Trolley Jack leaks. Let this be a lesson to you... ;)

[MGJohn]

FYI: X-Posted from other sites :~

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I really was thinking of trashing this Trolley Jack which I've had for best part of ten years. Light amateur use only. It leaked out all it's fluid from the Hydraulic Pump when I last used it to lower my son's 620ti off the Axle stands... it simply wouldn't raise anymore and the fluid mess was everywhere. This is what I was faced with after cleaning up :#



I even trawled the web and catalogues to see what a replacement would cost ... about £150 quid for something similar.

Now I have patience but nowhere near as much as I did say forty years ago. However, decided not to throw the towel in and after putting up that thread request for information, did several searches on the web and got stuck in with the tools. Found a few helpful 'how to' items on the web AFTER I had part dismantled most of the hydraulic pump and it's various valves. That was a mistake. Little springs and steel balls but, where do the go? In my hasty impatience I had pumped the arm just a tad too much with their filler cap removed which shot the springs and ball valves out at speed.... .... Was able to locate them all so I thought but where do they all go. Various sizes confused the issue.

I pulled up Sealey's exploded diagram of the hydraulic internals and these were ideal for seeing what goes where. I had recovered all the parts ... except one. A tapered spring about 30mm long which controls one of the ball valves... it's in the garden somewhere ....

Sealey had a contact number on their diagram and the phone was immediately answered by an actual living member of the species [u]Homo sapiens[/u]. That makes a refreshing change. Excellent start and it gets better. I soon had all the parts I wanted with several duplicates just in case, for less than ten quid posted.

Previously I had already taken a worn seal to a local Hydraulics Company in Innsworth, Gloucester. The helpful guy behind the counter took it and came back with a couple of near identical O-Ring Seals. Guess how much they cost... eleven pence each plus VAT. So I splashed out and got two... a whole 27pence ... Whilst there, I asked if they had some suitable hydraulic fluid. They did but only in 5 litres Bottles ... those cost about a tenner including VAT. Enough to do many Jacks I would guess... got one anyway ...

So, carefully reassembled all the components and filled up the main Hydraulic Cylinder via a little rubber bung plug on the top of the cylinder casing. It took more than I expected so obviously most had leaked away. I then followed the priming process as shown on one of Sealey's helpful vids on YouTube. This one :~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_QfMBoQvnw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EEu5edakxE

It took more than twenty pumps to prime it. Following those instructions I was relieved to see I had a fully working 3 ton Trolley Jack again. Here it is raised :~



I then got my assistant ( wife .. ) to twist the shaft anti-clockwise to release the lift whilst I videoed it. Here it is lowering smoothly. Click on image to activate :~



MORAL: Patience is a virtue. Had I not impatiently jumped the gun, I could have repaired my Jack back to full working operation for a total cost of 11 pence plus VAT for a new O-ring seal ... plus a little Hydraulic fluid. One is never too old to learn....

MG-"Ace Trolley Jack Repairer"-John signing off a tad wiser tonight ....
.

[NateWM]

Interesting right up.

I have a Sealey Press which is weeping slightly out of the bottom seal. I am more than confident that I could rebuild it, but lack the time.

That post has made me decide that I will find time to do it this weekend. Cheers OP! :thumbsup:

[Matt UK]

Nice

As I get older I'm getting more into trying to fix things rather than throw away / buy new.

I serviced the 'Flymo' not long ago. It's about 8 years old and just seemed to swirl the grass around, as opposed to cut. Plus it won't fold and store properly as the handle comes away from the body... Wife pointed out that it's knackered, a new one was less than £100 and that this one has seen better days - but as we know, when you have started to take something mechanical apart, this is not the point!

1x new blade, 2x spacer washer pack, 2x handle fixing pins and 1x Drive belt ordered online, an evening spent taking things apart, cleaning, fixing, replacing, putting back together - bliss! I feel that I have now bonded with the Flymo and have vowed never to let it slip into such general disrepair again the future. Cuts like a dream

[HustleRussell]

I've done this on my Clarke jack... It was £125 worth, but given to me for free because the seals had gone. For about £7 I had new seals and 'O'- rings and a litre bottle of hydraulic oil... Very satisfying.

[DickHerpes]

MGJohn said:

I then got my assistant ( wife .. ) to twist the shaft anti-clockwise

I think you uploaded the wrong pictures.

[MGJohn]

DickHerpes said:

MGJohn said:

I then got my assistant ( wife .. ) to twist the shaft anti-clockwise

I think you uploaded the wrong pictures.

I wondered if anyone would pick up on that when I typed it ... you rascal...

It gets you in the end though.

[ezi]

My father's got an old trolley jack stuck away in his shop which apparently "isn't up to much". Might have to take it away and see what I can do

[MarJay]

I repaired an old trolley jack of my dads. Was a three ton jobbie.

Until my mate Dave borrowed it... I found out he'd been using it to lift his 7.5 tonner. When I asked him about this he replied "It doesn't weigh 7.5 tonnes on one corner does it?"

