Question for JP

[double moo]

My son brought back my Trooper after this weekend claiming that the winch wouldn't work. They had used it to get unstuck and spooled the line back in - then once home tried to unspool the line and re-seat it like they should have immediately after the use.



So I go out and sure enough there is nothing happening. I popped the hood and found an ugly mess of the battery. It looks as though the battery got loose and shifted just enough to contact the side termminal where the winch was connected... yes I said was.. to the battery hold down rod. This appears to have caused it to arc weld the terminal to the rod, actually cutting through the rod, and continue arc'ing until it melted the terminal lead out of the battery.



(The hold down rod shown was swapped from the other side)

The other possibility is that the terminal overheated from the winch use and melted itself out - contacting the rod before faling free. I am assummiong all this because I have'nt another explanation. (the winch worked to spool in the cable after the recovery... two days later no workey)

In addition to this... I tried hooking the winch up to the useable terminals on the battery and it would just click, like the solenoid isn't throwing... at least it clicked several times until it started smoking and some heated liquid dripped out - which is when we noticed the smoke and disconnedted everything!!!

Cool thing is that the battery still holds a charge and starts the truck like nothing happened! I got out the voltage tester and confirmed that the battery is holding 12.2 volts static, with 13.6 showing when running. I'm hoping that this indicates that the alternator is OK -It should read about 14 when charging but it has read a little low since it was installed a year ago.

So, JP... Am I on the right track? what else should I be looking for? And can a smoking/leaking winch be repaired or do I start looking for another? Any suggestions are really appreciated.

Moo

[JP]

Yikes

Wow, he had some fun

What kind of winch is it? You should be able to buy the solenoids from the manufacturer. I've replaced some Warn solenoids, pretty easy to get.

You have to open that thing up to see what damage happened with that massive power play there The wires on the inside very well could have had the insulation melt right off them and who knows if the wires are now in contact with each other inside. The leaking stuff is interesting. It very well maybe melting plastic coming out when heated up. You won't know until you rip it apart. Hopefully the damage didn't hit the electric motor, if it did, it probably would be cheaper to have your son buy you a new winch But, outside the motor being bad, you should be able to get parts from the manufacturer to repair it. Good pics by the way Good luck with the repair, keep us posted.

On a side note It looks and sounds like you're still using the steel cable. It would be a good idea to switch over to the synthetic. Sons, as you mentioned, have a tendency not to treat the steel cable with the respect that is needed to keep everyone safe. Synthetic rope has come along way in the past few years and is a very safe way to get your Trooper out off sticky situations. I use the synthetic and love it.

[double moo]

Winch is a T-max 9000. I'll have to call them to get their take on what I should be looking for.

[DOSS]

From your pics you are using the side posts for your winch and top posts for your engine... battery's that have duel posts the TOP posts handle hard draw much better and usually when the side posts fail it does what yours has done.. If the battery is still good then I would put everything onto the top posts and only put low draw accessory's on the side post.

sounds like a solenoid to me as well.. call Tmax and see if you can get them from there.. you should be able to open up your electrical pack and figure out what all is dead pretty easy.

[double moo]

The electrical pack?? That should house the relays... wouldn't the solenoids be in the motor housing?

Somewhere I have the T-max manual and schematics - I should start there!! Had I read the battery instruction I wouldn't have attached the winch to the side posts in the first place... and most likely wouldn't have had this problem!!!

[JP]

In the some of the Warn winches the solenoids are housed in the top of the winch. The solenoids look very similar to the Ford solenoids.

Just looked it up real quick, they're located in that gray box on top

[double moo]

Sure would be nice if that's all it took!! Dropping the whole bumper to access the winch will really suck... Looks like my evening just got booked.

[double moo]

I pulled the cover and checked the solenoid. Nothing burned, charred, or marked at all. The wiring too and from the battery look fine - no appearant short. So I'm guessing it's in the motor housing... as that is where the oil leaked from.

[JP]

Wow, that maybe toast Pull that apart.

[DOSS]

Wow, that maybe toast Pull that apart.

ya you may have fried it something permanent :(