I bought a used one today. It appears to be in very good condition and doesn't seem like it was used much. Anyhow, the guy I bought it from raised it all the way up and let it back down to show me it worked, but when I got home I tested it on my bike....it goes up all the way just fine, and when I hit the release lever it goes down, but doesn't go down all the way. It's high enough that I can't pull it out from under the bike. I need a second jack to lift the bike so I can pull the craftsman out from under the bike. :bonk:

I've used quite a few hydraulic jacks in my day, and I've never run into one that wouldn't go down all the way. I even tried standing on it while hitting the release lever.

Any ideas? Is there a secondary release maybe?

There is a 3 position interlock dealy on them, 3 "bars" welded onto the frame and a piece that catches on them, make sure that's not flipped down.

Otherwise, mine doesn't like when you push the "down" lever all the way, works a lot better when you only push it like half way down.

milje said:

Sounds like mine might be slightly different, but I figured it out anyways. Put a little scare into myself cuz I raised it all the way again and this time it stayed even higher than before. LOL....anyways, there is one single bar that goes across the jack right in front of the piston. I only even thought to move it cuz I noticed that there was a silver thing that appeared to 'catch' the bar if you moved it all the way back.

Did the trick, jack went right down and my bike is free again. :busted:

Yeah, like milje said, that bar is to control the lock. You are supposed to raise the bike, flip that bar down and then lower it onto the locks. That way the locks are supporting the bike rather than the jack. Saves stress on the jack and is safer since the bike can't lower if the jack fails/accidently hit the release lever etc.