Hilo 2007 T22 Top Won’t Raise After Storage—Hydraulic Troubleshooting Needed

[Jmthomas]

We had our hilo stored for a year ,pulled it out de winterized it loaded it up and went camping for a week.
Camper did fine another issue besides this one ,but one at a time lol
We get ready to come home and i go to let the top down and pull the cord hit the button and it doesnt stop going down ,i usually stop and make sure curtains out of the way ,and the top just slowly lowers all tje way down ,and will not raise for nothin since then ,im not seeing any fluid any where ,and wont hand pump up either i cant figure it out ,it was a little low on fluid but addd to fill mark ,any help please and thank you alao is there a way to hand crank it up with out the hydraulic pump,

 

[JackandJanet]

It sounds like your lowering valve is stuck open or is being held open by some debris. This would cause the top to settle all the way down even if you released the lowering switch. It would also prevent the top from raising, but you would hear the pump motor working if you pressed the "UP" position on the switch. Do you hear the pump motor?

If not, then you possibly have a dead battery or a problem with the solenoid at the pump motor. The top will NOT raise unless you have a GOOD battery.

- Jack

 

[Jmthomas]

It sounds like your lowering valve is stuck open or is being held open by some debris. This would cause the top to settle all the way down even if you released the lowering switch. It would also prevent the top from raising, but you would hear the pump motor working if you pressed the "UP" position on the switch. Do you hear the pump motor?

If not, then you possibly have a dead battery or a problem with the solenoid at the pump motor. The top will NOT raise unless you have a GOOD battery.

- Jack

Thank you i appreciate it ,is there somethi g to tap to free it up

 

[JackandJanet]

You generally just run fluid through it (using the pump) to flush it out.

But, first confirm for me that the pump is running. Do you hear it? Is the battery fully charged?

It's also possible the manual lowering valve on top of the pump/reservoir assembly is not closed. I think you have a knob there, like I do. Try turning it all the way clockwise (I think) and see if the top raises then. If not, that might be the open position, try it full CCW in that case.

But the first thing to check is the battery state of charge. It should read about 12.7V in a resting state (about 3 hours after being charged). If it is below that, it's weak and probably needs to be replaced.

Do you have the optional manual top raising feature? It's a open cylinder at the front top of the pump assembly that you put a rod into and then you just move the rod handle back and forth to raise the top.

- Jack

 

[K Schaldach]

We had our hilo stored for a year ,pulled it out de winterized it loaded it up and went camping for a week.
Camper did fine another issue besides this one ,but one at a time lol
We get ready to come home and i go to let the top down and pull the cord hit the button and it doesnt stop going down ,i usually stop and make sure curtains out of the way ,and the top just slowly lowers all tje way down ,and will not raise for nothin since then ,im not seeing any fluid any where ,and wont hand pump up either i cant figure it out ,it was a little low on fluid but addd to fill mark ,any help please and thank you alao is there a way to hand crank it up with out the hydraulic pump,

I recently posted a cylinder rebuild kit pdf. It may help with the flushing procedure or help identify if the cylinder seal needs to be replaced.

 

[JackandJanet]

And that thread of Kurt's is "stuck" in the Hydraulic Lift section of the forum too. It's an excellent post. Take the time to read it.

- Jack

 

[K Schaldach]

And that thread of Kurt's is "stuck" in the Hydraulic Lift section of the forum too. It's an excellent post. Take the time to read it.

- Jack

Thanks Jack,
I really enjoy reading your posts. Always great insight and advice. You're the Google of Hi-Lo !
I enjoy helping when I can.

Kurt