That is some poor male pipe threading on that probable Chinese hose assy.

Cut about 1/8" of the male end and you might have enough taper to get a good thread seal. As is you are like pointed out bottoming out in the shallow QD female thread boss and not getting good thread engagement and thus a leak.

Teflon Tape should only be used as a last resort and like said start two threads from end.

Well, problem solved...sort of.  I actually had some thread paste that was rated for hydraulics, so I went ahead and tried it on the fitting.  I can tell you that I was able to get the fitting to thread deeper with the thread compound, much more so than by using ATF as a thread lubricant.  I let it sit for about an hour assembled, and has been working fine with no leaks.  I *may* end up doing the other connectors, but seeing how they aren't leaking at this point, it may be a waste of time.  

Now, to the "sort of" part.  Before I could start high-fiving myself for fixing one leak, I developed another.  This time, it wasn't with the hose, but with the actual cylinder itself on the opposite column.  Odd it waited until now to start leaking, but it is.  I thought at first it was leaking from the bottom seal, but its not...its leaking from some sort of weep hole near the bottom of the body of the cylinder (just above where the ram slides in).  I'll have to post a pic, but the other cylinder has the same hole (but no leak).  

I would shitcan all that garbage and go get JIC fittings made up down at NAPA.
I've fought so many air/ gas/ hydraulic leaks with NPT.

the worst is when people tape NPT threads too thick, then gorilla smash them tight, then you have to use more tape the next time and after 2-3 cycles the fittings are garbage.


The pressure will always take the path of least resistance. At first, it was the one connection.  You taped it (NPT fittings need to be taped or doped) then the cylinder started pissing. Fix that then the next weak link will go, which will probably be the other high pressure side hose fitting you didn't tape.

Those weep holes are there specifically so that you can A. tell it's leaking, and 2 keep the cylinder from locking solid.  It's a bad ring or something.

At first I thought it was just a bad portion of weld, but noticed that it was too "round" to be a pin hole...plus, having one on the other cylinder in the exact location kind of gave it away.  Guess I'll be calling the hydraulic shop and MaxJax on Monday...

Oddly enough, before I noticed it, I'd lifted the Jeep a couple times.  It lifted without any trouble, but I definitely need to get this fixed before I do too much.  

Yea hydraulics have a funny way of going from "this is fine" to "now things are falling on you" in a hurry.

 

Does the lift have mechanical locks/ safeties on it independent of the hydraulics?

Sounds like a quality piece of equipment. I'd heard good things about maxjacks or whatever, but this is very unimpressive to say the least.

Yes, it has two lift positions you can insert a lock bar through.  



In MaxJax's defense, I bought the lift used.  I'm not sure how long the original owner had the lift, but I've had it for over 2 years...its just taken me until now to finally get a space I wanted to use it in.  I believe the hose fittings simply weren't assembled correctly, but I can tell you they weren't leaking when I bought it.  As far as the cylinder leak goes, I really have no idea.  Regardless, I was able to get it for less than half what one costs new, and nothing that has happened so far would keep me from buying another.

Here is a pic of the leaking cylinder...



...and the other side, which is obviously not leaking.



Will this require a complete rebuild of the cylinder?

Those holes suck in air and push out air inside the cylinder. Like a breather. The seals on the piston head are most likely bad. Its a 50/50 on resealing. Those holes can pull in moisture(humidity) causing the inside of the cylinder to rust. Put in new seals, a month later its leaking again. I've dealt with it a few times.

which is fine but the problem is people are to lazy to clean ALL threads properly when disassembled and contamination is the result when reasemembed . quit using tape 25 or some years ago and haven't missed it

What I do, even on my trans pan drain plug.

That does not sound promising, but how does the inside of the cylinder rust if it is filled with ATF?

It's not when it's retracted, all that fluid is sucked out, and the seals do what they are supposed to, keep all the fluid on the inside. Little spot here, little spot there and a couple cycles of travel at pressure is all it takes to damage the seals.

 

Makes sense.

Ohhhh... You said you bought it used and had it stored for awhile too, correct?  Probably in the retracted position? Could be the cause.

Yeah, it sat stored for about 2-2.5 yrs before I finally put it up.