In ground airdraulic rotary vehical lift, anyone have any experience servicing one?

[lts70]

It hasn't been used in five years. Just started to use it but it leaks oil at the floor seal. The oil coming out is milky making me think there may be some water contamination. Wondering if anyone has any experience servicing these? Should I change the seal or is there an oil additive that would condition the seal possibly? Is there a way to drain the existing hydraulic oil to replace with new? Any idea how many gallons it takes? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[lts70]

70 up in the air

[lts70]

The leak the next morning

[Ozzy2013]

I would change the seal it is most likely a rope seal you can get it at Nappa i wouldn't mess with an additive .I don't believe you want it to blow some day with a truck up in the air.ha ha

[yuccales]

Miss the days of having a lift. Make sure there is a 360 degree circle around the lift with nothing on the walls or floor that the truck can smash if you leave it on the lift over night. I had a lift bleed down overnight once, as it slowly came down it rotated. My Sprint hit a steel desk on one end, a tire machine on the other. Big lesson learned! BTW, nice looking truck.

[Tom Vogel]

I have an in ground lift that I bought and installed myself. I had the local gas station contractor come by and install a new seal when they were in the area. Works great now and doesnt leak. I suggest you do the same. In the mean time, just clean up the oil. ( fwiw, I dont think its a good idea to leave a vehicle on there overnight.) As for the oil, Ive been told that any oil will work in these hydraulic lifts, but I bought the proper hydraulic oil from the same company that seviced mine and use that.

[PGSigns]

Have not seen one done since I was working in a car dealership in the late 70's. You should be able to get parts to reseal it. Hardest part was them taking the head off. Used a forklift. We each had a chunk of 4X4 we would set the lift down on if it had to be there a while. They always leaked down.
Jimmy

[_Ogre]

those in ground hoists became an epa liability when the lines rust and the hoist fills with water
milky oil is an indication that your hoist has water in it

one of the guys over on the hamb bought one and installed it next to his shop
he uses peanut oil in the hoist, if it ever springs a leak he won't have an epa superfund site in his back yard

most of them had a safety prop to keep the hoist from collapsing or coming down unintentionally
you might be able to make a cage to slide around the post to set it down on
this would allow you to remove the pressure from the system and slow the leaking

the peanut oil make sense, you may need to flush a few gallons thru the system

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by lts70

It hasn't been used in five years. Just started to use it but it leaks oil at the floor seal. The oil coming out is milky making me think there may be some water contamination. Wondering if anyone has any experience servicing these? Should I change the seal or is there an oil additive that would condition the seal possibly? Is there a way to drain the existing hydraulic oil to replace with new? Any idea how many gallons it takes? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

These guys have everything you need.

http://www.automotiveshopequipment.n...ft%20Parts.htm