Hydraulic Jack Lost fluid, how do I refill?

[MN Driver]

Hey, I was lifting a car with my jack last night and a stream of fluid starting shooting out and the car slowly creeped down. I found out that a screw became really loose and the fluid just seeped from this hole.

My question is, what do I fill it with? And do I fill it from the same hole as it came out, it seems to be the only place to fill it as I am not about to touch the other screw that says "Safety Adjust, Do not adjust"

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The fluid coming out smells like brake fluid to me, is this a close enough hydraulic fluid?

 

[Mike242GT]

My old *** made in China hydraulic jack has a rubber fill plug on the side of the cylinder. And, you can buy "hydraulic jack oil" at many auto parts places; get a pint and it'll probably last you a lifetime (or at least the life of the jack!)

 

[MN Driver]

Do I need to do anything to bleed the system? So I assume oil or brake fluid aren't suitable.

 

[Mike242GT]

I don't know whether the other fluids are suitable or not. Just pointing out that you can get actual "jack oil". I didn't bleed mine, just added the new oil.

 

[wavinwayne]

Tractor Supply Company sells fluid for hydraulic jacks.

 

[srivett]

I always use ATF. I dunno if that's okay or not but that's what I do. The jacks I've bought always come with too little fluid in them so I top them up. I orientate the jack so that the hole I'm filling it through is the the highest point of the jack. That's all the bleeding you need to do.

Steve

 

[blupupher]

I personaly would use the jack fluid. Probably just brake fluid, but I don't want a jack not working right because I put the wrong fluid in it.
And as said above, just get the opening as the highest point (with the jack completly lowered), top it off and close it back up.

 

[PandaBear]

I have the same problem, my mom use it to unroot a tree stump but she loose the release too much, all the fluid is now gone.

How do you fill it without letting air in there?

 

[srivett]

One more trick is to use a large flat blade screwdriver as a funnel. You hold the screwdriver at an angle a few inches above the jack and position it so that the long edges are vertical. This gives you a pointed surface at the bottom. Now you pour the oil onto the shaft of the screwdriver and it will turn into a small stream that will fit into the small hole. Plan on making a mess the first time you try it.

Steve

 

[MN Driver]

Thanks Steve. This jack is a pretty big jack and the screw is about 1/2" and I filled it up, I didn't need a funnel of any kind but thanks for the tip, I might need it in the future. It holds up a car now but when I jack it more than 3/4 of the distance that it will go up, the 'resistance' to the stroke starts to go away and each stroke it goes up less and less, but it isn't going down on it's own. The jack hasn't done this before. I think I might need to go and buy some jack oil and exchange the fluid out.