0-rings "standards" may have additional cross section sizes.

Below is a link to a site that shows the different metric "standards" or groups of sizes of existing, but not necessarilly available everywhere, O-rings. There are japanese standards, german standards, french standards , british standards, ISO standards, Dowty standard, etc. One that is not shown there is the italian standard, which is the most complete of all the standards as it carries a huge amount of sizes and cross sections. As you can see, no one is going to have in stock all these sizes.

http://www.prepol.com/my-ppe/o-ring-sizes

Also, you can contact Torin and see if they sell a repair kit for you jack.

http://www.torinjacks.com/CustomerServices.aspx

Also, aluminum jacks have side covers on the pump body that are sealed with big o-rings and held in place by the jacks side plates. This could also be a potential leak spot. By now, your jack is low on oil, so it does not lift as high as when it has a full oil level.

 

[Lhorn]

Thanks for the reply Edgar and everyone else. I put a little more oil in it, cleaned up the leak until it was nice and dry and pumped it up a bit. Oil is definitely leaking out past the piston and what ever seal is there. I'll try going through Torin first to see if I can find parts. Their customer service number on the jack is 1-888-44-torin.

I'll let you know how they treat their customers and if I can get it fixed.

Thanks.

 

[snorky18]

Lhorn, did you ever get your torin jack fixed?

Mine took a leak on my garage floor yesterday while the weight of my car was on it, so now I'm debating repair vs replace.

 

[crewchief888]

I've got a Torin 1.5 ton aluminum "racing" floor jack that decided to spring a leak tonight. Changing body bushings on the car I noticed the jack was not pushing the body up further. Removed the jack and found a puddle of fluid under the jack. Looking under the jack, the body of the hydraulic ram is wet and the piston of the ram is wet also so I think it's leaking around that seal. It doesn't leak bad enough that I can see an active leak (with no weight on the jack).

It's at least 5 years old, but hasn't been used more than a handful of times per year for oil changes etc (I use stands under the car when I'm under).

Any ideas, advice, links would be appreciated.
Thanks.

contact GJ member hiball,

he's the master of all things jacklike

 

[In The Doghouse]

I have had this Torin jack for about 8 years. Recently when using it fully extended (I know I shouldn't have) it purged a pretty good puddle of oil in the floor. Today I was trying to figure which plug to remove to add oil and in doing I may have lost a spring that fits between the two bearings in the valve.

I have searched on line for a parts list but to no avail. Does anyone know what size spring this thing requires? It seems larger then a ball point pen spring and I would believe low tension so that it doesn't over-ride the primary spring.

 

[Hiball]

I have had this Torin jack for about 8 years. Recently when using it fully extended (I know I shouldn't have) it purged a pretty good puddle of oil in the floor. Today I was trying to figure which plug to remove to add oil and in doing I may have lost a spring that fits between the two bearings in the valve.

I have searched on line for a parts list but to no avail. Does anyone know what size spring this thing requires? It seems larger then a ball point pen spring and I would believe low tension so that it doesn't over-ride the primary spring.

I don't know the exact size of the spring, but I'd say with great confidence that you should be able to find one that would work at your local hardware shop. It might require a little trimming to get the proper length, too long and it could prevent the upper ball from seating, ideally you want it to sit just below the upper ball, so when the lower ball lifts its under tension. As far as the diameter, you want it to be just a hair smaller than the lower ball, This way the Ring seats on top of the ball, but doesnt surround it. I've read that torin does offer rebuild kits for there jacks, I can't confirm or deny but I'd be willing to bet you would be money ahead finding the apropriate one locally.

 

[In The Doghouse]

Okay, I guess I have to 'fess up before I continue this discussion. In the interest of changing the hydraulic oil I made a bonehead move and drained the contents of the jack into this oil catch pan. I saw the two bearings drop out and disappear into the center hole and assumed there was also a spring. I succeeded in retrieving the bearings but not a spring.

I have washed that pan out with soapy water and strained the resulting mess and have found no spring. So, maybe there wasn't one???

