Anyone ever rebuild a Warn 2500? I think I've fried mine. Spools in and out fine when there's no tension but as soon as tension is put on the cable it doesn't spool in. Anyone ever take one apart? Is there any spring loaded surprises I should be aware of?

 

I have rebuilt a warn winch before. I am willing to bet that your problem is a classic case of a stripped housing. The planetary gears spin aound the inside of the housing and through lots of use or a little bit of misuse that houseing can be stripped and the gears won't bite any more. If this is the case the winch will make a ratcheting sound when you try to draw the line in inder tension. The winch is pretty basic, the toughest part is keeping the brushes in line when you reconnect the motor.

I would suggest calling a warn service outlet before you take it apart though. My buddy has a warn a2000 that we stripped out and when we called the servicce center to get parts we found that their shop fees were minimal but the parts were expensive. it cost my buddy $97 to fix his winch with a stripped gear housing. It was $90 for a new houseing and $7 for labor. The best $7 he ever spent because that included reassembly and all new grease and an electrical check. Save yourself the headache.

 

You most likely have a stripped end-housing on your winch. I’ve replaced the end-housing on my Warn A2000 twice, which, incidentally uses the same motor and gears as A2500. Why did the splines strip on the end-housing? In my case, the winch had been used in a manner that placed excessive loads on its drivetrain by spooling out a length of cable, attaching the free end to a stuck ATV, and then using my ATV to do the pulling rather than the winch ( . . . I’ve since become more selective and careful when using my winch). Also, the end housing is a cheap (inexpensive) weak link. Better for it to fail or wear out than a more expensive part. Repair was rather straight forward and didn’t offer any ‘surprises’. I would just suggest careful noting of how the parts are assembled during tear-down, especially the orientation of the planetary gear assemblies. The schematic diagram in your owner’s manual may prove useful during reassembly. Good luck.


Texridr

 

Thanks for your replies. I'll add that I took the winch apart last night and found the end clutch housing to be stripped. I called on a replacement part and it's around $20 so I'll have back together shortly.

Warn also answered my email, very good response time I might add, they said that damage such as this is mostly caused by using the winch to tie down the atv on the trailer or using the winch as a tow strap.

In my case it was a neither of those but I do know what caused the problem and just chalking it down as a learning experience. Besides, looking at the dirty grease inside it was time for a routine maintenance anyways.