Alcohol and Car jacks don't mix!

[DeRocha]

Alcohol and Car jacks don't mix!

I was on my way to work when I had a rear tire blow out. I immediately slowed and pulled off the road and even off the brake down lane so I was on the grass. I surveyed the damage and It was just the tire. I got
the spare out and when I retrieved my Jack I had a little surprise. Windshield washer fluid either overflowed or leaked from the rear fill tank onto the jack. The jack was so oxidized i couldn't get it to move up or down. I thought I could free the stuck mechanism with a little force. Wrong! I applied maybe 50ft lbs of force to the rachet mechanism and the jack broke in two pieces. See pic one.

Lucky for me Mass has several Help vans which patrol the area highways during the mornining and evening commute hours. The help driver "Bob" pulled behind me and wrote in his log book for several minutes before comming over. He then asked me if I had read my manual about how to change a tire because I was taking so long. His attitude was "What kind of idiot are you that can't change a tire?" I said look at my damn
jack! It is broken in two pieces and completedly useless! He looked it over then retrieved his 15lb mini floor jack and jacked up my car. I change the tire in a few minutes, jacked down the car and was on my way to work.

The moral of the story: If you have a rear washer fluid reservoir you should check your jack to see if it has oxidized. I now cary a 6 ton hydrolic jack.

Pic1Pic2 Pic3

 

[Gaddy46]

thats funny

 

[matey]

reminds me that if you see your friend "jack" at the airport dont shout out. hi jack!

 

[Crankcase]

When I read "Alcohol and car jacks don't mix"...I was expecting something else...LOL

 

[section525]

Okay.. where does the alcohol come in? Were you chuggin corona? Sippin the gin and juice? What?

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

Hmmm...maybe that explains why the rear tank would empty itself over time in my old '95. I feel bad for the person who buys that car (if it is sold again) and tries to use the jack. I knew I wasn't going crazy when I had to fill the tank and hardly ever used it.

Funny story though. I'm glad you got everything worked out.

 

[X~FACTOR]

Those small jacks are useless anyways. Have you tried using them on the side of the road on dirt road? Totally useless... so what about the story about the alcohol drink?

 

[SiLenZe]

he probably puts alcohol in the washer tank with water so it doesnt freeze in the winter.
that jack looked like it had been under the ocean for 50 years!

 

[jimbo74]

i htink he thinks that the alcohol is contained in windshield washer fluid, when in fact it isnt... and that was not what cuased the oxidation....

 

[DeRocha]

Methyl Alcohol

In New England many if not all windshield fluid brands contains METHYL ALCOHOL to prevent freezing. I believe this coupled with any Ammonia in the fluid will greatly accelerate the oxidation process.