Winch motor testing procedure

Winch Motor Testing Procedure

If you find yourself in a situation where your winch is clicking and is not working, you may have a motor problem....or you may have a solenoid problem.  The following procedure will help you work out the status of your winch motor.

  • Put the winch in freespool.

  • Disconnect the positive lead from the battery (leave the ground lead attached).

  • Label and disconnect the three cables that run from the control pack to the three terminals on the motor.

  • Stamped next to the three posts on the motor will be "A", "F1" and "F2". Run a small jumper wire [8 gauge will work fine] from "A" to "F1" and put power from the battery [jumper leads are handy to use] to "F2". The winch motor should run in one direction when power is applied to the “F2” terminal.

  • Next swap the jumper wire from "A" to "F2" and put power from the battery to terminal "F1".  The winch motor should run in the opposite direction when power is applied to the “F1” terminal.

If these steps are followed correctly and the motor runs in both directions, the motor is good.  If not, further investigation is required.  One of the common fixes is to install a new brush set.  If the motor is very old and/or has had a hard life or just as bad little use and little maintenance it could be badly corroded.  Don’t be afraid of having a go to fix it yourself.  Worst case scenario, you’ll need a new motor anyway.  If you are unsure, you can always contact the team for advice.




Article Details

Last Updated
10th of March, 2012

Would you like to...

Print this page Print this page

Email this page Email this page

Post a comment Post a comment

Subscribe me

Add to favorites Add to favorites

Remove Highlighting Remove Highlighting

Edit this Article

Quick Edit

Export to PDF

User Opinions ( )

How would you rate this answer?



Thank you for rating this answer.

Related Articles

No related articles were found.

Attachments

No attachments were found.

Continue