Ask the Editors: Winch Induced Electrical Trouble
While you don’t tell us how far along you were with the install, it sounds an awful lot like an ignition short coming from the battery. You say you never touched the ATV’s wiring but all electric winches require a run back to the machine’s battery to power the winch motor.
The place to begin diagnosing would be to backtrack and undo the electrical connection from the winch to the battery itself to see if your ATV returns to normalcy.
There is always the remote possibility of the failure of an electrical component but this would be an awful big coincidence considering the problem began when you were installing the winch. More than likely you’ve got a crossed wire on the install that’s causing the electrical system to ground out entirely.
We don’t know the make & model winch you are attempting to install but take a look at Warn’s wiring schematic for a clearer idea of how the circuit needs to be completed:
If you’re positive the install is correct, put a meter on the battery itself to make sure it’s holding a charge. The increased load of the winch may have been enough to completely drain an already-weak battery.
