I went wheeling on the weekend and now my winch just makes a clicking sound everytime I press the buttons on the remote. Just one single click for every press. It spooled for about 1 second then just a click when the button is pressed. I didn't go through any deep water or anything. Just tiny puddles and lots of dust. The jeep, engine bay and interior are covered in dried dirt and dust. My under hood light stopped working also. Anyone know what this could be?
Some percussive maintenance will sometimes temporarily resolve an issue with a relay contactor not making full contact. Give it the old tappy-tap-tap, maybe while holding the button down.
You could also try spraying some contact cleaner in there... if you can get it in there.
Otherwise... It's likely a loose connection as previously mentioned or one of the relays. I recently went through this with an older winch. Replaced the old mechanical relays with a solid state unit.
Some percussive maintenance will sometimes temporarily resolve an issue with a relay contactor not making full contact. Give it the old tappy-tap-tap, maybe while holding the button down.
You could also try spraying some contact cleaner in there... if you can get it in there.
Otherwise... It's likely a loose connection as previously mentioned or one of the relays. I recently went through this with an older winch. Replaced the old mechanical relays with a solid state unit.
Interesting. Thanks for that suggestion. If only I could get into it. I contacted Champion, they said to send pics of the wich so they could suggest trouble shooting. I sent pics snd havent heard back. How do you get in? I really would prefer not to have to take it off the bumper if its possible. It's a pain in the ass.
The relays should be under the center cover with the "Champion" lettering. From what I can see it looks like the top set of fasteners on each side may hold the center cover in place.
I'd start by disconnecting the battery then, removing those fasteners to see if the cover will come off.
It might look something like this:
Each one of those is a relay. In this example they are single pole, so it takes 4 of them to do all of the switching to do power in and power out.
Yours *might* have just 2 relays, in which case they would be dual pole.
Either way all of that mechanical switching mess could be replaced with a solid state unit like this:
Is that top center section plastic or metal? If plastic, it probably is a snap-fit. If metal, it's probably retained by the top 2 bolts on each side.
If that top center cover doesn't un-snap and lift off, I'd remove the top 2 bolts on each side of the top piece and see if the center section lifts off. If that doesn't do it, I'd remove the bottom 2 nuts/bolts on each side and take off the whole top bridge.
Hose the bolts down with Kroil, PB Blaster, WD-40, or similar ahead of time so the bolts are less likely to seize and snap upon removal.
I'm gonna bench test the motor and see if that's working or not. I tried removing the bolts on the side snd the thing won't open up still. The control box is plastic.
Ok so I did the bench test and got no motor activation. I then tried the remote again and the motor spooled for half a second and that was it, just more single clicks when I pressed the buttons.
I'm waiting to hear back from Champion about how to open up the winch. I removed the bolts on the sides of tge control box and it won't open.
am I the only one that sees not-just-a slight gap in the name-plate/electronics cover stamped with a "CHAMPION" brand that sorta appears as if it is smirk of a slight-opening in it that screams to me "this is probably where you open me" shield-cover visible , plus I see the three screws or hex-heads or bolts rusting on the front lower lip there that you'd likely need to get undone for electronics access. Have ya looked-up under this part where you'd lift to get under there,OP?
"...gettin in it should be the easy bit ..", said El Destrcto
Yup, I've been coresponding with Champion. They said to do the bench test then report the results back then they will instruct as to how to open it up and what to test next. I never noticed those bolts under there. Coukd likely be it. Thanks.
So, Champion tells me the motor is gone and a new one will cost $160 plus tax and shipping. They suggested that it might be more cost effective to purchase a new one.
I think I'd wait til next holiday or sale & just snag myself a nice entry level quality winch if I can were OP
yeah, @ExWrench , I'm just OCD about rust & can spot it anywhere,heh.
plus, only so many ways that could be accessed & none struck me as very high tech , pardon me , OP ; I've never heard of the Champion brand , frankly.
So Champion was kind enough to send me a brand new motor for the winch free of cost. I hope once I replace it, that was actually the problem and it works again. Either way, Champion definitely stepped up to the plate. Will update on that once I receive the motor.
Definitely lots of corrosion on the old motor. The input shaft of the new motor has more splines so I'll have to get the matching receiver piece first before installing. Contacted Champion about that and now I wait...
So I sent about 4 emails with lots of pictures telling Champion that I need the new reciever piece that matches the new style input shaft on the new motor. Didnt hear anything for a week. This morning I sent an email from my other account asking for assistance but not giving details or my name.
I got a reply in 20 min. I told them it was me and that no one replied to my other email account. They tell me that they dug through the old parts bin and looked everywhere but my old winch is discontinued and the old receiver piece is no longer being made and sorry they can't help me. They said the new motor has a different input shaft spline style and the old receiver won't fit.
This is where I bang my head against the wall.
I get the feeling I'm being dodged and they want to get rid of me.
So I just told them I don't need an old receiver piece, I have one. I need a new reciever piece to match the new motor and input shaft style and they must have tons of them around. Just tell me which part I need to buy. My winch is in pieces and I don't want to go wheeling without a winch so I'm sitting around waiting.
Still waiting for a response.
I knew it had to be tgtbt. Guess I better start looking for a new winch. Not a Champion for sure.
UPDATE: The email thing was getting frustrating so I called them. They are sending a box of several different parts free of charge. The coupling I need is hopefully among them and is the right piece. I guess we'll go from there. Great customer service, not so great communication.
I received the parts from Champion and it looks like it will work except for this long, skinny connecting shaft. Its way too long but I can cut it. My question is, will it handle the 10,000 lb load? Looks like a weak point.
Watching this unfold I hoped for a solution , but in the end I think that making it work (compromise) would put you in a situation that may be an issue of safety verses purchase of a new winch .
Buy a new one , one that will in the future have replacement parts available .
I would not want to be told that replacement or service parts are not available for something that has a ticket price that most winches carry .
So after receiving two boxes of assorted parts from Champion, everything was different and was close but didn't fit perfectly. All the parts, including the new motor, are new and updated. My winch is a 10 year old model so all parts are discontinued.
I was about to throw in the towel and start looking for a new winch when a lightbulb went off. I took the whole thing apart again, busted out the angle grinder and cut and ground the lower and upper connecting rods that go from the motor to the coupler to the brake assembly and then to the planetary gears. Essentially just making the whole drive train shorter. Well it worked.
The old girl still has some life left in her. I'm pretty satisfied. 😎👍😉🍻
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