Floor jacks keep dying!

[donsrods]

Wasn't sure where to post this, so I'll just ask in the lounge. We have a terrible time keeping floor jacks from spilling their fluid all over the shop floor. No matter if it is a Harbor Freight or a better quality one, after a while they all start leaking.

Most recent one is a Craftsman aluminum racing jack Dan got me last Xmas. Nice jack and it goes low so it fits under my dropped axle, but the other day it too started leaking fluid out the bottom. Same thing with a nice racing jack Don bought me the year before. Is it the heat in our shop? Even our cars start leaking stuff like tranny fluid if the car sits for a while. I know the shop gets up to the mid 90's all the time, but that seems pretty normal for most places in the summer.

I'm taking the Sears jack back for a new one, but just wondering if anyone else has this problem.

Don

 

[Bonehead]

I have a bunch of hydrolic jacks and I keep them on a shelf , with an old cookie sheet under them. Seems like they all drip a little. My floor jack is an older Cornwell and does real well.

 

[Tripper]

I'm taking the Sears jack back for a new one, but just wondering if anyone else has this problem.

Don,
Yep... my Sears 2 1/2 ton jack has always leaked. Don't know why!?

BoB

 

[Lightning]

I think it has something to do with the composition of the seals - I have a 2 1/2 T Harbor Freight type that I bought about 10yrs. ago and I've never had a problem with it,now a jack that my friend bought about a year ago, a craftsman racing jack, will leak and bleeds down, he had this problem not long after he bought it and has returned it twice so far. I don't know if it's the heat or not - it gets rather warm in Nevada during the summer months

 

[donsrods]

At least I see I am not alone. Not sure how to cure it, if there is even a cure.

Don

 

[Tripper]

At least I see I am not alone. Not sure how to cure it, if there is even a cure.

Cure: a handy bottle of hydraulic fluid!!!

 

[Sam_Fear]

I've had 2-1/2 ton for near ten years, never a problem. Can't see why 100* temps should cause leaks - if so, that is just poor/cheap manufacturing. On the HF stuff I would expect that. Or if it were happening at sub-zero temps, but 90 degrees? Wonder if the hydraulic fluid is crap and eating the seals? Or breaks down over time.

Maybe they had to change what the fluid is made of due to EPA laws?

 

[bob w]

I always thought it was the cold! My jacks leak up here on the frozen tundra. Just took a 50 year old Montgonmery Ward 1 1/4 ton jack in yesterday. Bought it when I was a teenager and can't seem to part with it.

 

[35Mastr]

I bought a 2 tone one from Costco 12 years ago. Just started to leak and bleed down. Roled out to the curb with a Free Sign on it. Gone in less than 5 minutes.

For 79.00 I will just get another one. I just aquired a new Craftsman one from my neighbor next door when I cleaned out the garage after Curt passed away.

Jack loooks new,But I dont like the plate on it. Its really small for the size jack that it is. Jacked up a boat trailer to replace the studs and service the bearings. Plate bearly could grab that axle.

 

[utilityart]

Usually it is the seals that develop leaks.
You can search by part # here http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/index.action?sid=PSHx20080114x00001
to see if they have a seal kit. I'm sure they are available for that jack somewhere.

 

[Unkl Ian]

Take it apart and put some decent quality seals in it.
Hydraulic seals should be standard sizes.

The Chinese factory probably saved 5 cents each
by using the cheapest seals they could get.
As long as it lasts 30 days after purchase, they don't care.

 

[donsrods]

Good thought. Right now we have about 3 or 4 dead ducks in the shop, so I might tear into one to see how it goes.

Don

 

[nutajunka]

I think alot of it has to do with how much play most have in the rod that goes up and down. The part where your pipe fits in to pump your rubber piston up and down. On most they will have alot of slop causing the rod and piston at the bottom to go in all sorts of directions, till it develops a leak. Try shimming up the linkage to where it's only straight up and down and they will last. I looked into this along time ago. Also untill I do firm up all that slop in the linkage, I just try and make sure to pump up and down as straight as possible.