I put the jack back together and refilled with hydraulic fluid. It wouldn't pump up. But if I open the breather screw and with the valve closed pull the arm up manually, then close the breather screw, then release the valve it will pump up again really good. But..... it won't sit all the way down without some weight on it. It seems to require some positive pressure in the oil reservoir.

So what to do? I guess I should contact Torin during business hours next week.

 

[Hiball]

Okay, I guess I have to 'fess up before I continue this discussion. In the interest of changing the hydraulic oil I made a bonehead move and drained the contents of the jack into this oil catch pan. I saw the two bearings drop out and disappear into the center hole and assumed there was also a spring. I succeeded in retrieving the bearings but not a spring.

I have washed that pan out with soapy water and strained the resulting mess and have found no spring. So, maybe there wasn't one???

I put the jack back together and refilled with hydraulic fluid. It wouldn't pump up. But if I open the breather screw and with the valve closed pull the arm up manually, then close the breather screw, then release the valve it will pump up again really good. But..... it won't sit all the way down without some weight on it. It seems to require some positive pressure in the oil reservoir.

So what to do? I guess I should contact Torin during business hours next week.

I can't tell you for sure if it utilizes a spring between the balls, or not.. I don't mess with aluminum jacks enough to recall, and not all use springs/weights. The reservoir pressure shouldn't have anything to do with the valves working initially. Have you attempted to bleed the jack? This is vital when your draining and refilling... With the handle in the release position, pump the jack 6-8 times this will make flow the oil from reservoir ---> valves---> through the release---> back into the reservoir. Next tighten the handle and try the jack.

 

[In The Doghouse]

I tried the bleed procedure as you describe above to no avail. So I locked the valve with the vent open and pulled the arm up about 1/2 way and then closed the vent. The jack seems to be working okay now.

The spring pressing against the larger ball is very light. If there was a spring between the large ball and small ball it would have had to be even lighter. Either there was a light duty spring that remains stuck to the gummy sidewall of my oil catch thing, or there was no spring at all. I am beginning to think I have all my parts in there and maybe this thing will work okay now.

Thank you very much Hiball for your help. I hear you are the top jack dude around here and I appreciate that you jumped in to help.

 

[Hiball]

I tried the bleed procedure as you describe above to no avail. So I locked the valve with the vent open and pulled the arm up about 1/2 way and then closed the vent. The jack seems to be working okay now.

The spring pressing against the larger ball is very light. If there was a spring between the large ball and small ball it would have had to be even lighter. Either there was a light duty spring that remains stuck to the gummy sidewall of my oil catch thing, or there was no spring at all. I am beginning to think I have all my parts in there and maybe this thing will work okay now.

Thank you very much Hiball for your help. I hear you are the top jack dude around here and I appreciate that you jumped in to help.

If there is a spring on top of the big ball, chances are there was one in the middle.. I revert back to my original suggestion, head to the hardware store with little ball in hand, its sole job is to simply aid in seating the ball quicker. It will generally work without one, but the transition between the upstroke/downstroke will be much crisper and transfer more oil into the cylinder versus back into reservoir (at least till the down pressure seats the ball).

 

[In The Doghouse]

If there is a spring on top of the big ball, chances are there was one in the middle.. I revert back to my original suggestion, head to the hardware store with little ball in hand.

Okay, I respect that. There is a good True Value hardware store near where I work. Tomorrow I'll figure out what size spring this would take and on Monday see what T/V offers.

 

[Lhorn]

Update on my jack. I called Torin and was able to get a rebuild kit. you had to send them a money order (it's been several years since I had to get one of those). Kit went in fine and after I figured out how to bleed the damn thing, it's working 100% again.

I'd give customer service a call. I bet they'd be able to help you out.

 

[Hiball]

Update on my jack. I called Torin and was able to get a rebuild kit. you had to send them a money order (it's been several years since I had to get one of those). Kit went in fine and after I figured out how to bleed the damn thing, it's working 100% again.

I'd give customer service a call. I bet they'd be able to help you out.

