# Questions about a Warn Winch 2.5ci re-build



## NickS

Looking forward to getting some help along the way with a used '07 Brute Force 750 I just bought (snorkels, exhaust, etc...)

The first thing I'm going to try and figure out is the winch. The winch on it will not work. When I hit the "in" or "out" button on the rocker switch, it just clicks on the solenoid at the back of the bike. I know that I need to check the voltage going out from the solenoid, but I figured since it had done the same thing since the previous owner bought it, it had probably been a while since it had been used and needed to be taken apart anyways. I took it apart, and there was a lot of dirt/sand in there and all of the grease had hardened. Would something like that cause it to just "click" at the solenoid? I'm not sure, I figured if the solenoid was still good, the winch would at least try to do something.

The plan is to soak all of the gears in PB blaster, or something, but what is good to clean the rest of the stuff with? Also, when I took the left side of the winch apart (where the motor and magnets are), it looks like some of the wires are black, and others are gold. Almost like some are burnt, but it is hard to tell because of some type of wax coating it all. I assume that is the motor, but not sure. 




























Anyways, what is the best way to clean all of these parts/gears (plastic and metal gears), and hopefully try and seal it a little better? I also heard that some of the warn models had recalls on the solenoids or something.

















I was told that the best thing to repack them with is marine wheel bearing grease. Any help would be great. I know that none of this might help it work, but its worth a try. Thanks.


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## Waddaman

Break cleaner and lots of elbow grease on those gears, for the motor emory cloth it so you can see copper where the contacts touch the motor, and emory cloth where it spins in between the motor, then spray some WD 40 where the magnets are to prevent rusting. Also check all your brushes to see if there broken, just take a cloth with wd40 on it and rub the brushes clean. Rub any crap off the magnets. Pretty much just clean that thing up really good and make it so your getting a good connection to the motor. I have the same winch and mine looked practically the same, I just cleaned it 2 weeks ago and its working good...for now.


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## NickS

This is a stupid question, but where are the brushes located at? Like in the first and second picture, that doesn't want to come apart. Or is it supposed to? Like I said, with this in this kind of condition, would that cause it to just "click" at the solenoid and not kick on?


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## Roboquad

Stupid question.did you put direct power from a battery before pulling it apart?. I used kendal dozer grease to pack mine. And yes the frozen up funk that used to be grease will cause it to fail. If you don't get her fired back up I would be interested in the magnet cap, I have one completely rusted out. Good luck. Most of them break the magnet end and are useless after that...no brushes...


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## NickS

No, I didn't try that. As you can see from the pictures, it was going to need a good cleaning anyways. I was going to test the voltage coming out of the solenoid (possibly try to jump it). If that failed, and considering the shape of the inside of it, I might get it back together and hook it up to a buddies Polaris who has the same winch to see if at least that works.

And when you say direct power, do you mean just hooking the positive from the battery to the winch, and the negative from the battery to the winch? Sorry for the stupid questions, still new to this and don't want to make things worse...


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## Waddaman

mine did the same thing, just clicked. in the second pic motor should come off the "cap" or the piece with the terminals, the brushes are in the cap. You can just hook the winch up to a battery with jumper cables to test it, but clean it and fix it first. If your solenoid is clicking, its working.


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## Roboquad

And when you say direct power said:


> __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
> 
> 
> not stupid at all. yes direct to a battery will spin one way or another, I used speaker wire on the lawn mower. it was closest to the bench and vice I had the winch in. if it goes the wrong way simply reverse pos. and neg.


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## Rack High

No doubt that winch had mud and water infiltration. The rotor (spinning part) looks to have burnt windings in it (copper spatter like you get when soldering). All you can really do is clean it up well, put it back together and put power to the 2 terminals and see if she works (12 volt battery and jumper cables). I wouldn't spend money on new gaskets and seals until I test it electrically. If she works, seal every seam with silicone.


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## Roboquad

I use fish tank silicone....


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## Waddaman

that winch has no gaskets or seals..lol. You can silicone it up all you want ill guarantee water will get in there. Youd have to silicone moving parts to do so. All and all its a garbage winch to be blunt. If you can't afford a new one keep fixing it until you can, I don't trust mine to get me out of a hole.


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## NickS

Are the "brushes" you guys are talking about these little triangle shaped metal pieces with the springs under them?













If so, do they have to maintain complete contact with the motor at all times? A couple of them won't stay in unless the motor is pushed in. And a couple of them won't come out all the way. I guess I need to stretch the springs out a little further?


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## primetime1267

I need to rebuild mine also.. I went and tried it out for the first time and the **** thing started to smoke and nothing moved.. LOL What is usually the cause for a smoking winch?


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## Rack High

primetime1267 said:


> I need to rebuild mine also.. I went and tried it out for the first time and the **** thing started to smoke and nothing moved.. LOL What is usually the cause for a smoking winch?


 
Primetime it sounds like yours shorted out. If you open it up, the rotor will probably look like the photo above. What happens is if you put power to the winch and the rotor doesn't begin to spin, heat builds up and begins to melt the insulation on the magnet wire causing a short if you hold power to it for very long. That's the "smoke" you see..insulation melting and burning. :flames:

A lot of the older winches were not meant to be submerged as they weren't sealed for that purpose. The more modern winches (the ones built in the past couple of years) are made to take submerging (check the specs before you buy). I've had this new generation Viper Max since February and she's spent 80% of her life below the surface. So far, no issues.


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## NickS

So, is the rotor shot, if it is black like the picture in my first post? Am I wasting my time cleaning this out and re-building it?


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## Waddaman

Don't mess with the brushes, there fine. Take a cloth and wipe off the top of the brushes a bit and thats it. And no just try to fix it, it's not that hard anyway. The black could be just a bit of melted insulation on top, mine had some too.


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## Rack High

Waddaman's right...it may work when you get it back together. A friend of mine just had his Warn 3000# rebuilt (it was fried) and it cost nearly as much as a new Viper. Hopefully it's not burned out.


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## ob3135

So I took a Warn "Polaris" Winch apart, and I think I did it wrong :bigeyes:

I took the cap off that has the terminals on it and pulled the cap off and then cut the wires to the two post and pulled the brushes and motors out of the magnet housing. Now that I've cleaned it all up and am ready to repack the thing and put it back together I cant figure out how to re-connect the post wires. Sooooooo, anyone have any ideas. Looks like the wires were basically welded under a little tab on top of the bolt/studs at the facotry. Really screwed the pooch taking it apart backwards I'm afraid.

We thought the motor was :flames: but turns out I didnt see any heat damage. But there was ZERO packing grease in it ....


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