My Warn winch developed a problem a few weeks ago

Jerry Bransford

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After nearly ten years of regular and occasionally hard use, the motor in my Warn 9.5xp winch finally developed a problem. It started running slower than usual during a pretty difficult recovery 3 weeks ago and then it just stopped working while unspooling the winch rope in my garage last week. I started troubleshooting it and the solenoids appeared to be working fine and providing full battery voltage to the motor, both directions. That meant its 6 HP motor had a problem. I was bummed, I was hoping I just needed to replace a solenoid or two.

Officially the winch has a lifetime mechanical but on electrical things like the motor, it has a 7 year warranty.

I started pricing replacement motors, aftermarket 6hp motors were $240-250 or so. I emailed Warn's Customer Service department about the problem and asked for gaskets, confirmed what kind of grease they recommended, asked about an overhaul document I heard about, etc. I was planning on getting into it and just doing an overhaul. I also told them I was a bit surprised the motor had died since it had never been abused, submerged, etc.

Then I got a call from a really nice lady at Warn and they offered to replace the motor and get the winch working like new again. For free. I was so stoked I could barely talk on the phone with her, she knew she had made my day lol. They even shipped me a shipping box. I was thinking it'd be $80 or so to ship that 90 lb. box back to Warn but inside the box was a pre-paid UPS shipping label to Warn in Clackamas Oregon. Wow. I doubt they do this for all electrical problems but they must have believed I hadn't done anything to cause the problem so they are covering it 100%. I can tell you getting that 90 lb. cardboard box to UPS Saturday was hard on my 71 year old back. Yowsa

And some wonder why I have always recommended nothing but Warn. Yes I'm a happy man. Especially since I have my first 5-day trip on the Rubicon Trail coming up in August. Good timing. Maybe I'll even throw a new rope on the winch lol.

Edit: As an update, it turns out the motor didn't fail on its own, I caused the problem when I installed too long of a screw through an aftermarket rope keeper that threads into the drum. The screw protruded just far enough past the drum that it was grinding into the side drum support and the resulting steel chips made their way into the motor shorting it out. And despite that, Warn still replaced the motor at no charge.
 
After nearly ten years of regular and occasionally hard use, the motor in my Warn 9.5xp winch finally apparently developed a problem. It started running slower than usual during a pretty difficult recovery 3 weeks ago and then it just stopped working while unspooling the winch rope in my garage last week. I started troubleshooting it at home and the solenoids appeared to be working fine and providing full battery voltage to the motor, both directions. That meant the 6hp motor itself had a problem. I was bummed, I was hoping I just needed to replace a solenoid or two.

Officially the winch has a lifetime mechanical but on electrical things like the motor, it has a one year warranty.

I started pricing replacement motors, aftermarket 6hp motors were $240-250 or so. I emailed Warn's Customer Service department about the problem and asked for gaskets, confirmed what kind of grease they recommended, asked about an overhaul document I heard about, etc. I was planning on getting into it and just doing an overhaul. I also told them I was a bit surprised the motor had died since it had never been abused, submerged, etc.

Then I got a call from a really nice lady at Warn and they offered to replace the motor and get the winch working like new again. For free. I was so stoked I could barely talk on the phone with her, she knew she had made my day lol. They even shipped me a shipping box. I was thinking it'd be $80 or so to ship that 90 lb. box back to Warn but inside the box was a pre-paid UPS shipping label to Clackamas Oregon. Wow. I doubt they do this for all electrical problems but they must have believed I hadn't done anything to cause the problem so they are covering it 100%. I can tell you getting that 90 lb. cardboard box to UPS Saturday was hard on my 71 year old back. Yowsa

And some wonder why I have always recommended Warn. Yep I'm a happy man. Especially since I have my first 5-day trip on the Rubicon Trail coming up in August. Good timing. Maybe I'll even throw a new rope on the winch.
All of my experiences with Warn have been the same but I typically don't mention it since we technically have been way outside of their warranty provisions. They have never not taken care of me. Back when we were running their hub kits, they covered every single broken axle we called them about even after telling them up front we were on 35's in JV with the kit limitation being 33's. The reason for the calls were never to get warranty, just some sort of a discount on replacements.
 
Thanks Jerry. That is awesome. If there was any doubt left, when it is time to buy a winch, I am now 100% sold on the Oregon made models from Warn.
 
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Great you got a new motor. In case you want to fix the old one, the brushes probably just stuck in their guides and wore enough to loose contact. If you take apart the motor and free up the brushes it'll work like new. It can happen especially if the motor gets a little wet.
 
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Thanks Jerry. That is awesome. If there was any doubt left, when it is time to buy a winch, I am now 100% sold on the Oregon made models from Warn.
Do you know what models those consist of? I have an older m8000 on my rig when I bought it and dont know much about it.

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I want to rebuild it at some point, any idea off hand where to get the serviceable replacement parts?

Warn can sell you the parts, as can most Warn dealers (if not all). Several vendors come up in a Google search.

For example, here is one Warn dealer's webpage for ordering M8000-S replacement parts:

https://winchserviceparts.com/m8000s.php
 
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I want to rebuild it at some point, any idea off hand where to get the serviceable replacement parts?
Warn customer service can provide any part you need. I've had good luck with parts from https://www.dbelectrical.com/ when I just needed something like a winch solenoid which held up fine. They have winch motors there for Warn winches too but I can't attest to their quality.
 
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Bought it after reading a 4-Wheeler winch shootout article from around 2011 where all winches failed except the Engo,
What you left out was that the Warn 9.5xp (9,500 lb. capacity) only failed after being subjected to a 16,000 lb. load. Engo's max pull was 12,000 lbs. where it stalled. They kept the 9,500 lb. capacity Warn pulling until it finally failed at 16,000 lbs.

This was copied directly from 4Wheeler's Winch Shootout article.

Winch test.JPG
 
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What you left out was that the Warn 9.5xp (9,500 lb. capacity) only failed after being subjected to a 16,000 lb. load. Engo's max pull was 12,000 lbs. where it stalled. They kept the 9,500 lb. capacity Warn pulling until it finally failed at 16,000 lbs.

This was copied directly from 4Wheeler's Winch Shootout article.

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You're right. Having read many of your comments I highly value your opinion. But, the Engo lived to fight another day. The Warn didn't know it's limitations and died.
 
Warn may be the best and wonderful, but, for the price I can carry 2 more spare winches and still have cash left over for lunch. . . .

I don't contest anyone's belief in their Warn winch, just saying that for the price it is not [always] the best choice.

Fixed it for you.

The best choice depends upon how one uses one's winch and what one expects from it.

I often say that given a choice I will always choose Warn. That is based upon my past experience with the company and the Warn winches I have owned and the fact that good deals on slightly used and attractively priced Warn winches come along if one is patient. However, if I were choosing a winch only for very occasional self-recovery rather than as a tool that is intended to be used regularly on technical trails, or if I wanted a winch right now but had limited funds and no time to wait, then the argument for a relatively inexpensive Engo winch begins to have a certain appeal.

What has intrigued me about Engo winches is the familial connection between Engo management and the original founder of Milemarker and that there are very few reports on the Internet of Engo failures in comparison with other imported winches at or near the same price point. I suspect that Engo winches are indeed decent products.

Still, I will always choose Warn if given a choice.

Until I don't. ;)
 
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