Stuck/frozen jack

[JHornsby3]

So the one thing I have yet to go over is the jack on this trailer. Now I have towed and worked on everything from a 3'X3' Harbor Freight trailer to a quad axle removeable goose neck lowboy with a three axle Jeep. And I have worked on the jack on a few. Every trailer I have worked on the jack, had a grease zerk to keep it lubed good. Or the top cap came off so grease could be put in the top. This is an old Atwood 5000# jack and it is sealed all but a small hole just under the handle. Am I right that this hole is for putting oil into the screw?

I took some of the full synthetic diesel oil that is infused with at least 40% diesel (bad injector return line leak that filled the crank case with fuel. Bad shop repair) and have run some into the top where the handle is. This did help it to move a little. But just in the down not the up.

Should I just keep filling the oil into the hole and see if it will break free and move or am I peeing up a rope?

 

[hughespat57]

some jacks had a half round top cover that is not welded on; spring steel
You could get a screwdriver under the edge and pop it off

then you could grease the gear and get oil on the threaded rod

 

[JHornsby3]

This one has a completely welded top. Just the screw rod sticking out with the handle attached. I was looking for a cover but this one doesn't have one. Just the 1/8" hole on the one side about 1/4" from the top. I have never seen one that has no inspection cover. I would have thought a 5k jack would be maintainable. Then again, I would have thought a 15k trailer would have a larger jack.

Maybe I should drop it on the pick up and see if I can just fill it with the oil/diesel mix. Let it sit over night and see how it does. I pulled 5.5 gallons out of the crank case of the ol Duramax before taking it into the shop for them to fix their fix.

 

[JHornsby3]

So this morning I went out and tried to turn the handle after sitting overnight. No joy. So I blocked up the front and removed the jack. Removed the handle and pulled the screw out the bottom. It was full of sand and rust. Cleaned up the inner tube. Cleaned the screw and wire brushed it. Put a few rags through the outer tube and cleaned it out. Put grease on everything. Put it all back together with a new handle and put it on the trailer. Works so easily now that the wife and kids could work it. If they were of a mind too.

The diesel/oil mix did help it out. It softened up the grunge inside the tube and made it very easy to clean.