Rewiring and Troubleshooting a Warn M8000 Winch - Part 1

How to test the motor on your warn (or similar) electric winch.

[gannetpontjowinoto]

I know this video is over a decage ago ... but still helpful ... thanks a million ..

[christianjensen]

SUPER HELPFUL!! I needed to swap some leads on my winch solenoid ( though I had it memorized but I started to doubt myself) and now that I know how the motor works I was able to draw a simple wiring diagram. Now I understand and can trouble shoot. I feel like I just found the holy grail.

[KCamaroZSS]

This got me out of a tight spot in the middle of the woods in a swamp. Thank you!

[MrLightblack]

Saved me a lot of hassle. My wireless winch controller broke and had a 3 week wait on a new one. I use my winch to tip a firewood trailer. Now I can tip it again by bypassing the solenoid. Appreciate it.

[trevaniongrenfell]

Super helpful video, thanks.

I just got off the phone with Warn, and their procedure is one step different. They advise attaching one side of a the bridge cable to Armature, leave the other free. Then apply power to F1. Then connect the armature bridge to F2. Then disconnect power and bridge, put power to F2 and then connect bridge to F1.

This apparently isolates components somehow, I didn't follow. When I tried your method, all I could get was a spark on the negative. With their method, even though it looks like it should be identical, my motor works fine in both directions.

Again though, thanks for making the video. super helpful, and got me started down the path to learning that my motor is fine. Keep up the good work.

[DRUMBAUN]

Clear concise and no stuttering, good informative vid. just what i needed. thanks

[derricksmiley]

Just got one from my buddy had no idea how to wire it but this video helps 👍👍

[warndr]

Very concise and well explained procedure.

[nbreeze]

Thanks for the tips!!! I just bought an old warn m8000 for $80 and made sure it worked using your video.

[aarongarney]

Thanks for taking the time to make this quick, informative video.

[dyardsale]

Wanted to see the basics of winch wiring. For some reason no one can make it clear to me. Thanks.

[davidwyby]

Awesome, bump for part three. Have an M1200 that I have to tap on the solenoid box to get it to operate half the time. Also just got a used industrial 15k that I need to go through and build a control pack for.

[vantagetes]

@spsingam Try using penetrating oil on the shaft the clutch knob is connected to. A lot of times there is corrosion between the shaft and case which prevents you from pulling the knob out all the way. Next step after that is to remove the two bolts that holds the clutch assembly to the housing and carefully remove it. Ensure that it is indeed sliding in all the way then reinstall.

[MrbIRL]

Thanks for the vid ! Really helped me troubleshoot same issue with my winch !

[vantagetes]

First thought is main power wires are hooked up wrong. If you are unsure do NOT attempt to run winch anymore. If you know the main ground and power is hooked up correctly then go to the solenoids, do you hear it click in either direction?

[dannypstl]

I don't own a Warn winch I own what is probably a cheap Chinese copy. My solenoid box for the winch controller rusted out after only a few years and it let me down on the trail when I need it. I rebuilt the solenoids with new parts and I put a bunch of Dielectric grease on it. After thinking of ways to waterproof the controls I decided to pack the whole controller box full of grease. I'm hoping that this works longer than nothing but I won't know for another year too feel free to comment what you think

[frankjdm]

Thanks bro I tried this on a midnight series winch and it was the same process

[vantagetes]

@CATERPILLAR414 Heck no, I have another M8000 that works great, a 9.5XP I'm scabbing parts off of and two 8274s I'm rebuilding. This other M8000 belongs to a friend.

[littletoy]

can you by pass the solenoid and hook up switch . and if so can you help me .

[richardreleford]

Why didn't you simply use a red cable.