Bring the elevator down to the bottom floor and shut the power off. Remember to lock and tag the shut-off switch for your safety and the safety of others.
Use the manual lowering valve to lower the car down to the buffers to relieve the system of it's oil pressure. Even when a hydraulic elevator sits on the bottom floor, it still uses oil unless you manually lower it down to the buffers, says elevator service technician Mark Dahlstrom.
Pump out the oil in the reservoir tank with an oil transfer pump. If you don't already have one, you can rent these machines from an equipment rental store. Pump into an empty oil barrel. Typically these are made of plastic, but any material suitable for oil will work.
Fix your motor problem and put the oil back into the reservoir pump when you're finished. You wouldn't want to reuse the oil, however, if it is contaminated. Reusing clean oil is fine says Dahlstrom.