Jack is stronger and on the up.

[poprivet]

Hydraulic trolly car jack that is.

Like most, I have a couple of these jacks, a large one for lifting either end of the car high up and a smaller one for lifting suspension and the like. For a while I had noticed a reluctance for them to lift very high and they also needed a lot of pumping to get anywhere.

Mr Google suggested that they might be low on oil, can't say I've ever noticed a leak but the cylinders were coated in oily dirt. At whatever height they got to they held so the internal seals seem to be ok.

In Halfords recently I noticed a 1/2 litre container of hydraulic jack oil for about £4.50 so I thought I would give it a go. There are some good on-line guides but basically on the top of the jack cylinder is a round rubber plug, mine were painted over which made them look like a rivet. Clean the area well then prise the plug out and top up with oil nearly to full. A syringe makes topping up much easier. Mine took a suprising amount of oil. With the lift mechanism released slowly pump the handle up and down a number of times to bleed the system of air, you may need to top up the cylinder again. Push the plug back in and wipe up any spillage.

Both jacks now easily lift to their full height again, a simple, cheap and worthwhile job done.

[J44EAG]

I`ve used that Halfords fluid on my 30 ton bench press, Al.

It is suprising what does squirt out of joints after a bit of use. My press seems to loose if form the union on the pressure gauge. It tends to go un-noticed until you get pump up issues. Then you discover how much oil has been lost!

Mike