How do you seal your Warn lowmount winch?

[Surfin Alec]

I pulled my 9000lb lowmount apart after almost 2yrs of work without any love and found rust in the motor (stuffing a brush spring and some corrosion) and some minor rust in the gearbox.

Before I put it in originally (was bought 2nd hand) I stripped it down and sealed it up with silicon and gave the gearbox a real good greasing.

The gearbox only had slight rust evidence where I hadnt wiped with grease.

I found that I missed 2 holes in the motor end plate where I suspect the water got in ( the motor can be installed in 2 positions and its the second set of mounting holes that were left unsiliconed). I have siliconed the lot this time, scrubbed and painted the inside of the motor, replaced the broken brush spring and emptied a can of silicon spray in before I wacked the lid on.
Is there anything else besides running an air line to it that is recommended to assist with sealing?

Also what is the best way to stop water getting in the gearbox? I sealed all surface but water gets past the 1st gear and along the drive shaft.

Can I stuff the gearbox end full of grease (within reason) or is this bad?

Cheers,
Alec

[bazzle]

Yes you can fill the Gearbox. The excess grease will just get pushed away from the works.
Better to add some Moreys grease to the original moly and wipe all surfaces to prevent rust.

Bazzle

[RoldIT]

There should also be some machined "grooves" in the end plates where the drum slides into the the end plate where you can fit a seal. In my 10,000lb they were there and I vagely recall them being 3.5"od, 3"id, 1/4" thick but make sure you check and measure for yourself. Either way, it was a standard, off the shelf seal.

[sudso]

The rust could be from condensation.
IMO if its "sealed" it should have breathers fitted so there's less chance of condensation.

[bogged]

Yes you can fill the Gearbox. The excess grease will just get pushed away from the works.
Better to add some Moreys grease to the original moly and wipe all surfaces to prevent rust.

Bazzle

You can do mine, I'll take the photos to post up

[cpt-mud]

another thing you can do is to use plenty of silicone on every removeable part, including where the power leads bolt onto.

[Tom0]

In my experience winches don't seal very well no matter what you do. Don't use it under water (tried that - bad move) and strip and regrease twice a year, and it should be ok.

Water will get past whatever seal you use, so don't trust a seal.

Especially this one. He looks shifty.

[joeblow]

little trick- if ya stuck in water, and you have or have not used your winch then as soon as you get out chuck the winch in free spool and run the motor for a minute or 2, you may find she will heat up enough to evaporate the water. been doin this for years and the trusty warn has not let me down.

[Surfin Alec]

Well I just finished putting it back together this afternoon.

I went a bit nuts with the moly grease in the gearbox making sure NO metal was uncovered so even if moisture got in, there woud be no steel to air contact and hopefully no rust. Lots of silicon on all gaskets, bolts, everywhere.

As it was almost 2yrs since I did it last nd the cruiser has had a fair few dunkings, I will just conceed to doing a service / strip down every 2 yrs.

I will put it back in the 80 tomorrow night to see if it still works. I also covered all terminals , bolts for leads and every connection in the solenoid pack with a spray on grease to stop any moisture / mud coming in contact. As allways, when you need to use the winch, you are generally stuck as and need it then, not after you pull it apart to fix it if you can. I have a habit of going on solo missions with just the family and its my piece of mind, so I better look after it.

For those with any air hoses or breathers, did you just tap a hole in the top of the winch motor with just a breather under the engine bay or have you plumbed in positive air pressure and what psi??