6 month old 3 ton jack leaking?

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Does this look like the jack started leaking, or maybe something spilled on it? Its 3 ton rated. The heaviest lift was the rear of the 06 Escalade at the diff. Both wheels off ground. Long enough to get stands in place. Then take the stress off the jack. I was always careful to remove load with stands.

 
The concrete floor under the jack is wet. The jack itself looks good on top. So its not obvious if or where its leaking. Hoping someone can tell because its this area of the jack. vs somewhere else.
 
I have a thirty five year old 2 ton that uses a similar hydraulic unit, and the ONLY time I have ever had a leak is when I refilled the reservoir with too much oil. My unit has a rubber plug in the fill hole and too high of an oil level will cause leakage until the level goes down. The leakage is caused by a rapid return of oil to the reservoir when the jack is suddenly released. With this hydraulic unit, there is only two areas prone to leakage. One is the small piston actuated by the handle and the other is the ram oil seal. I have never seen even seepage at the plugs and the release valve. Clean the hydraulic unit up with brake cleaner, mineral spirits et.al. and then remove some oil from reservoir and run the jack through up down and watch the fill hole for leakage. The manual for my jack shows the oil level as 3/16" below the fill hole but that level is too high for my jack.
 
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I have a floor jack that has been leaking for at least 10 years . If you can not find the receipt , just live with it , adding hydraulic jack oil , as needed . That is what I do .

Best of luck , :)
 
I have a 3.5 ton Craftsman professional, it is quite similar although the frame is a bit longer. The hydraulic unit looks quite similar.

Agree with HosteenJorje, inspect the plugs on top of the unit, the ram and the plunger. The spots on your concrete are not where I would expect to see them if the unit was leaking.
 
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Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
I have a thirty five year old 2 ton that uses a similar hydraulic unit, and the ONLY time I have ever had a leak is when I refilled the reservoir with too much oil. My unit has a rubber plug in the fill hole and too high of an oil level will cause leakage until the level goes down. The leakage is caused by a rapid return of oil to the reservoir when the jack is suddenly released. With this hydraulic unit, there is only two areas prone to leakage. One is the small piston actuated by the handle and the other is the ram oil seal. I have never seen even seepage at the plugs and the release valve. Clean the hydraulic unit up with brake cleaner, mineral spirits et.al. and then remove some oil from reservoir and run the jack through up down and watch the fill hole for leakage. The manual for my jack shows the oil level as 3/16" below the fill hole but that level is too high for my jack.

Its quite possible I let it down too fast, one complaint is how it gets "stuck" when I try to release it. I greased the pole (
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) and the gears which has helped letting the truck down more smoothly.

So if I pop off that orange plug, I can measure oil level?
If I have to replace what should I use?
How often should i change the oil?
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
I can't find receipt.


Sears is very good about support their brand I've had them take thing back without a receipt.
 
You can find hydraulic jack oil at Walmart, and I assume most auto parts and hardware stores.

I just drained and fllled my HF jack this spring after noticing it wasn't quite as springy as usual. Lubed the zerk fitting too.
 
I assume you are talking about the handle when you mention "pole?" I use a #2 lithium grease at the journal. The gears don't really require lubrication. One thing I have found over the years, if you use oil at any of the pivots and on the wheels,you will most likely see oil on the floor. Again, clean the underside of the jack carefully, remove a little oil (maybe an ounce or two), and then run the jack up and down. Look for leakage at the fill hole plug. The release valve does have some resistance to rotation but nothing excessive. Perhaps you haven't got enough miles on your jack to wear things in a bit. Take care of it and that jack will outlast you. My old Craftsman is going to be working satisfactorily when I have gone up the stack. I haven't found a worthy candidate to inherit my jack. No one I know knows or cares squat about wrenching. They don't even have a wrench and couldn't figure out how to use an adjustable jaw (Crescent) wrench
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. But they have many, many electronic gizmos.
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Yes the handle base that you can see in the pic. Removed handle, lubed the area that fits in. Works great now. maybe too good that first time. lol. I used suspension grease, no reason other than the gun was out.
 
I had the same jack. It leaked after 8 months or so. Brought back to Sears. Got another one as a replacement. That one leaked after 6 months and even when full of fluid it stopped going up. The Sears in my area closed and the closest one is now fairly far away.

I replaced it with a non-Sears jack.
 
The web seems to like these, but I've seen nothing but bad. A friend literally bought one for loading and unloading his rough mower's tongue from standing on a block of wood to the hitch of his tractor. Leaked not even a year later.
 
I still have a 30+ year old 3 ton Craftsman jack which has been great. Last year I bought a 4 ton HF jack which is a beast. The Craftsman jacks aren't what they used to be unfortunately.

Having two large floor jacks has been a big plus for me.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I still have a 30+ year old 3 ton Craftsman jack which has been great. Last year I bought a 4 ton HF jack which is a beast. The Craftsman jacks aren't what they used to be unfortunately.

Having two large floor jacks has been a big plus for me.
2 jacks are very nice to have.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I still have a 30+ year old 3 ton Craftsman jack which has been great. Last year I bought a 4 ton HF jack which is a beast. The Craftsman jacks aren't what they used to be unfortunately.

Having two large floor jacks has been a big plus for me.
2 jacks are very nice to have.

My confidence in this jack is gone. I'm going to get the 3 ton HF jack. Make an attempt at repairing this one. Doesn't look to bad. Probably a seal out of place in the piston
 
I narrowed it down to the plunger on the Sears 3 ton. Ordered some seals off eBay. Maybe it works, maybe it won't. Going to buy another jack from HF regardless. With coupon, these 4 $85 jacks are $79. These appear to be slightly different. Which one should I choose?

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-62116.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-62584.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-68048.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-69227.html
 
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