Leveling Jack not retracting

[Larry2013]

Hi I have one Leveling Jack that won't retract automaticly when I select Store, I have to use a bar to push back up.. Does anybody know what could be wrong.. Oil is ok

[fla tom]

If it is hwh spray with wd40 our last coach did the same a good spray lasted several weeks

[TRAILERKING]

Do you know what Brand of system? Internal or exernal springs? May have internal which you won't see but could be broken as well.

[toneumanns]

I have to spray mine with WD40 every so often. They go right up after spraying.

[gemini5362]

if they are hwh then they are pulled back up by springs. I disagree a bit with the other posters. WD40 leaves a residue. I spray mine with silicon lube works good. Spray with the silicon and and if it still has to be pushed up with something then replace the jack. I had one that always went slow and had to be sprayed twice as often as the others. I replaced the springs and still had problems. I had the jack replaced and I could not believe how fast the new jack worked.

[Larry2013]

I have external springs, good point I will try sraying jiglub

[Steve N Sal]

WD-40 is fine according to HWH. I had maintenance done on mine and the shop which is HWH certified in IN said you can just wash them off with water and it will do the same thing WD40 does. Be careful of other products as they may damage the seals being not compatible with what they are made out of. As far as the retraction the spring/s could be getting weak but on mine when that happened I had a bad solenoid. If you know which solenoid controls the jack there is either a nut or t-handle on the front of it which needs to be lossened to relieve the pressure in the jack and it will slowly retract. I now cary an extra one with me for that purpose. Good luck and hope you get it resolved.

[OSP1268]

On the advice of a person on another site & a HWH tech I did the following and it worked great!
Extend the jacks, then using an oil squirt can with ATF in it, point the tip of the oil can up towards the seal at the bottom of the jack and squirt the ATF all the way around. Wipe off the jack & I used a paper towel to wipe up inside the lower lip of the jack. Then retract the jacks and lower them again repeating the process.
I had been having problems with my jacks and this solved the problem, they come up faster now than they ever did. I was amazed at all the dirt that came down from up inside the lip of the jack. The rear jacks on our M/H are right behind the rear wheels so they get all the dirt thrown at them as we go down the road. I believe a lot of that dirt gets tossed up onto the seal thus slowing them down. I am presently working on a solution to the problem and trying to find a way to limit the dirt that gets thrown up on the jack. Mud flap extension is going to be my first idea, and we will see how it goes from there.
For your info. the only difference between HWH fluid and ATF is that ATF is red in color and HWH is clear.

[fla tom]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

if they are hwh then they are pulled back up by springs. I disagree a bit with the other posters. WD40 leaves a residue. I spray mine with silicon lube works good. Spray with the silicon and and if it still has to be pushed up with something then replace the jack. I had one that always went slow and had to be sprayed twice as often as the others. I replaced the springs and still had problems. I had the jack replaced and I could not believe how fast the new jack worked.

I used silicon spray it did not help I used wd40 on dealers recommendation it did work

[ShapeShifter]

Originally Posted by OSP1268

For your info. the only difference between HWH fluid and ATF is that ATF is red in color and HWH is clear.

I guess that makes sense, given that PowerGear hydraulic jacks use red Mercron V ATF as it's fluid.

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by Larry2013

Hi I have one Leveling Jack that won't retract automaticly when I select Store, I have to use a bar to push back up.. Does anybody know what could be wrong.. Oil is ok

You don't say how old your rig is, but if you have the older springs (assuming it is HWH) then replacing them will be like night and day. We had one that we had to use a board to push up - - replaced the springs and up they go without any problem. We also wipe them down with ATF every month or so, makes a real difference.

Barb

[GaryKD]

Hi Larry2013,
If the jacks are HWH the suggestion to replace the springs is valid. If the springs are straight down to the hook they need to be replaced. If the spring part is tapered the last five turns in to hook part, they are the new model and do not need to be replaced. Also, spraying may help temporarily. Some HWH jacks have a lower seal that will, over time, collapse in on the cylinder. This keeps the jack from retracting all the way. The only remedy is to rebuild or replace the jack.

[gemini5362]

I will try the wd40 and see if it makes a difference. I know the silicon will work because the front jack that I had replaced would not go up I could spray it with silicon and it would go up for about 10 cycles of the jack then need to be sprayed again. I occasionally have one of the other jacks not go up correctly and I spray them with silicon lube and they work fine. The new jack goes up probably in one third the time the other older jacks do. I am of the opinion the one I replaced had a bad seal that was holding the jack back. I replaced all springs with the new type of springs first and did not see a large difference. Just means my springs were not bad not that the new springs are not a lot better. When I get home after this trip I will take the old jack I had replaced to a hydraulic shop and have them rebuild it so that I will know what the problem was in the first place. The reason I hesitated about using wd40 or hydraulic fluid was the residue left on the jack. I am worried about dirt sticking to the jack and damaging the seal. silicon lube does not leave a residue.

[teddodd]

Originally Posted by OSP1268

On the advice of a person on another site & a HWH tech I did the following and it worked great!
Extend the jacks, then using an oil squirt can with ATF in it, point the tip of the oil can up towards the seal at the bottom of the jack and squirt the ATF all the way around. Wipe off the jack & I used a paper towel to wipe up inside the lower lip of the jack. Then retract the jacks and lower them again repeating the process.
I had been having problems with my jacks and this solved the problem, they come up faster now than they ever did. I was amazed at all the dirt that came down from up inside the lip of the jack. The rear jacks on our M/H are right behind the rear wheels so they get all the dirt thrown at them as we go down the road. I believe a lot of that dirt gets tossed up onto the seal thus slowing them down. I am presently working on a solution to the problem and trying to find a way to limit the dirt that gets thrown up on the jack. Mud flap extension is going to be my first idea, and we will see how it goes from there.
For your info. the only difference between HWH fluid and ATF is that ATF is red in color and HWH is clear.

have the same rv that you do.just replaced left rear jack. tiffan will tell you that there were some faulty ones that year.