How to Add Oil

, Spread a good sized plastic drop cloth on the ground under the machine - some oil will spill when being added to the machine.

,  Lay the machine on its side on top of the plastic drop cloth.  The refill plug on the reservoir must be facing up when the machine is on its side.  Make sure that the peddle on the same side as the re-fill plug is pushed all the way down.  The other peddle, closest to the floor, will automatically raise up as far as it's going to go.  

, Use two chunks of 2/4 wood or other types of blocks and place under the machine to block it up - the bottom of the cylinders (where the hose goes in) must be higher than the top of the cylinder.  This is to let any air trapped in the system rise to the hose hole.

, Find the cylinder on top - remove the bolt at the bottom of the cylinder at the end where it connects to the base of the machine - rotate the cylinder 180 degrees so the hose is facing up (like the cylinder on the bottom.

,  Slip the mounting bolts back in to hold the cylinder - no need to re-tighten the bolt at this time.  Now the hoses on both cylinders are turned up.

, Remove the plug from the reservoir with an Allen wrench.  These machines use a couple different sizes of Allen wrenches so use the one that fits properly.  Do not loose the rubber "O" ring that seals the plug.

, You will need a small funnel that fits under the machine pipe.  (A small funnel that fits is included with the Stepper Seals Kit - Click here to order! The funnel must fit tightly in the re-fill hole - if it is canted at an angle it will not work properly.  

, A helper will be useful at this point.  One person to hold the funnel and keep it full of oil (this is important!).   The other person will move the peddle up and down - this action will pull the oil into the reservoir.

, Hold the funnel tight into the hole and fill the funnel almost to the top with clean transmission oil.  

, Slowly raise the bottom peddle up (the one nearest the floor).  Watch the oil in the funnel.  It should be going down as the peddle is raised.  Add more oil as it is suctioned into the reservoir.  Make sure the funnel does not lose all the oil or air will get into the system.  Keep adding fluid while pulling the peddle in a coordinated manner.  Go slow!  If you try to go too fast, it is easy to suck in air.

, Once the peddle is raised all the way up, wait a few moments while the vacuum pulls the oil into the cylinder.  Then slowly push the bottom peddle all the way back down.  You will see air bubbles rising up in the remaining oil in the funnel - some oil may spill out.  Now slowly pull the peddle back up.  Oil should be going down in the funnel and you may need to add a bit more oil. Slowly raise and lower the bottom peddle several times until there are no more air bubbles appearing in the funnel.  Stop with the bottom peddle raised all the way up.

, Now it's time to do the same procedure to the top peddle.  Once the top peddle is raised all the way up, wait a few moments while the vacuum pulls the oil into the cylinder.  Then slowly push the top peddle all the way back down.  You will see air bubbles rising up in the remaining oil in the funnel - some oil may spill out.  Now slowly pull the peddle back up.  Oil should be going down in the funnel and you may need to add a bit more oil. Slowly raise and lower the top peddle several times until there are no more air bubbles appearing in the funnel.  Stop with the top peddle pushed all the way down.

, Now with the top peddle all the way down and the bottom peddle all the way up, remove the funnel and put the plug back into the reservoir.  Oil should be full up to the top of the hole.

, Test the system by moving the peddles up and down - mimicking the exercise motion - check to be sure that each peddle goes all the way down until the rubber pad touches.  If it does not touch the rubber pad, then there is too much oil in the system.  Remove the reservoir plug and push one peddle down until it touches the rubber pad.  This will cause some of the oil to spill out.  Replace the plug in the reservoir and test again. 

, Now check the free play - when one peddle is all the way down, pull up on the other peddle.  There should be about 1" of free play in the peddle that is being pulled up - there must be some free play.  If there is not enough free play, then the system is over full of oil (the oil will get too hot when the machine is operating and it will leak).  Remove the reservoir plug and push one peddle down about 3/4' - 1".  This will cause some of the oil to spill out.  Replace the plug in the reservoir and test again.

, The top cylinder must be rotated back 180 degrees - to its original position.  Remove the loose bolt on the cylinder - rotate so the hose is facing the hose on the bottom cylinder.  Tighten the bolt and turn the machine upright.

Watch the top of the cylinders for future leaks.  If it starts to leak badly, you will need to replace the cylinder seals.  You can:

• a) Order a Stepper Seals Kit and replace the seals yourself. Click here to order!
• b) Ship the cylinders to Driftwood Solutions for rebuild. Click here to order!
• c) Or take the cylinders to a local hydraulic repair shop and have them install new seals (Google 'hydraulic repair') - this generally costs between $100 and $250 depending on the repair shop.

Which ever way you choose, it will be a lot less expensive than replacing the entire assembly.