trolley jack maintenance

[.]

My trolley jack is playing up. Keeps letting the car down. Sometimes it lets the car down just as quick as I am pumping it up. Any suggestions?

 

Is it a matter of replacing an O ring??

or putting more fluid in???

 

Or is it just shot?  I hope not, it is only a couple of years old.

[C.A.R.]

Try refilling & bleeding with Jack Oil.

If that doesn't work, pull it apart & replace the O-ring(s).

 

Is it a cheap Chinese one?

[FLEXZED]

i had a cheap taiwaniese jack lasted 15 years tried the fluid replacement and new orings but it didnt work

 

so got on ebay and found a 2.5  ton jack and now i have peace of mind

 

Loui

[nizm0zed]

If you know what brand it is, you should be able to find a supplier.

They can usually get reco kits for them.

 

If its a cheapie, then good luck getting a kit. Better off to either replace it, or pull it apart and try size up seals in a specialist store.

 

Autobarn often has cheap jacks in thier sales, next sale is due in march.

[Zedman240®]

Sounds like a  torn or damaged O ring(s). Sometimes it is cheaper and easier to just replace the whole jack. Mine broke a spring that keeps tension on the foot pump and handle...without that spring, the handle does squat. Cable tie to the rescue and it sort of works...once the rest of it dies its on the nature strip.

[sydney mike]

I have a cheap trolley jack from Kmart, i'd say its probably 10+years old.

 

When I stop jacking it up, it drops approx 1/2 inch then seems to hold ok.

 

I would never get under a car without stands of course, my question is, are these old jacks dangerous? Is it possible for the hydraulics to just let go and the car come crashing down on the discs?

[hunterzed]

Not if you put a stand under it. 

[RB30X]

Try refilling & bleeding with Jack Oil.

 

 

Lurch, do you know the procedure for bleeding a trolley jack?

 

Mine is a few years old and developed a leak from the piston/seal where you pump it up. Eventually it leaked enough oil out to limit its jacking height. I decided to top the oil up but because I removed the screw in plug (that the piston slides up and down) in, to replace the oil ring, I've let air into the system and now it won't pump at all. The sticker that tells you how to bleed it has faded. I have the little knob which you undo to let the pressure out to lower it, and a little flat bladed screw with what looks like a spring underneath it. I tried a few ways to bleed it but all were unsuccessful.