On a side note I thought this was going to be one of those "Man repairs his own trolley jack and then dies when a car crushes him" viral threads...

[MGJohn]

MarJay said:

I repaired an old trolley jack of my dads. Was a three ton jobbie.

Until my mate Dave borrowed it... I found out he'd been using it to lift his 7.5 tonner. When I asked him about this he replied "It doesn't weigh 7.5 tonnes on one corner does it?"

On a side note I thought this was going to be one of those "Man repairs his own trolley jack and then dies when a car crushes him" viral threads...

Yep, I've read one or two sad stories about that happening. I always use Axle Stands and nag my car user and DIYer sons to always ensure when they work on their cars, they use axle stands. We have two sets of those which are easy to use so no excuses.

Although I'm reasonably confident I've done a gooid job on this Jack, I shall watch it very carefully when I again use it .... just in case. Anyone refurbishing kit like this should do the same.

[MX7]

MarJay said:

Until my mate Dave borrowed it... I found out he'd been using it to lift his 7.5 tonner. When I asked him about this he replied "It doesn't weigh 7.5 tonnes on one corner does it?"

I think he's right. A 7.5 tonne is the laden weight, and I think most of them weigh about 3/3.5 tonnes. If you only do one corner it should be ok.

[droopsnoot]

I intended to do this to my old Kamasa trolley jack - it would lift but then slowly drop. If quick enough, it was possible to jack up the car and stick the axle stand underneath before it dropped. Then someone broke into my garage and stole it. When I reported the break-in, I mentioned to the police that if they get a report of someone being stuck under a car because the jack dropped on them, they'd probably find it was mine. (That was soem years ago, now I'd keep it to myself in case I got sued by the thief. But that's a whole different thread).

[ConRod12]

Okay, so hope it is okay to revive this thread!

My jack was leaking out of the big middle threaded section...so set nephew task of opening it up and maybe adding PTFE tape to the threads and then refilling. For some reason he opened up 2 of the sections and turned it upside down thus making the springs and ball bearings fall out.

Now my question is, can someone help me put it together again? I also think I might have either lost a spring retainer or a spacer that goes between two of the ball bearings. I have not seen a diagram for the exact jack model (unknown) but the Internet does show me a couple of diagrams attached below.

Would be so grateful if someone can help me out Thanks

[boggsy]

Can any help, I found this when looking for trolley jack repair kit for my old jack, I have the O ring fine its the seal on the end of the plunger that looks a bit worse for wear, I think it's an old master mechanic jack but just not sure as the plate is missing, I really like this jack for the large cup, its only a backup jack as I use a black hawk for the main lifting.

The jack still works it just leaked from the plunger, it is about 20 years old so it's well made and solid

I do have a Halfords jack but its shocking so bad, and now its dropping too, its not even that old, and it has a silly little cup that is useless, basically it is st!

Any help would be appreciated thanks.

[lornemalvo]

This is good to read, it's too easy to throw stuff away but that's life nowadays. I've been looking for a 3 tonne jack and they start at less than £100, but new jacks are all made in China, which does not instill confidence. As far as I know, the Chinese are brilliant at copying things and making products look the original, but that brilliance probably does not extend to detailed engineering where it counts. The hydraulic bits are the most important plus the quality of steel in the chassis/welds/integrity of the wheels etc

[Nitroburner]

boggsy said:

Can any help, I found this when looking for trolley jack repair kit for my old jack, I have the O ring fine its the seal on the end of the plunger that looks a bit worse for wear, I think it's an old master mechanic jack but just not sure as the plate is missing, I really like this jack for the large cup, its only a backup jack as I use a black hawk for the main lifting.

The jack still works it just leaked from the plunger, it is about 20 years old so it's well made and solid

I do have a Halfords jack but its shocking so bad, and now its dropping too, its not even that old, and it has a silly little cup that is useless, basically it is st!

Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Hi, new member so hello to all!

There is some on ebay which I came across the other day: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113295707982

Where is the bits of the plunger?

If the jack has a copper screen washer in the plunger part, it is possible the jack is around 35 years old, they revised then some time after.

[Ian15569]

Boggsy,

I know its been a while but if you still want to fix your tj4000 jack, you can buy a suitable seal from Totally Seals on Ebay.

This is a polyurathene U-Cup, size 12mm OD X 6mm ID X 6mm high. This is really too short because the groove in the piston is 8mm wide, but if you pack it with a 12mm OD X 2mm thick O-Ring it will work perfectly well.

Totally seals do not list what you really want, which is 12mm OD X 6mm ID X 8mm high.

If you still get problems after trying new seals then read the description of my repair of one of these jacks in the last post at

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...

Good Luck.

[Bugsboy]

I have a cheap one from Aldi of all places, had it about 10 years and it's been fine, until now!! It won't take any load, rummaged in my shed for suitable o ring replacement but none that fit so back to the old scissor jack for now!