leaking leveling jack

can you put a scissor jack under it, to use in it's place

Hyd. Shop may be able to help you.

Big leak or small weeping leak?

If big leak, remove jack, plug line, take to hydraulic shop and hope that they can get the parts. Rebuilding one is not too hard. Take care when you remove it as they are heavy. If you can temporarily support the jack on some wood blocks while removing it will make the job easier. When you re-install, just top up the fluid level, cycle the jacks a few times checking the fluid each time you retract. This will bleed the air out of the system.

If a small leak and you want one or a few more trip(s) out of it.....extend fully, clean shaft throughly and look for any crud in the area where the ram goes into the base cylinder. Coat the shaft liberally with brake fluid and retract. Repeat this operation several times.

The brake fluid will swell the seal slightly. I nursed one for about 6 months with this method. If you use this method, take some additional fluid with you on the camping trip just in case.

Good luck with your repair.

Fred

One of my POWERGEAR jacks was leaking last November. Contacting POWERGEAR, they refuse to sell ME ANYTHING. Must go thru a retailer or RV dealer. The leaking jack, an older model,according to the PG website was not "rebuildable"..having no repair kit.So....grit my teeth (stil have 'em) and spent over 600 bucks for a new one....this new model does have a "repair kit". Whoopie! However, repair kit or not, any imperfection on the chrome piston (nick, scratch...anything that would tear up the insides causing the leak) makes any repair not worth it. Plus....finding a shop to even attempt it is just about impossible. And you would be charged a hefty fee to have them tear the thing down, inspect it and tell you they can't do it.
Taking the old jack off (my 13 year old coach)....I needed a 200 psi air compressor and a Snap-On impact gun. (My Harbor Freight impact gun and 125 psi 7 gallon compressor was simply not up to the job.) Even then, I had to grind off the head of one of the 6 bolts. The hydraulic hose came off without a problem. Now...the bolts (and nuts) are HARDENED. Can't buy them at, say Lowes or Home Depot. All I needed was 6 of each. Finally went to GRAINGER, but had to buy 50 of each. 50 bolts 50 nuts. 1/2-24 threads x 1.5 inches long if I recall correctly. 100 bucks. All I can say is, if the other jacks fail, I got the hardware.
So: yes, the jack is heavy. I put a floor jack under it to lower it down...used the jack to put the new one up. Works fine. Just last week, I noticed one of the crimps on a hose to another jack was leaking. 13 years...these things to rot out. 7 ft hose with fittings, assembled while I wait (10 mints) ANOTHER 100 bucks. It never stops.

jerseyjim wrote:
One of my POWERGEAR jacks was leaking last November. Contacting POWERGEAR, they refuse to sell ME ANYTHING. Must go thru a retailer or RV dealer. The leaking jack, an older model,according to the PG website was not "rebuildable"..having no repair kit.So....grit my teeth (stil have 'em) and spent over 600 bucks for a new one....this new model does have a "repair kit". Whoopie! However, repair kit or not, any imperfection on the chrome piston (nick, scratch...anything that would tear up the insides causing the leak) makes any repair not worth it. Plus....finding a shop to even attempt it is just about impossible. And you would be charged a hefty fee to have them tear the thing down, inspect it and tell you they can't do it.
Taking the old jack off (my 13 year old coach)....I needed a 200 psi air compressor and a Snap-On impact gun. (My Harbor Freight impact gun and 125 psi 7 gallon compressor was simply not up to the job.) Even then, I had to grind off the head of one of the 6 bolts. The hydraulic hose came off without a problem. Now...the bolts (and nuts) are HARDENED. Can't buy them at, say Lowes or Home Depot. All I needed was 6 of each. Finally went to GRAINGER, but had to buy 50 of each. 50 bolts 50 nuts. 1/2-24 threads x 1.5 inches long if I recall correctly. 100 bucks. All I can say is, if the other jacks fail, I got the hardware.
So: yes, the jack is heavy. I put a floor jack under it to lower it down...used the jack to put the new one up. Works fine. Just last week, I noticed one of the crimps on a hose to another jack was leaking. 13 years...these things to rot out. 7 ft hose with fittings, assembled while I wait (10 mints) ANOTHER 100 bucks. It never stops.

My PowerGear levelers are 15yrs old. Yes, no rebuild kit, but if you disassemble and take internal ram to hydro shop they can supply new seals for you. I just rebuilt one of my front legs for under $10. That was for the O-rings. I pulled down the jack, took it apart, and installed the O-rings and put the jack back in. You too can do this.

No special tools required. I soaked ALL bolts with PB Blast for a couple of days. My coach is 15yrs old and the bolts came right out.

-paul

Thanks for the info. I still have the old jack...and will, at some time try to do what you did. Nothing to lose....................

I also have a very minor leak in the left front ram.

I've wondered if a product like Lucs Oil or Valvoline Transmission stop leak would help. Since the unit uses basic transmission fluid, would such a product help in significantly slowing or stopping the leak?

UPDATE----------I e-mailed POWER GEAR after I posted this question.

BAD NEWS---- I need to replace the jack,non-repairable. as someone stated, have to order thru a distributor.

yrusoslo---I also thought about scissor jack but won't work.
jerseyjim----non-repairable jack, need to buy new one. I also don't
have heavy duty equipment but know someone who does.
fcooper---- I just may try your BRAKE FLUID idea, all i'm looking for
is a short term temporary fix.


thanks all for your help

Can't you get a good 5-10 ton bottle jack to put under the landing gear pad and jack it up when you get to your destination. Lift the bad jack up with bottle jack and then raise the other with your panel on manual.
Or. Before we had all this fine automatic stuff you could level the coach with wood blocks? Now that's a novel idea isn't it?

Wood blocks (for a Class A ((or even a Class C))...perish the thought! These jacks are, IMO worth their weight in gold!
Even tho the $600+ bucks each is a bit much.

Depending on the leakage, my jack did go down and, for the most part, held. I had to re-set after the 3rd day (motorhome started to rock just a bit)...and the alarm went off on the way home...but I added some Dextron III, and that stopped the alarm. Got home without incident and that's when I orderd the new replacement jack.