Forward hydraulic jacks won’t retract.

[William Jordan]

Getting ready to leave Tulsa today after a short stay , I tried to retract my front leveling jacks and they won’t come up the pump runs but they don’t move. The 2003 Marquis  has the “beaver coach “manual adaptation. The pump is under the steps and of course since the front jacks are extended I can’t find the fluid level by just reaching in the tank with a finger  but there is no fluid and even the inside of  the cap is dry 
1 is it possible low fluid would cause them not to retract? 2 what is the hydraulic fluid used ? 3 if any other ideas .. I’m open. Always on a Sunday it seems problems come up. Went on a short ride to the truck stop for fuel thinking maybe it would shake them to move ( while trying to retract ) but it only shook my wife and I .. ugh ! Not good.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Bill,
Owner's manual in tech library specifies Dextron III for the leveling reservoir. I'm not sure if your jacks retract by spring force or hydraulic but in any case I would replenish the tank with fluid. If I remember correctly, you can access the top of the tank by removing one of the steps at the entry. There are a couple of 1/4 turn screws that hold it in place.
Steve

[William Jordan]

Thanks Steve , I’ll look it over in the morning

[Keith Moffett]

Bill
The third step up should come off.  Tap the right side just under the lip with a hammer and it should pop up so you can lift it out.
The tank for the hydraulic pump should be full if the fluid id 1/2 inch below the fill pipe.  I always had a long screw driver to reach down into the pipe.  Assuming the pump works to both extend and retract the jacks then you may have nothing to pull them in.
Any Dextron fluid is good.  I think Dextron 4 is the newest version.
I would be concerned that your short trip with the jacks down was enough to bend the jacks.  You might call BCS for a better opinion than mine.
Good luck

[Roy Boles]

Keath, if the fluid from the reservoir is in the extended jacks then the reservoir will appear to be low if the jacks returned to the travel position by springs.

[Gerald Farris]

Bill,
Your leveling jacks are double acting jacks. Therefore they are both extended and retracted hydraulically (no spring). That means that there should be a minimal change in reservoir fluid level with the jacks extended because as they extend, the fluid below the piston is vented back into the reservoir and vice versa.

Since your pump is running, your failure to retract is probably a malfunction in the BCS conversion, a malfunctioning solenoid, or a bad connection. Call Ken Carpenter at BCS tomorrow and he should be able to walk you through a diagnostic process to get the jacks refracted.     

Gerald

[William Jordan]

I got the jacks partially retracted last night.( about 6” up before they stopped )  I  had a 110 Ground fault breaker pop I reset it and shortly afterwords I tried the Jack’s and they worked! The usual lurching as they came up  I don’t know if the other electrical problem is  related as they still ran and I didn’t think  110 circuits could  be anywhere connected to the hydraulics I’m assuming just a coincidence
As of now they are not fully retracted and is Keith mentioned I am concerned I may have bent something .. on the short drive to the fuel station , nothing is obvious they look fine the motor still has the pumping sound not the squeal when they reach the top .  I will check/ add  fluid and see if that helps. The top step has been carpeted by the prior owner and may have been glued down!  and doesn’t seem to move. I can reach the pump from underneath just can’t see or check level easily.
Thanks for all the ideas 💡 

[William Jordan]

First thing this am I tried the jacks again with them raising to full up. Since I rarely use them and normally air level , I think I’ll put it on the summer list of repairs when we return back to Oregon for BAC or Elite to test. I’ll be in Dallas for a couple weeks over thanksgiving with time to get a real read on the fluid level. Thanks for the info on the Dextron !! Whew .. another problem semi solved .. it seems like every year it’s something else.