Level Up Hydraulic Jack Leak

Good Evening,


I have a leaking hydraulic jack on my Level-up system. This system was one of the original add-ons and it was purchased about 8 years ago during a Goshen rally. I began having a problem where I was losing my level after the coach sat for a few weeks, but I never detected a leak. I had the Lippert crew check it at the last Goshen rally but they couldn’t find a leak and didn’t detect any malfunction.


Recently, I noticed a film on the cylinder and hoses of the jack which is located on the (ODS) kitchen appliance slide. At the present time, I manually adjust the level after it gets noticeably off center. I do not have any pooling of fluid but I’d like to fix this before heading to AZ for a winter stay.


I’m hoping to repair this myself but I have a few questions.


-Can the jack be repaired/rebuilt or does it have to be replaced with a new one?


-Before I take off the hydraulic hoses will I have to fully retract the jacks including the front elevator jacks.


-When I remove the hoses will I have a high-pressure spray or do I just have to catch the run-off of fluid? Any need to cap the hoses?


-Will the front elevator jacks drop when I disconnect the hoses? Any way to isolate the elevator jacks during this repair?


-Once I install the replacement jack, do I need to bleed the lines like disc brakes or just cycle the system a few times?


-What am I missing?


The jack is the middle jack of a six-point system and it is located on the ODS. All of the other jacks are fine. I have posted some pictures below for review.


As always, thanks in advance for some great advice,


Chuck D

Chuck, I would spend a few minutes with a can of mineral spirits and a couple rags to clean that up.
With all of the already spent oil it will be difficult to find the source of the leak.
One or more of those three bolts on the top of the cylinder could be banjo bolts. They have O-rings/sealing washers that may leak.



Peace
Dave

Likewise, I would clean it up and put a couple wrenches on the swivel connectors on the hoses and cylinder bolts. I've had a few connectors seep some oil, tightening helped.

Roller4tan said:

Likewise, I would clean it up and put a couple wrenches on the swivel connectors on the hoses and cylinder bolts. I've had a few connectors seep some oil, tightening helped.

Click to expand...

I would also suggest this before replacing a cylinder. I had one connection to one of my front landing gear leak. It was a difficult fitting to access but once tightened problem was solved

billyjoeraybob said:

I would also suggest this before replacing a cylinder. I had one connection to one of my front landing gear leak. It was a difficult fitting to access but once tightened problem was solved

Click to expand...

One of the bolts on the top of Jack is a banjo bolt with a oring seal.It will the bolt on the outward side of the Jack.I found a new oring seal for it at a local auto parts .You have to retract all jacks to take the pressure off.It will squirt out oil so hold a rag over the bolt when you take it out or it will be in your face.Dont ask how I know this.

Update....I cleaned up the jack, connections and hoses. I checked all of the bolts/fittings which were tight and had no movement. I then cycled the jack 4 times and was able to detect a small leak on the top side of the jack where the cap and piston are joined.

Given the history of losing level after a few days, the fact that it was getting worse and discovery of a leak, I decided to replace/repair the jack. I retracted the rear jacks and thankfully followed the guidance in previous posts and was able to divert the hydraulic oil spray with a rag (which consisted of a few once’s of oil). The mounting bracket required the use of a torque wrench set to the max lbs, but it got the job done. It would really help to have an impact wrench or breaker bar for these bolts. I’ll replace the mounting hardware with new parts and will have to check with Lippert for the recomended torque requirement when I reinstall the jack.

My two options were to replace or have the jack rebuilt by a shop. I checked with Lippert and the replacement jack was $459 for the black 13 hole mounting type jack. Lippert also required a 5 day lead time to process the order(not sure if that reflected current inventory or if it is a regular requirement).

I took the jack to a local hydraulic shop and they had 2 other RV leveling jacks in for repair. They will take the jack apart and will call me before repairing it if the charges exceed $350. With labor at $100 per hour it could exceed the cost of a new jack.

I’ll post the final outcome once I complete the repair. At this point, I was comfortable with removing the jack but didn’t think I wanted to try to rebuild it.

Thanks as always for the great advice,

Chuck

So....I got the rebuilt hydraulic jack back within a few days. Miller Hydraulics in Manteno, IL rebuilt the jack for $345 as compared to $459 for a new Jack from Lippert. I re-installed the jack and cycled it a few times to work out any air in the lines. The jack worked as designed and I have not detected any shift on the ODS as previously noted. After 3 days, the level has maintained its set position without any problem.

Time will tell but at the present time it appears that I had some bad internal seals along with a bad seal on the cap. I’m hoping thisrebuilt jack is the solution for a leaking jack that could not maintain a level position,