squirrelybird

i have a cheapie (30 buck) hydrolic floor jack. cant really remember, but it must be like 2 or 2.5 ton or something like that. anyways, it workED great, but somehow i think some of the hydrolic fliud/oil got out, and now it pumps up to a point, and wont lift higher.

im thinking of either buying another cheapie or some ramps, but then i was thinking maybe there is a way to rebuild these things. anyone know?

and NO, i can't afford to buy a good floorjack.

(p.s. didnt really know where to post this)

Anak

Have you tried to add oil to the hydraulic cylinder? If you take the cover off the top there will probably be a rubber plug in the cylinder for the ram. Carefully pry out the plug with a small screwdriver (you don't want to tear the plug in half--I have done that), stand the jack on end so that the ram is vertical and add jack oil up to the level of the fill hole(in a pinch I have used regular motor oil, and I have yet to see that it is a liability). Replace your plug and you should be back in business. I have used the $20 to $30 cheapie floor jacks for over 15 years and found them to be fairly reliable. Once they cease to hold your vehicle up it is time to replace them. If you can get parts to rebuild them you could try, but they're so cheap, I'm not sure they're worth it. Adding oild should be pretty simple though.

squirrelybird

cool, i figured i could add some somehow. where can i get jack oil? or should i just go ahead and add some motor oil?? (10w30 ok?)

Berlinetta00

They use hydrolic oil, youd be best off using either power steering fluid or brake fluid. These fluids have better stability when pressure is applied to them. In large equipment, they use a modified brake fluid to activate all the hydrolics.