Hi, just bought 05 Kodiak and it came with 2.5 Warn installed. Any way to make a long story short the first one was possibly a dud as it would not disengage(click) to free spool? Ok so I get a new one and installed it, unspooled it completely twice and it does disengage but is extremely difficult to free spool. I have installed several warns and can not remember this much trouble after unspooling and respooling technique prior to attempting to free spool. Is this now normal? Should I continue to unspool and respool a few more times? Also I noticed seeing I re-installed the second winch being I was riding this weekend and the shop was full till Tuesday, that the mounting for the winch/kodiak is very snug with the cross bar - bumber to frame. I noticed on the original winch a wear mark on the warn sticker making me wonder if it isn't putting pressure on the winch - the reason being once I got the winch out and on my bench it actually went into freespool position. It however would not actually freespool, so I still a dud winch.

BTW, I tighten the mounting bracket/winch down completely (2nd winch) well on the bench prior to reinstalling the bumper.

Any thoughts are much appreciated

 

Bump

 

So am I the only one that has noticed this problem? All your warns free spool great on the kodi or nobody has needed them b/c the bike is that good...LOL!

 

Anybody...have anything to say about 05 kodiak and a warn 2.5K winch........GOOD or BAD about the freespooling?

I called the dealer today but they offered nothing but bring it in. Which i plan to do and I have my own theories but just wondering if anybody else has experienced any troubles.

 

Hi, I just got my 05 Kodiak 450 on Mon and had the dealer (I work there)
install my Warn 2.5ci, I was messing around with the machine last night
and my winch free spools just fine.
The case on the winch is pretty thick and I don't think you can put enough pressure
on the case to stop the winch from free spooling. ie rubbing on the frame.
I would check binding on the fairlead (did you get a roller or standard fairlead?)
Also try to compleatly unspool and respool a few times.
If this dosn't help it sounds like it's time to take the winch back to the
dealer and get the case opened, don't do it yourself as you may void your warranty.
Also does the winch power in and out ok or is that diffecult as well?
If it won't power in and out smoothly, their may be internal binding.
We sell a ton of Warn and thats what I chose for my machine but I have seen plenty
of them come back under warranty.
Good luck
Jim

 

I've used my winch a few times and when I go to freespool sometimes it will only go so far because it is binding inside the winch. I've tryed winding it all the way out then putting it back in and it still has the problem occasionally. I think its the wire. It just isn't that good. I think i saw you can get a replacement rope/wire for it thats better. It was blue but I don't remember where I saw it at. Also the wire got a kink in it all ready and I've only used it a few times [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

Thanks, I have unwound it via toggle 3 times and still no improvement. Power is just fine and it winched me to a pine tree last evening in the yard just seeing how it hooked up. So the only problem is the freespool. I have a roller fairlead. I find it weird it is the second one that doesn't work on my bike but I will take it back to the dealer and let them work at finding the problem.

windmill,

The cable does kink on winchs quickly but it still should freespool with little effort unless wound on itself or excessively dirty. I am sure you know but a winch should be wound with resistance to prevent it winding on itself and created a locked cable situation like your describing. In my case I have to really tug on it and move the bike when brakes are applied to get it to spin maybe a 2 feet than again....THIS IS NOT NORMAL from my experience with warns!

Thank you for the replies keep em' coming