Preventing water in winch

[thomasando]

I have a Warn XD9000 which has been water damaged by a previous owner. In looking at the winch, it doesn't seem that there's any seals or the like to prevent water from entering. I can see what appear to be drain holes in the motor casing, however the way my winch is mounted they appear to be located on the side and wont allow the water to drain completely.

Is there anywhere a 'breather hole' can be drilled so as to allow water to flow out if (when!) the winch is submerged? I'm currently up against a fairly large bill to get it repaired and would like to prevent it from filling up with water again to avoid another large repair bill.

[bazzle]

It will fill again as they are not sealed.

Pull the motor off and see if you can turn case to move drain to bottom. If not just grind another channel.
When you open it you will see what I mean.

Bazzle

[thomasando]

Thanks. Yes, I've had it open and seen the drain holes - I don't remember if they were orientated correctly (ie. facing downwards) on my car or not (been a while since I pulled it off, and haven't got the motor assembly with me as it's being repaired). I'll keep that in mind when putting it all back together though and if it's not lined up right I'l grind a new breather channel.

[smithie]

If you have a source of compressed air on board then you could plumb an airline to the winch housing so that when you go through water you can flick a switch and positively pressurize the winch housing?

Added bonus is that you can also use the air to cool the winch during long pulls.. sort of what the competition guys do??

Just my 2c
Cheers.
Dan

[thomasando]

Great idea Smithie, something I would never have thought of on my own! Currently I don't have a source of compressed air (not permanently installed), but I will in the near future. When I've got a compressor installed then I might just do something like that. Mind you, I'm hoping I'll never need the winch but if I look after it, it will work the time I do need it.

[BlownTrol]

you can just turn the motor around to place the drain holes at the bottom, will be about 10-12 socket head cap screws and then just lift slightly and turn to suit, line the holes up again and replace the screws. this is how i did my warn anyway!!!

[thomasando]

Doesn't quite work that way on mine - the drain holes are on the frame that the motor bolts in to, which needs to be oriented correctly to be able to mount the winch in the bullbar. If the drain holes were in the motor this would work, but they aren't so I'm pretty limited. I'll take a closer look when I get it back from repair and see if I it will mount the way it's supposed to, with the drains down - it may just be that I'm confused and don't remember properly how it all went together.