Winch works 5 seconds or less

[Vee]

I had no luck with a search, so here goes. My winch worked 2 days ago when I hooked up to my travel trailer in a wind storm. Yesterday I went to spool it back up and it only works for about 5 seconds and then stops and has to rest for 30 seconds. I had to remove the cable, and of course lost the cable retaining bolt. Anyone have experience with what I need to look at? I assume I get to remove the winch. I need this thing to work, as we live in the mountains of Colorado and I use it all the time around my property. It is a 2007, and my alternator is 3 months old, so I think I have plenty of juice.

[FordyceCreekTrail]

Others will chime in, but the Ram Winch has a very sensitive thermal cut off switch that normal Warns don't. Sounds like its gone bad. Many bi-pass it.

[Vee]

I already bypassed the thermal cutout, so I think it might be the low voltage interrupt, but I'm not sure.

[coder]

I already bypassed the thermal cutout, so I think it might be the low voltage interrupt, but I'm not sure.

x2 on the low voltage interrupt how old is your battery?

[Vee]

Battery is at least 2 years old. I bought the truck January 2016, it was in it. Should have enough juice for a no load wind up.

[coder]

Battery is at least 2 years old. I bought the truck January 2016, it was in it. Should have enough juice for a no load wind up.

What does the control pack look like underneath the cover is it corroded and rusted real bad if so it might be causing electrical problems and could use a good cleaning?

On my 07 I pulled the control pack apart at least twice and removed all the rust and corrosion it was pretty bad even here in Southern California where it rarely rains.

[Vee]

Do I need to drop the winch to get the control pack off? I'm not sure, but I swear I heard electrical arcing from the control pack. It was hard to pin down because it happened so fast and my patience was gone...

[coder]

Do I need to drop the winch to get the control pack off? I'm not sure, but I swear I heard electrical arcing from the control pack. It was hard to pin down because it happened so fast and my patience was gone...

Yes you need to remove it, it not that hard here's what usually do.

Steps:
[Removal]
1) Remove the front bumper (unplug the fog lights and remove the 3 bolts)
2) Remove the cable from the winch (this isn't required but makes it easier to work with)
3) Remove the screws that hold the control pack cover on
4) Remove the cables that can be access from the outside 2 out of 3, the 3rd one connects under the control pack cover
5) Using a floor jack with several pieces of 2x8's (about 18" long) stacked flat on the bucket put it under the lower part of the winch
6) Remove the front bolts that hold the wich to the mounting bracket to the frame
7) Lower the winch by lowering the floor jack 4-6 inches the remove the control pack cover and unbolt the last cable.
8) Lower the winch down to the floor
9) Remove the hose clamps that hold the control pack on and remove the control pack
10) Take pictures of where everything is connected in the control pack so you know where to put it back together
11) Disassemble the control pack I used a dremel to remove all the rust and corrosion and replaced the rusted nuts with new stainless steel ones
12) Reassemble the control pack (this isn't required but I coated the electrical components with with CRC 06026 Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor - see image below)

[Installation]
- Do everything in reverse

CRC 06026 Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor

[Vee]

The winch is out now, cleaned the contacts. Hooked it to the battery and it worked fine. Unhooked battery, bolted cover on, retested, no work. Bypassed LVI, bypassed thermal, no work. Each relay in the control pack gets power to the small wires, but still won't work. I am thinking the control plug, but when I hit the switch I get power to each relay.

[coder]

The winch is out now, cleaned the contacts. Hooked it to the battery and it worked fine. Unhooked battery, bolted cover on, retested, no work. Bypassed LVI, bypassed thermal, no work. Each relay in the control pack gets power to the small wires, but still won't work. I am thinking the control plug, but when I hit the switch I get power to each relay.

The plug sockets rust out it's common thing where they put winter salts on the road, knowing this I've kept mine lube with WD-40 since new and still works, you have 3 options

1) Try to clean out the input for the control plug
2) Try to find a new Mopar part #05161036AA (the entire control pack) which indicates that is discontinued and cost $857.00 MSRP even if you can find one
3) Call a Warn Service Center and see if they can sell you a M15000 control pack cover PN 61948 - I'm not sure if it's an exact fit if not you could drill out the rivets and repurpose the new plug back to the old cover.



Warn Replacement Parts
https://www.warn.com/replacementParts/index.jsp

[Your Closest WARN Authorized Service Center]
Predator 4wd
4260 North Nevada Ave
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
719-528-5790
719-531-0130 (fax)

[Vee]

Thanks Coder. I give up today. It is cold and I am losing patience. I will try to work on it this weekend when it warms up. FYI, you don't have to remove the bumper to drop the winch. I removed the side rollers and upper roller on the fairlead and used an extension on the 4 bolts. Everything else comes off easy. I used a ratchet strap around the winch and bumper as I loosened the bolts.

[coder]

Thanks Coder. I give up today. It is cold and I am losing patience. I will try to work on it this weekend when it warms up. FYI, you don't have to remove the bumper to drop the winch. I removed the side rollers and upper roller on the fairlead and used an extension on the 4 bolts. Everything else comes off easy. I used a ratchet strap around the winch and bumper as I loosened the bolts.

Cool, glad you it apart, you definitely don't need to remove the bumper that's just my preference, I forgot about the rollers good catch, it's not that hard once you get in there. When you put it back together the winch mounting bolts torque to 80 ft lbs.

One thing you might want to check while you in there are the bolts that hold the winch mounting bracket to the frame. Water leaks down past the bolts and sits inside the frame and rusts the bolts really bad I had to replace mine and got them from https://www.boltdepot.com/ for a lot less than the dealer.

[RustyPW]

When you fixed it. Pack de-electrical grease in the plug socket. It will keep the socket connections from rusting out. Make sure you get the back of the socket too.

[Vee]

When you fixed it. Pack de-electrical grease in the plug socket. It will keep the socket connections from rusting out. Make sure you get the back of the socket too.

I used dielectric grease on all my connections for the lockers and swaybar, and I did the winch remote too. It looks pretty good, but when it warms up this weekend I am going to go through every connection on the winch. I just got back from two months in western Washington, and everything I own needs maintenance now because of the nonstop rain.

[Vee]

So it was the plug, specifically the ground wire in the plug. I replaced it with a new one, made sure every connection was sparkly clean and removed the LVI and the thermal overload. It's almost like a normal Warn now. I also put in an Odyssey extreme battery, so hopefully now I am good. I know I have to be careful now that the winch has no nannies, but I am not a newbie to winching so it should be fine. I appreciate the tips. Now to go rip out some trees...

[coder]

So it was the plug, specifically the ground wire in the plug. I replaced it with a new one, made sure every connection was sparkly clean and removed the LVI and the thermal overload. It's almost like a normal Warn now. I also put in an Odyssey extreme battery, so hopefully now I am good. I know I have to be careful now that the winch has no nannies, but I am not a newbie to winching so it should be fine. I appreciate the tips. Now to go rip out some trees...

Glad you got it working!