My floor jack

I have this Craftsman 4000lb jack that I like, but it get the feeling it is borked. The piston seems to be pissing out fluid. I swapped the fluid a while back to keep it going, but it seems to have betrayed me. Can I fix it? Or should I just get another?

disassemble it, sounds like you blew a seal

The Canadian wrote: disassemble it, sounds like you blew a seal

Not gonna go there.

Get an o-ring kit from harbor freight. I've rebuilt two jacks now that just needed the seals replaced.

Once you replace the blown seals, you can jack it to see if it works again.

Or...get an aluminum floor jack from Harbor Freight. The capacity is lower, but after the second time that you use it, you'll never want to haul around a steel jack again. They are fairly inexpensive as is and they go on sale a few times per year for $69. Add a 20% coupon and it's a bargain. Mine has been working great and leak free for about five years.

http://www.harborfreight.com/rapid-pump-15-ton-compact-aluminum-racing-jack-68053-html-7814.html

It's just ice cream

One of the members over on the Garage Journal board is a hydraulic jack expert, and he posted a tutorial on rebuilding overseas jacks (assuming yours was built in the last 30 years or so, it came from Japan or Taiwan.) http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51105&highlight=foreign+jack+rebuild

Woody wrote: Or...get an aluminum floor jack from Harbor Freight. The capacity is lower, but after the second time that you use it, you'll never want to haul around a steel jack again. They are fairly inexpensive as is and they go on sale a few times per year for $69. Add a 20% coupon and it's a bargain. Mine has been working great and leak free for about five years. http://www.harborfreight.com/rapid-pump-15-ton-compact-aluminum-racing-jack-68053-html-7814.html

I have (and regularly use, even on my Neon) jackstands that are higher at their lowest point than that jack at it's highest point.. it is nice to actually able to get under the car you are working on, and 18" is the absolute minimum working height, with over 2 feet getting into the comfortable/necessary range to get things like transmissions out from under a car and have room to move around.

A 3 ton jack is usually needed for most real work beyond brake jobs simply due to the sheer size, and a steel jack is probably going to be more durable.. o rings are cheap, and jacks are simple to fix..

One thing that works to get my POS Craftsman 3.5 ton jack working when it has an attitude is to close the valve and lift the arm up.. then release the valve and do it again.. repeat this a few times and it usually works again.

I have a floor jack collection of four or five jacks. My HF aluminum "racing" jack is very nice for several reasons. I had to replace an O ring on it after a few years use. I actually put the new seal in, filled it back up, went through the air bleed process, etc., and it still didn't work. So I threw it in the scrap pile and went to HF for a new jack: the biggest steel jack that my local HF sells (outside of the bottle jack one). http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profile-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-60678.html

A bit more to maneuver around the shop, but very nice. A week later, I looked at the scrap pile and the old jack was sticking up in the air and has also been working fine since. Oh well, one more for the collection.

Call Ace hydraulics in NY give them the model number they'll sell you a kit with all the parts. 20+ years ago I bought a crap load of OTC POWER TEAM stuff from them and I still use ACE anytime I'm in need. good people great prices and they have stock!
They sell some USA made jacks too as well as lower cost overseas units. Here's there sale flyer http://ahpsupply.com/Ace2014Q3.pdf

The one I have is an aluminum jack so it's very light. It's part of the reason I like it. My garage isn't heated though so it's seen many winters sitting out there.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-2-ton-aluminum-jack/p-00950102000P

It's basically that one.

Thanks for the info, lemme take a look at the various options here.

Yep. That's the one that Sears/Craftsman changed the warranty policy over to "none". 100% failure rate or close to it. Mine sh1t the bed after about about 3 years. I bought one of these:

American Forge 2-ton low profile

...On the basis that the local exceptional tire shop, run by racers, well and for close to 40 years has had a couple for years and they're used extremely heavily and they're holding up great.

I've been really, really pleased with it. I also have one of the 1-1/2 ton Harbor Frights I use as a secondary in the garage and on the race car at the track.

Yeah, I heard about this one crapping out over time, but I did get over five years of use out of it so I can't complain too much. Not sure if I will take 44dwarfs suggestion and try to replace components or just throw it out.

Dr. Hess wrote: So I threw it in the scrap pile and went to HF for a new jack: the biggest steel jack that my local HF sells (outside of the bottle jack one). http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-low-profile-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-60678.html A bit more to maneuver around the shop, but very nice. A week later, I looked at the scrap pile and the old jack was sticking up in the air and has also been working fine since. Oh well, one more for the collection.

The above is by far the best jack I've ever used.

It will fit under the Abomination and put it 2 feet in the air. It will also get my F350 off the ground without pissing oil everywhere. I liked it so much I bought another one for the office.