How To Fix A Floor Jack That Leaks Down

Suppose you intended to work with your floor jack but realize it is leaking hydraulic fluid. What do you do then? Do you look at the instrument and wonder why it’s oozing out bodily fluids like a Final Destination movie?

Or do you try to fix it? If so, then here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to fix a floor jack that leaks down. After reading this article, we hope you can fix your floor jack by yourself.

10 Steps To Fix A Leaking Floor Jack

Even a floor jack deserves a good life, and a leak doesn’t help at all. A floor jack that leaks down will stop lifting at one point, making you miserable as well. So here’s how to fix it:

Step 1: Remove The Gear

You will notice a valve screw at the rear end of the floor jack that resembles the gear of a can opener. In that case, you will want to take your screw (usually a flat ) and unscrew the valve. As it comes undone, take it off.

Step 2: Take Out The Hydraulic Ram

After taking out your valve screw, you will find another bolt underneath it. For this, you will need to use a wrench and a hammer. Fit the wrench over the bolt and tighten it appropriately.

Then take your hammer to the shaft of the wrench and hit it repeatedly until the bolt comes off.

Caution: This step should be done with utmost care and alertness as the hammer can cause serious bodily injuries. You don’t want to end up with an injured finger to fix a floor jack that leaks hydraulic oil.

Step 3: Take Out The Screws

Now that you have taken out the hydraulic ram, you will come upon two screws that intermingle each other and sit exactly in the middle of the ram. Twist the lower one, and it should come off easily. As soon as it does, the upper screw will just slip through.

Step 4: Clean The Bolt

The leakage has left a considerable amount of oil and debris. Take a clean rag and wipe the bolt with it thoroughly. And you might want to clean the insides more seriously.

Step 5: Take Out The O-Ring

Find a pick of a manageable size. Use the tooth to locate and yank off the O-ring from the groove inside the hydraulic ram. It is a super easy step; even a two-year-old can do this.

Step 6: Replace with A New One

You should purchase an O-ring that is the exact size of what fits in your particular floor jack. To make sure you don’t buy the wrong size, figure out the dimensions and double-check it while buying.

If you don’t know the dimension, take the O-ring with you to a local hardware store, and they can gauge with their eyes what size it is. Put the O-ring back in place and make sure that it does not fall off our bulge out.

Step 7: Reconfigure The Tool

This is a reverse step of what we did in the previous steps. Just put everything back in place and screw the valve screw as perfectly as cleaning a crime scene. Then it is important to reboot the floor jack, and the next steps touch up on how to.

Step 8: Bleed The Jack

Step 9: Refill The Jack Oil

After the bleeding, the old oil is likely to have become removed. Use a good quality jack oil to refill the hydraulic floor jack properly. Check the oil meter for the appropriate level up to which it should be filled. Remember to check for excess grease and debris before refilling.

Step 10: Old School Fix

If you can’t do the steps mentioned above for some reason, try this troubleshooting method. When you desperately need to use a floor jack, but it won’t stay up because it’s leaking, here’s what you should do.

Pump the pistons till the base reaches the max level, and keep pumping it in that position. Sometimes this will work wonders and will make the floor jack stay up.

Final words

Now, you do not have to buy newer stuff from HMBR just because you ran out of warranty on your floor jack.

If you have been an attentive reader and went through the how to fix a floor jack that leaks down guide, you will be able to fix the tool by yourself.