This is for an 04 Sportsman. Got the Warn wench for the ATV thru Polaris. Of course, warranty expired a month ago. Now I see that when you try spool in or out it quite often has issues. You will hear the solenoid or contactor (whichever you call it) click but the winch will not move or will move slowly and then get up to speed. I do use this winch to secure the ATV. However, I have done that on my old Rincon with no ill results. Since the solenoid clicks, I would assume the switch to the solenoid is fine. How do you figure out if it is the solenoid or the winch motor? TIA

 

I've seen of this before. It sounds like a charging issue. A friend of mine has a 2004.5 and had the same problem. It turned out has battery was shoot and the charging system couldn't keep up with the winch as it was supplying so much to the battery. His winch solenoid would click, the winch would stop or be slow. He took it back to his dealer and they did a load test on the battery and it was toast. A new one got put in under warranty and since then has had no issues with the winch.

 

My battery was fine. However under a recall, they took it back and gave me a new one.