That's Great... Other than the money order.. Lol. Of hand do you recall what the kit cost? Or what components made up the working valve?

 

[EDGAR]

For IN THE DOGHOUSE

If the lifting arm does not go all the way down, maybe the oil tank is either overfilled or it has more oil than necessary. Try removing some oil, so that the oil level is about 3/16" to 1/4" below the oil fill plug and try again.

Of course you know by now that the breather plug is also the oil fill plug. It is unfortunate that the plug was labeled as a breather plug; they are usually labelled "oil fill".

Having a full tank without any air space above the oil will created a lot of vacuum inside the tank when the arm starts to lift. In some cases this will prevent the oil from flowing as it should from the tank to the pump piston. And the higher the arm goes, the higher the vacuum. Have you tried lifting the arm, by pumping the handle the ususal way, with the breather plug open? Having the breather plug open will prevent the creation of the vacuum in the tank.

About the spring, there are some TORIN steel jacks that only have one light spring over the bigger ball. The bigger ball is more important than the smaller ball because the bigger ball is the one-way ball valve that allows the oil to go behind the ram when you pump down the handle but when you stop pumping, it closes inmediately to hold the oil behind the ram. This ball is holding the weight you are lifting, so it has to perform flawlessly and fast. Because of this, you want this ball to react faster, therefore the use of the spring or a weight. The weight of the load being lifted is pushing the oil to go back to the pump piston and if the ball is slow to close, the lift arm could go down slightly. Here you have a high oil pressure going back because of the load.

The smaller ball is the one that allows oil from the tank to come under the pump piston when you pull the handle up. When you pump the handle down, this smaller ball closes and the oil is redirected towards the ram. This oil going to the ram is pushing open the big ball. A spring, or a weight, is not absolutely necessary over the small ball as the pumping down of the handle pushes and closes the small ball quick enough. Here you have a lower oil pressure acting on the ball as you push down the handle, so less oil is likely to go back to the tank if the ball were slower to close because it does not have a spring. Having a spring here that is to strong may actually prevent the pump piston from drawing all the oil it can from the oil tank in a single stroke because the ball may close prematurely or it may not allow the ball to rise enough to allow more oil to enter below the pump piston.

So, if you add a spring and the pumping performance declines, you may want to remove the spring. I think that if you did not find a small spring is because there was none.

There are jacks that have weights over both balls, and also there are jacks that do not have anything above the balls and these still work OK.

Bleed the pump again if you do anything to it.

 

[itwnexus]

Which brand aluminum floor jack will last 10 years or more? Are aluminum floor jacks easy to rebuild? Is it difficult to remove the tank nut?

 

[Hiball]

Which brand aluminum floor jack will last 10 years or more? Are aluminum floor jacks easy to rebuild? Is it difficult to remove the tank nut?

Impossible to Estimate the longevity of a hydraulic jack, too many variables.. Easy to rebuild? No more difficult than any other floor import floor jack, a lot of the quick lift ones share the same "style" of hydraulic unit. Difficult to remove the tank nut? Again about the same as there steel counterpart.

 

[itwnexus]

Which brand aluminum floor jack is worth buying? I know the ones used in NASCAR are good but they are way too expensive.

Has any one used an aluminum floor jack on and off for more than 10 years without a leak? Please provide brand and specs.

 

[Hiball]

Which brand aluminum floor jack is worth buying? I know the ones used in NASCAR are good but they are way too expensive.

Has any one used an aluminum floor jack on and off for more than 10 years without a leak? Please provide brand and specs.

Those NASCAR jacks or Brunnhoelzl <--- high end racing jack are cool but they aren't rated to lift much weight, normally less than 1 ton, especially on the 1 pump units.

 

[EDGAR]

There are basically two types of pump used in aluminum jacks. Ones have an oil tank like the steel jacks. Others store the oil in the pump body, therefore they have no tank nut as such, you have to unscrew a tube over the cylinder or just remove the cylinder itself in some other cases.

