Hydraulic Lift Floor Jack Won't Pump
#1
Hydraulic Lift Floor Jack Won't Pump
Hi guys... I have a standard 3-ton lift hydraulic floor jack and it started acting funny when I was pumping it. All of the sudden it won't pump anymore. OK, you know that pin shaped object that is under the handle pump? Its the object you press down on every time you push the pump handle down. And you know how that is supposed to come back up each time? Well, it won't come back up as if there is a spring inside there broken. I don't know anything about hydraulic floor jacks except where to go to add new oil. For the record, I did add new oil to the jack and it is full. What do you think the problem is and how do I go about fixing it?
Thanks...Chris
Thanks...Chris
#2
Well, last year when I last used my floor jack it started exibiting strange symptoms with the pump untill it finnaly stopped working at all. What I noticed was the pump handle did not come back up to allow me to push it back down again to pump the jack so that I could jack up my LT. I thought the problem was due to low hydraulic oil in the jack considering this floor jack is as old as I am. Well, I put a bunch of hydraulic oil into the cylinder but that did not change anything.
It turns out that there is a clip that rests on a shaft in the pump handle and that clip grabs onto the nobb of the piston. Well, over the years this clip had bent outward causing it to no longer grab the piston. My drawing illustrates how it works and gives you an idea of what I am talking about. My jack was out of commision for several months cause I did not figure out the problem till today.
What I did was take a pair of vise grips and I bent that clip back inward and now it grips the piston perfectly. I thought I was going to have to buy a new Jack cause I thought it was an internal problem. Since I don't have to buy a new floor jack, I am one happy camper!
It turns out that there is a clip that rests on a shaft in the pump handle and that clip grabs onto the nobb of the piston. Well, over the years this clip had bent outward causing it to no longer grab the piston. My drawing illustrates how it works and gives you an idea of what I am talking about. My jack was out of commision for several months cause I did not figure out the problem till today.
What I did was take a pair of vise grips and I bent that clip back inward and now it grips the piston perfectly. I thought I was going to have to buy a new Jack cause I thought it was an internal problem. Since I don't have to buy a new floor jack, I am one happy camper!