After ciphering on it a bit, I realized that when the lift is in the full up position, the piston is in the retracted position (which pulls the cables to lift the parking deck). I had always thought that the piston extended to make the lift go up. Not so, however. Basically, the end of the piston (the end that slides back and forth inside the cylindrical housing) has a seal to prevent oil from getting past it. The oil is pumped from the motor to the space between the end of the piston and the open end of the hydraulic cylinder where the piston slides in and out. When the piston is sliding back and forth inside the cylinder, air will enter and exit the cylinder to fill the space between the end of the piston and the end piece that's welded onto the cylinder (where the oil was spewing out of), and that's done through a vent in the endcap that's very difficult to see. What had happened to mine was that the seal on the end of the piston had failed, which allowed oil to enter into the space between the end of the piston and the welded on cap at the end of the cylinder. When I raised the lift, the end of the piston moved further inside the cylinder, and that pushed the wayward oil seepage out of the invisible air vent (a lot of oil).
I bought these two lifts in 2008, so 15 years isn't bad for a seal. I expect the other one to go out soon. For the record, I bought these lifts from Greg Smith Equipment, which has since been bought out by Tooltopia. They still sell lifts, but apparently not this "brand" anymore. Mine are "Direct-Lift PP8Plus".
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