Below is the parts breakdown for the AFF 210 3 ton aluminum jack which is the same jack as the 3 ton aluminum jack sold by ARCAN. The second picture is of a pump without a regular type oil tank. There is also a link to expensive aluminum jacks.

http://www.hyjacks.com/race.htm

 

[Lhorn]

Of hand do you recall what the kit cost? Or what components made up the working valve?

Sorry it was several months ago. I actually took some pictures to post, then got lazy and decided no one cared so I deleted them.

I'm pretty sure the kit was far less than $20 - I think maybe like $14.
It contained mainly rubber O rings and a few plastic parts.

In my case when I disassembled it the culprit was very obvious. One of the black rubber O-rings looked like it had been pinch a bit and was bit torn and stretched.

Of the two pictures in the post directly above this one, my jack (which is exactly like the blue one posted on the first page of this thread) is the like the second one.

 

[itwnexus]

Lhorn, how many O rings are in the rebuild kit? What tools did you use for the tear down and rebuild?

 

[In The Doghouse]

I apologize to Lhorne for hijacking his thread. I did so because our subjects were similar and it had been a few months of inactivity.

But, my jack is working well now. It seems that by design some positive pressure might keep the small ball from floating and by pulling the lift arm up about 1/2 way with the valve locked, then seal the oil fill cap, I was able to find the happy medium. At least that worked for me.

 

[Lhorn]

This is what's left of the kit. (there are a few clear plastic rings that don't show up well on this washed out picture) There was only one item that needed to be changed. I think I planned on using all new parts and then decided why replace an O ring that wasn't damaged so I might have only used 2-3 parts. The rest will either sit around collecting dust or get used when it springs a leak somewhere else.

Teardown was really easy. Only a few basic handtools here needed. I think I use my 3/8 in socket set, some wrenches and allen wrenches. As I recall, the only PITA was reinstalling the spring that is under the jack and pulls the piston back in. It's really not that tough, just a little awkward with only one person.

Now I wish I would have posted the pictures of the teardown, but it's really simple actually.

Doghouse, I don't consider it a highjack. For all the help I've been given by this message board, I wish I could give back a 1/10th of the knowledge that's been shared with me. At the very least other people chiming in may make this thread useful to someone else who runs into a similar problem.

 

[In The Doghouse]

Okay, my Big Red floor jack hasn't been working well. I broke it down yesterday and called Torin. The rebuild kits are $5 each, not a bad price at all.

But they need to know the model number of my jack and it is not identified anywhere. Can any of you identify the model number by this photo of the key parts?

Edit: Torin has identified my jack model as T815005L and the rebuild kit is $5. I'll let you know how it comes together.

 

[Hiball]

Okay, my Big Red floor jack hasn't been working well. I broke it down yesterday and called Torin. The rebuild kits are $5 each, not a bad price at all.

But they need to know the model number of my jack and it is not identified anywhere. Can any of you identify the model number by this photo of the key parts?

Edit: Torin has identified my jack model as T815005L and the rebuild kit is $5. I'll let you know how it comes together.

Good to Know, Maybe post up the Contact info you used for anyone else wanting to order a kit directly.

 

[In The Doghouse]

It was easy. I called their order line to order the rebuild kit, gave them my address and Visa card number for the $5 charge including shipping, and expect to receive it in about a week.

Torin Phone-From USA and Canada 1-909-390-8588
Toll Free Number 1-888-44-Torin

I will update after receipt and reassembly.

 

[HarryGlotz]

Re: Torin floor jack 3 ton

I have the same jack used 3 times and the handle is jammed. Took apart but can't see a problem. Any thoughts?

 

[road]

wow dead thread but good info have the same jack same issues Torin same thing still want a money order lmao ... $14

 

[krellboy]

Wondering if anyone is still listening on this old thread.

My Torin failed just like most mentioned here. I ordered the repair kit and it's on the way.....$8.50 all in on Visa. Torin could not provide the actual description of the repair process but are providing a parts diagram.

I'm hoping the diagram will be good enough to figure out how to get things apart and back together....but I'm a poor DIY'er. Could someone chime in with a few photos or brief description of the process?

