Check your winch!

[Tom]

I just wanted to give you guys a reminder to check your winch before relying on it.



My truck is a 2003 and it is low mileage with a factory Warn Industrial 12,000lb winch.



Recently after pulling a vehicle out of a ditch, my winch would not reel in or out. I assumed it was the winch solenoid pack and ordered a replacement. After pulling the solenoid pack apart I realized it was thoroughly sealed and fine. However the winch still did not work. I pulled the winch apart and it is thoroughly corroded.



The Temperature and climate change, combined with using the winch in poor conditions (underwater) allowed water, salt and mud to get into the winch (these are supposed to be waterproof and sealed).



The armature, brushes, bearing and bushings in the Warn arel all worn and corroded. This is a winch that I have taken care of, but I guess the years of being mounted on the front of my truck in a salty environment have taken their toll. I am in the process of rebuilding.



I really encourage you to inspect your winch, pull off a inspection screw if possible and verify no water got in, and spray the entire thing down with some protective oil or storage spray.



It is getting expensive to repair, and even more expensive to replace.



Just a friendly heads up!

[whitehumh2]

I agree with Tom!



I completely rebuilt my winch last year and I couldn't believe what managed to get in mine!



However now that I rebuilt it with synthetic lubes it works WAY better than when it was new!

[Tom]

[quote name='Polar Bear' timestamp='1298934991' post='25553']

I agree with Tom!



I completely rebuilt my winch last year and I couldn't believe what managed to get in mine!



However now that I rebuilt it with synthetic lubes it works WAY better than when it was new!

[/quote]



What lubes did you end up using?



Aeroshell 33MS?

[tylerlisk]

ha ha, yea they can be temperamental! which is funny since they are usually your last resort for getting you out of a tight spot. Last thing you should be worried about in a bad situation is if your winch works. I have slowly rebuilt mine, got ride of the crappy chipboard and ran straight solenoids, and I will be picking up a new motor off ebay when I go to the states in two weeks. luckily the solenoids are cheap.

[Tom]

[quote name='geckosupastar' timestamp='1298986169' post='25570']

I will be picking up a new motor off ebay when I go to the states in two weeks. luckily the solenoids are cheap.

[/quote]



Not if you have a newer winch! The Solenoid pack is an integrated piece on trucks 2001 and above.

(It's not made up of 4 solenoids like the older style, its one large piece with 3 solenoids integrated)



As for the motor on ebay, I am having a custom rewound done by the same company (DB Electrical), and hopefully I won't need to make use of their 1 year warranty.

[tylerlisk]

[quote name='Tom' timestamp='1298994692' post='25575']

Not if you have a newer winch! The Solenoid pack is an integrated piece on trucks 2001 and above.

(It's not made up of 4 solenoids like the older style, its one large piece with 3 solenoids integrated)



As for the motor on ebay, I am having a custom rewound done by the same company (DB Electrical), and hopefully I won't need to make use of their 1 year warranty.

[/quote]

yea, mines the older one with 4 solenoids. Im sure you could easily re-wire the new ones back to a 4 style. The more basic you keep it the less problems you should have, and it also makes it easier to fix (the solenoids are basic stater solenoids, around $13 each). The winch motors seem to be around 90 bucks on ebay, I could have gotten mine re-wound but for the price I could have got 3 new motors off ebay so I'm going to see how these motors hold up. I will let everyone know once I have put it all back together.

[Tom]

[quote name='geckosupastar' timestamp='1299010185' post='25579']

yea, mines the older one with 4 solenoids. Im sure you could easily re-wire the new ones back to a 4 style. The more basic you keep it the less problems you should have, and it also makes it easier to fix (the solenoids are basic stater solenoids, around $13 each). The winch motors seem to be around 90 bucks on ebay, I could have gotten mine re-wound but for the price I could have got 3 new motors off ebay so I'm going to see how these motors hold up. I will let everyone know once I have put it all back together.

[/quote]



No, its a sealed unit.



See:

[T.C.]

I'M DOING MY WINCH RIGHT NOW SENT ALL MY PARTS for SAND BLAST AND PAINT ...ALSO CHANGED A FEW PARTS ON THE INSIDE....PARTS SHOULD BE IN NEXT WEEK....JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SPECS From WARN ..IF YOU DO NOT LET ME KNOW I HAVE A DOWNLOAD OF THE WARN WINCH FOR HUMMER H1..... the solenoid part # is changed make sure you get the right one ....brand new 275.00

cheers

[dwaxman1]

Now i am concerned and I feel like pulling someone out... LETS GO GET STUCK!!! I need to test both of mine....

[tylerlisk]

[quote name='dwaxman1' timestamp='1299035977' post='25593']

Now i am concerned and I feel like pulling someone out... LETS GO GET STUCK!!! I need to test both of mine....

[/quote]

My hummer play yard near my house is mud soup, should get some of you to come out here, you would probably use it for sure. ha ha

On the other hand, I don't like getting my truck dirty for the sake of getting dirty. To much work to get it clean again!