If your not to familiar with a trolley jack you may know it as a floor jack and it is a very effective piece of equipment that can be used to lift a car for easier maintenance and to remove/replace tyres.
A trolley jack will lift a car using of hydraulic pressure and can be moved around a workshop area on its four wheels.
Although these jacks are fairly reliable and effective it will be quite common for them to develop faults at some point in their lifetime.
A common fault is that the trolley jack may not be able to lift efficiently. This article is here to assist you in the major problem that affects trolley jacks and how you can do it yourself and correct the fault.
Why you need to bleed the Trolley Jack?
A trolley jack requires bleeding often. Especially if you frequently use the trolley jack or you just bought it. When air gets into the jack’s hydraulic system, it will not lift loads the way it is expected. It will either do it in a way that is not efficient or fail to lift at all. The trolley could also reduce the height through which it lifts loads.
Some people describe the feeling of the jack being spongy. Having air in the jack can be dangerous since the load capacity may be reduced and it maybe prone to failure.
The process of bleeding your trolley jack is quite simple and you can accomplish it on your own back at home.
Tools & Equipment
- Trolley/Floor Jack
- Screwdriver
This is a simple process that you can do it on your own. The tools you need here is just a flat screwdriver, the trolley jack to bleed and maybe a manual.
You should be able to bring out all the air perfectly well on your own if you follow this short procedure.
- If you jack comes with a kick plate you will need to use the screwdriver to open the kick plate screws and remove the plate from the jack, this will give you access to the release valve. Some models may not have a kick plate so you can skip to the next step.
- Then you would want to connect the jack handle and twist the release valve in an anticlockwise direction for one full revolution to open it. This, however, depends on the trolley jack but the aim is to twist it until you open it. You should here air escaping with a a hissing sound.
- Remove the filler plug using a suitable screwdriver.
- Once the release valve is open use the handle to pump your trolley jack for 15 to 20 pumps.
- You can now tighten the release valve by rotating the handle clockwise.
- Use the screwdriver to close the filler plug.
- Now pump your jack to see if it rises evenly with every pump that you make and can hold a load.
- In case it is still not working as expected then it means there was still some air left in the trolley jack. So you can repeat that process once more to ensure all the air is out of your jack to enable efficiency.
Bleeding a jack may basically not be a success if you fail to remove all the air. In case air is left in then redo the procedure. Again you could look for other problems in your trolley jack as this may not be the only problem with it.