Mine is the Blue 1.5T Aluminium Racing Jack. Looks like the main piston O-ring is the failure point.

I PM'ed Lhorn but in case he's not still active maybe someone else will re-open the thread....it'll be a ongoing issue.

Perhaps it's as simple as most say but any input is better than none....ie what are the gotchas

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

mine was leaking, and I found the piston was coming unthreaded from the crossmember/reservoir part. Tightened up, all good again.

 

[TechGuy8]

I have a Husky 1.5T racing jack sold by Home Depot in 2016. It does not stay up and coming down slowly.

I think that this is a Big Red Torin T815016L 1.5T floor jack and rebranded by Home Depot as the Husky line. It look exactly like this photo.

I drained the jack oil as it looks dirty and refilled with new jack oil.
Air is leaking out from the oil fill rubber plug as I had been doing bleeding frequently by pushing the rubber plug with a screwdriver. Now, it will not stay up no matter how many times that I bleeding this jack.

There may be other location is leaking air. But I do not find any oil on the floor when I pump my jack. Can I assume that all seals in my jack are working? Otherwise, I will find oil on the floor.

If I over fill my jack with jack oil, oil is coming out from the oil fill hole under the rubber plug when I pump my jack. Anyone know where I can buy the oil fill rubber plug in Canada.

 

[jayemm]

Re: Torin floor jack 3 ton

I had one of those same jacks, but it was the lift arm that was jammed in the up position. Turns out that an o-ring (must have been used as a guide or support ring as it didn't seal any fluid) got rolled and jammed between the piston rod and the outer cylinder casing. The outer cylinder housing that you see is just a cover. Inside is a "pipe" that is the cylinder containing the piston.

 

[jayemm]

Which brand aluminum floor jack is worth buying? I know the ones used in NASCAR are good but they are way too expensive.

Has any one used an aluminum floor jack on and off for more than 10 years without a leak? Please provide brand and specs.

Bought one in 2010 that has been overall great. After about 5 years had a small seep that was easily fixed by replacing a large metal crush washer at the handle pump piston (not lift cylinder).It was a thin aluminum crush washer that I replaced with a thicker one. Fixed externally without disassembling cylinder body or removing side plates.
Bought at harbor Freight and discontinued by them long ago.Info is:
" U.S. General 3000 lb aluminum racing jack Item 47246" It is (was---I painted side plates blue) painted totally silver and is a single pump piston --not the dual piston "quick lift, rapid pump" style being sold today.

These were popular with the weekend racer crowd and apparently have held up well to a lot of use. There are pictures available on the internet. It was their praise of the jack's reliability that guided my decision to buy one.I'm glad I did because a dual piston lifts quicker but requires twice the effort whereas the single piston requires twice the strokes but half the effort.

At the time, being impressed with the build quality especially the finely ground finish on the lift cylinder rod, after much research traced it to a Chinese manufacturer of industrial equipment with a large ,modern plant and wide product line. Can't remember the name but the lettering molded on the side plates was a guide in finding them.
Being that the jack is a keeper, I replaced a lot of the round headed screws (too soft and hex is not very deep) with hardened allen head capscrews and moved one side handle to the rear for easier carrying.

 

[ajchien]

Anyone know where I can buy the oil fill rubber plug in Canada.

You can find an oil fill plug on Amazon. The lack of a plug / poor sealing of the plug is not the cause of a jack leaking down though. A jack can operate just fine with the plug out, albeit it would spit oil out of the hole each time you lowered the ram.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088PPKM49/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[TechGuy8]

@jayemm and @ajchien
Thank you for your info.

I put a cardboard under my jack. I pump up up my jack to the highest position and left i overnight. Next morning, my jack came back down. I cannot find any oil on the cardboard. It does not gave me any hint where is the problem.

I can disassemble my jack to look for issue(s).
Any suggestion where I should start first.
OR order a repair kit from Big Red/Torin and disassemble it completely, clean everything, replace any broken seal or o-ring and put it back together.