i have an '02 rubicon with a warn winch (installed by the dealer). on one or two occasions in the past, it stopped working briefly, then would work normally.

this past weekend, it stopped working altogether. i checked all the wires - they appear to be fine. i'll dig out the meter this weekend to see if it's getting power, but i thought i'd post first with for any advice.

anyone have any suggestions? did i burn out the motor?

thanks!
j in jaffrey, nh

 

Have you had your quad out swimming? If your wiring is ok maybe water got into the winch and corroded the brushes or shorted something out.

JC

 

Hard to say if this is your problem or not, but as I also have a warn winch for the past 9 years, it to has quit on me on numerous occasions. But each time it has been poor connections on the winch electrical connections. I take the nuts off and give them a good cleaning and put them back using some white lithium grease and I am off again. The switch contacts in the control **** also need a good cleaning with contact cleaner. Hope this is some help. Using a volt meter will let you know if you are getting the 12 volts at the contacts on the winch as well.

 

cleaned the contacts and the problem went away.. the strange thing is that i never did any mudding with it, but i did quite a bit of snow plowing - most have been how moisture got into the contacts.

i think i'll have to regularly clean the contacts to avoid having the problem when least expect it.. 2 miles from the house when i'm hung up.

j

 

Clean your contacts and apply a spot of dielectric grease to them to help curb corrosion in the future.

 

jaffrican; I had the same problem you did , but my connections were good! It ended up being my solonoid and Warn would'nt cover it $85.00. They had problems with them not sealing properly and corroding inside. They now make an upgraded version. I have a friend that works at Polaris and he said they changed out over 500 Warn soloniods. Whith that big of a problem you would think that they would stand behind them better!

 

I was going to suggest the "Contactor" (solenoid) issue as well but it appears in your situation that the terminal ends were your problem. I just had a Contactor go bad on my 400 Sportsman / Warn 2.5ci and Warn referred me to my regional warranty center in Redding, CA. He wanted the entire winch and contactor sent to him but my winch was working, it was just intermittent as the contactor was freaking out on it's own. He said sometimes they fry the winches when they go bad.

I sent him my thumbswitch and my contactor and they warranted the whole shooting match no questions asked! I wonder why they didn't do that for you, cammoman?