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Can a jack be fixed?


Canuck

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My jack is no longer working. For the last week the jack worked if I had weight on it but without weight on it the jack lowered. Now it will not work at all. It is a fairly old.  Can these be serviced or is it time for a new jack?

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Just now, Dtret said:

They can be. But if it’s not leaking any fluid it’s may be a bad “ ram”. 

It is not leaking anything and never has.

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They can be repaired, but typically it depends if it's a good, name brand quality jack. If it's a cheaper, Chinese jack, your luck of finding parts or a place to repair it decrease rapidly.

We have places in Buffalo, NY that repair stuff like that, and they won't touch the cheaper stuff. They say they can't get parts (seals, etc).

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I repaired my own before which was no more than replacing seals (internal and external) and bleeding the ram, but I had help from a hydraulic tech who lived next door at the time. Back then repair parts were actually a thing. (1985 or so)

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Looks like mine only a different color, got mine probably 20 years ago at harbor freight still works. I left it out over the winter one year I sprayed it with pb blaster and has worked fine ever since. But no Matter what I always use jack stands though.

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You may want to check to see of the hydraulic fluid is full.  And always use jack stands just in case. I don't trust old jacks or new jacks. I bought a new jack from Harbor Freight a few years ago and it will drop slowly with weight on it.

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I got my current jack for my birthday a couple years ago to replace my 30 year old jack.  I got a harbor freight low profile 3 ton quick up.  I do think most of us would not get under a car without jack stands.  After I get mine onto the jack stands, I even put the floor jack under the area I am working.  Here in Pittsburgh, just recently, a young man was killed when the car he was working on fell onto him.  Just a note, my harbor freight jack doesn't drop down at all after I get the car jacked up but it is still what I consider fairly new.

rob

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6 hours ago, cny first gen 71 said:

Looks like mine only a different color, got mine probably 20 years ago at harbor freight still works. I left it out over the winter one year I sprayed it with pb blaster and has worked fine ever since. But no Matter what I always use jack stands though.

Agreed!

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slowly dropping down can be an indication that it just has air in the system and needs to be bled. You should be able to find bleeding procedures on the world wide web somewhere. Cheaper than a new jack, right?

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