A scissor jack is a jack designed to lift a car in an emergency. It usually comes with the vehicle and is stored in the trunk close to the spare tire or with the vehicle's tool kit. It is designed to give you just enough lift to change a flat tire and get back on the road with a minimum of fuss. Most scissor jacks are very cheap to buy but not very well built. Even so, by doing a few simple repairs you may be able to get a few more uses out of your jack before replacing it.
Open the two sides of the jack by turning the screw clockwise. Stop as soon as you can see the rod running straight down the middle.
Oil the full length of the metal rod running down the center. You can do this by using an oil can with a long spout or by putting the oil on your finger and running your finger along the rod. Make sure the oil gets into the grooves.
Screw the jack to its full height and put oil on the rod again. This time the rod will be on the outside of the scissor. Use the same technique of putting oil on your finger and working it into the grooves.
Screw the jack down again to about one-third of the way from its full height. Look along the length of the center rod. If this rod is bent, the jack is probably going to need replacement. This bend resulted because the jack popped back a groove while it was being used to lift. To fix it, you may be able to pull the jack up very hard and pop it to the correct groove. However, in doing so you will wear down the grooves further and make the jack more likely to pop back a groove again.
