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

 

my super winch did the same thing this year. i got it overly wet and then didn't use it and let it sit for a while and then it did not work when i needed it. i found if i tapped on it with a hammer while using the switch it came on. then i just kept the button on till i let all the cable out and then wound it back up it has worked ever since maybe water makes some rust on the contacts inside and makes it stop working and when you really start working it again it cleans up the contacts. just a thought let me know if it works

 

same thing happened this weekend when I was winching out. First time I even used the winch! It paused, like nothing was happening. Later on, found out I frayed my cable [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]


A guy we were riding with worked at at dealer and said alot of the problem is the relay that warn has. He said the best thing to do was cut out the relay and run direct to the battery. Swears by it! My wolverine was that way and it never messed up like this one has. Same winch too

 

Check to see if they installed a thermal circuit breaker inline with the (+) wire next to the battery. Mine had one and it would cut out, I changed it once and finally removed it all together, now my winch works problem free.

Could be the relay too, this is the one that only lets the winch operate when the key is on.

 

If it is the new 2.5 Warn, your problem may be the relay. Mine wen't and my winch was only 4 months old. I guess the water kills them. My replacement solenoid got taken apart and sealed a little better before I put it in. Will have to see how long this one lasts.

 

I left water in mine.

 

Winch motor not sealed very good gets wet and brushes stick. After disassembling and cleaning motor use silicone sealer around end caps. There were problems with the early relays. This was to be taken care of on units with problem. I would not recomend removing the relay, you are asking for trouble by not having somthing to help with electrical load.

 

You could clean the brushes with a little sandpaper and snap them to make sure the arent getting stuck. Spray with an electrical safe cleaner. Then run the winch for a while. Or you could tap on it with a bigger hammer lol.

 

I got stuck real bad in the mud a couple on weeks ago, well it was really mud and water, lots of water. Anyways, my winch has lost a lot of its pulling power, it can only pull the ATV forward on level ground, forget about it in the mud. I can unravel the cable some and hold it out with my hand while I try to bring it back in and it just makes this grinding sound. I have a WARN 2500lb Winch. Any ideas?

PS while i was trying to get out of the mud, my lights went really dim and then I broke the tree that I was trying to use to get out, there were no other trees around to get out so I had to go and get the SUV.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Josh

 

thanks for all the feedback on this thread - based on what i learned, i decided to clean the contacts on the winch. lots of dirt, and water made its way under the rubber boot that protects the contacts. i removed them both, cleaned them with some sandpaper and reattached the wires.

the winch is wired directly to the battery..

so it appears that water and dirt eventually gets under the rubber boots - a simple cleaning appears to have fixed the issue.