Community Forums

Jhmclennan · 01-12-2014, 08:03 AM

I have a 2007 Holiday Rambler and I just put my jacks down and noticed hydraulic fluid leaking on the ground from one of the rear jacks. Has anyone had this happen and how serious was the repair?

palehorse89 · 01-12-2014, 08:08 AM

If HWH system, I had one of the "jack down" sensors leaking down onto the jack pad, I thought the cylinder was leaking till I got under and checked it out. There was a rubber boot on my sensor that I pulled down and tightened the plastic piece on the bottom a bit, leak stopped. If you have oil running on the ground, sounds like you might have a hose leaking, does the jack stay down? If your hose had a problem and leaking the pressure off, the springs would want to retract the jack I think, all speculating here till we know what system you have. Adding your info. to your "profile" will help also.

Hikerdogs · 01-12-2014, 09:17 AM

Many of the hydraulic cylinders used by HWH are actually dual acting cylinders. That means they can be powered both up and down by hydraulic pressure if they are plumbed to do so. However most of the HWH systems are plumbed with hydraulic pressure to extend the piston and spring pressure to return them to the stored position.

There is a pipe fitting near the bottom of the cylinder that is only used for the dual acting systems. It's sealed with a pipe plug on the single acting systems. If you have a single acting system (spring return) check to see if one or more of the pipe plugs are leaking. If they are it's a simple matter of putting the jacks in the storage position, removing the offending plug(s) and resealing them with some Teflon tape.

The key is to have the jacks in the stored position. If they are down when you remove the plug the fluid will rush out and the jacks will collapse. It's possible to be injured or killed if you happen to be in the wrong position.

Jhmclennan · 01-12-2014, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by palehorse89

If HWH system, I had one of the "jack down" sensors leaking down onto the jack pad, I thought the cylinder was leaking till I got under and checked it out. There was a rubber boot on my sensor that I pulled down and tightened the plastic piece on the bottom a bit, leak stopped. If you have oil running on the ground, sounds like you might have a hose leaking, does the jack stay down? If your hose had a problem and leaking the pressure off, the springs would want to retract the jack I think, all speculating here till we know what system you have. Adding your info. to your "profile" will help also.

The hydraulic unit is labeled as : Power Gear - Power Level

palehorse89 · 01-12-2014, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jhmclennan

The hydraulic unit is labeled as : Power Gear - Power Level

Just a bad guess on my part, all kinds of info. never hurts. Maybe others can chime in that has knowledge of your system soon and be able to help you out.

Jim_HiTek · 01-12-2014, 10:29 AM

Have the same thing happen to one of my rear jacks (Power Gear) on occasion. All the fittings seem fine and don't appear to leak. It appears to be from around the piston seal. My jacks have one large spring each that returns them to retracted position.

All I do is put a bottle of tranni stop leak in the tank when ever I spot oil in the landing pad, and it holds fine...until the next time I extend the jack too far on uneven ground. These days I try to avoid doing that. The leak use to fill the landing pad with oil every use. Now nice and dry for months at a time and a much smaller puddle when it does leak.

Your mileage may vary. Wouldn't hurt to also check on those things mentioned above.

98FPA · 01-12-2014, 12:29 PM

This past November I noticed that one of rear leveler jack pads had fluid on it, I removed it, took it to a local hydraulic shop to have the seals replaced. My leveler jacks are Power Gear and are on a 1998 Fleetwood Pace Arrow. After I put the repaired jack back on within a couple of days I noticed the other rear jack was leaking. Yesterday (01/11/14) I removed it and will take it to the hydraulic shop, hopefully it too only needs new seals, etc. My last bill was $117.59. It was quite a chore to remove these jacks, I just turned 69 so that may have had a lot to do with it. Chances are this may be what you have to do to stop it from leaking. Good luck.

Hikerdogs · 01-12-2014, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98FPA

This past November I noticed that one of rear leveler jack pads had fluid on it, I removed it, took it to a local hydraulic shop to have the seals replaced. My leveler jacks are Power Gear and are on a 1998 Fleetwood Pace Arrow. After I put the repaired jack back on within a couple of days I noticed the other rear jack was leaking. Yesterday (01/11/14) I removed it and will take it to the hydraulic shop, hopefully it too only needs new seals, etc. My last bill was $117.59. It was quite a chore to remove these jacks, I just turned 69 so that may have had a lot to do with it. Chances are this may be what you have to do to stop it from leaking. Good luck.

Have you priced out new leveling jacks? A few years ago I replaced a couple HWH jacks on our old motorhome. At the time they cost $90.00 new from the factory. I still see them from online dealers for as low as $150.00. Remembering how difficult they were to remove and replace I would think new ones would be a better choice if they were anywhere near the price of refurbishing an old one.

JBDISCOVERY · 01-12-2014, 03:08 PM

I agree with the posts stating leaking due to the seal on the Hyd jack cylinder. I have had a small leak for a number of years on the the driver side. The cost to repair is about $100 plus. In the mean time I just add Hyd fluid to the system.
Regards,
JimB

gemini5362 · 01-12-2014, 03:21 PM

interesting people that just add hydraulic fluid to the system and let it leak. I think the EPA frowns pretty heavily on that.

I would retract the jacks on your MH. take a clean rag and something like carburetor cleaner. clean the jack and more importantly the nut on the line going into the jack. get all of the old hydraulic fluid off of the jack. Then level the coach and look to see what the highest point you see the leak at. If it is leaking around the line try tightening the nut a bit. If it is not leaking on the body of the jack but is on the rod where it extends you are probably going to need to take it off and either get a new jack or take that one to a hydraulic shop and get it fixed.

njs42 · 01-12-2014, 04:12 PM

http://support.powergearus.com/techdocs/82-L0352.pdf

Here is some interesting information; how to repair and replace power gear jacks.

BCIslander · 01-15-2014, 07:44 PM

We had a front HWH let go and replaced last year. we were told at first that we had to replace everything, mount, springs, pad and cylinder, twice by 2 differnt CW's. Third time was the charm. Finally got someone at a differnt CW to say, "why would you need all that other stuff when you already have it?"

However it was $420 for the ram and $200 and change to get it installed. Couldn't find any Hydraulic shops who would touch it on our travels through Oregon.