Another Winch not working thread

[mtu1293]

So going through winch saga again on another powerwagon. My first one was an 07 and the pins rotted /corroded...... Now on my 2019 the winch stopped working as well.

- Used it about 2 weeks ago to winch my friends plow truck up a driveway he was stuck on. DIdn't overwork the winch at all, and when done sucked winch back and all was good.
- Now my tractor got stuck in the snow, went to winch it out and nothing. No clicks on solenoid, nothing.

Thought maybe a pin was messed up, they all looked good.
Tried another winch controller - same result, no solenoid engagement
Power at the battery going to winch
I did find power in the 5 wire plug - curious does anyone have a diagram on this?

Where should I test next? Currently winch is still in the truck, no heat in garage and it's been 0-30deg, and will be for a few months.
Anything else to troubleshoot before removing winch?
On the newer Zeon winch are there writeups to bypass the Thermal OL or Low Voltage OL?

If by chance winch is actually shot, can I replace with a normal Warn 12S Zeon? Then this was be done with those above mentioned OLs.

 

[akguy09]

I have to wonder if the winches that are impacted all come from places that salt the hell out of the roads in the winter.

 

[Dean2]

Easiest option, check the contactor terminals for power. If there is power at the terminals, run the nut off, clean the posts, reattach. you can jump across those terminals to see if the winch works. If it does, then it is in the controller or solenoids. If the winch won't fire jumping the terminals then the winch itself has an issue.
Not the specific one but the contactor looks similar this.

 

[4xdad]

I had similar problems on my 2015 I took the control box off and cleaned everything then it worked I live in Edmonton Alberta so salt and crap are a fact of life when the weather warms up I’m going to take it apart again and move the control box up by the battery the bottom of the control box isn’t sealed so stuff gets inside

 

[DILLIGAF]

Mount your control box as high as you can.

 

[4xdad]

I was thinking about up by the battery

 

[Dean2]

Mtu. How did you make out with your winch problem.

 

[mtu1293]

Mtu. How did you make out with your winch problem.

lol - not great yet. Summer has been way to busy, so haven't even dove back into this. Hopefully in the next few weeks I free up some time and get this remedied.

 

[4xdad]

So went to install a light bar on the truck. While I had everything apart I decided to check winch function no go$&@@“ so I tried to fix it. All the wires were rusted solid “@&$. So I looked for a solution I found it on Amazon. It is a pretty easy fix but you have to add a ground wire to it the instructions don’t tell you that

 

[4xdad]

I also moved the wires the cables now run up to the battery where the winch controller is I made a bracket so that the solenoid pack is on top of the battery

 

[WY-Dave]

Back in the Jeep days we used spray some battery terminal protector on all the "open" contacts and terminals. Same stuff that cover the battery terminals. Also on the controller connector, use light bulb grease. After using the controller, spread the gunk around to cover the contacts again.



Also remember winches are primarily used for SELF recovery. Snatch/tow straps are best used to getting something unstuck. I just pick the ARB snatch up off of FB market at 1/2 of new


After 5 years of snow, water and dirt roads etc, never an issue

 

[mtu1293]

What is stupid on the powerwagon, is how they mount the winch. The bottom of the winch faces out so all the salt and crap go right up into winch / solenoid pack.

 

[4xdad]

Exactly that’s why I moved it to the top of the battery box. Plus with the new controller is wireless. And way cheaper than the old one. The most expensive part was the wire to power the motor. I reused the- negative cable and shortened the positive cable. Then I made the ones from the box to the motor. One thing that the extensive 5 sentences of instructions don’t tell you is that you have to add a wire to the negative side

 

[mtu1293]

I'm debating going with AEV winch bumper, and a new M15S Warn winch for now. Will more then likely buy a newerish diesel to replace the powerwagon, and swap over the AEV and 15S to that. lol - hopefully in that duration get the Powerwagon winch fixed and sell it off with stock setup down the road.

If I keep the PW, goal will be to also add AEV flares and potentially 38s or 40s.

 

[olyelr]

I'm debating going with AEV winch bumper, and a new M15S Warn winch for now. Will more then likely buy a newerish diesel to replace the powerwagon, and swap over the AEV and 15S to that. lol - hopefully in that duration get the Powerwagon winch fixed and sell it off with stock setup down the road.

If I keep the PW, goal will be to also add AEV flares and potentially 38s or 40s.

Anything less than 40s with those flares makes the tires looks like roller skate wheels haaaaa

 

[mtu1293]

Well I went and did it.......
Since I need to pull the winch regardless to work on it, I went stupid and bought the AEV winch bumper and new Warn 15S winch. Figured worst case once I fix the current Warn 12S, that can be a spare winch. Or if the day comes I trade in the wagon, I can throw the stock bumper and winch back on.

 

[GusBros]

MTU1293, if you look to get rid of the 12s let me know I'm missing a clutch release handle

 

[UTAHPWRWGN]

Anything less than 40s with those flares makes the tires looks like roller skate wheels haaaaa

True story.

 

[UTAHPWRWGN]

Well I went and did it.......
Since I need to pull the winch regardless to work on it, I went stupid and bought the AEV winch bumper and new Warn 15S winch. Figured worst case once I fix the current Warn 12S, that can be a spare winch. Or if the day comes I trade in the wagon, I can throw the stock bumper and winch back on.

You won't regret it, except for the install. The AEV bumpers are a PITA.