Smittybuilt XRC 8000 no worky

xjintx

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Eddy, TX
Was at Barnwell this weekend and had to winch myself... the winch would not work. It just clicked but no action :(. Luckily bud was already up and winched me up. Note: I used it two or so weeks ago and worked fine?

Does anyone have experience with repair / rebuild of the winch? It has been on my "to do list" for awhile to remove old grease and use high quality grease but not sure now? Maybe I will have to bite the bullet and buy new? Heck I'd pay you to fix or buy pizza and beer :)

Is there a shop that repairs winches... I can't find one here in Waco :(
 
If it is clicking the solenoid is firing but not completing the circuit, when mine did the.same thing it was a bad connection. I would check and clean the connections to the battery and the large wires on the solenoids. That said I would not dump a lot of money into it, I think solenoids are Round $30 each and if one shot how are the other 3. Also did you try hitting the solenoid box.with.a hammer? If there is dirt rust or a birds nest in the solenoids it will knock it free.
 
You need to verify if its a winch issue or a solenoid issue first. I know the solenoids used by smitty are prone to corrosion due to the sealing of the solenoids failing. All the same you can use jumper cables to check it out manually, however I have only tested on a warn not a smitty (although I do have one I need to work on) So for the sake of not telling you wrong I would say call smitty and get a how to from them on testing it. Hopefully its the solenoid. There are some good write ups on sealing the solenoid and changing the grease to allow an easier free spool. This is one of the better ones I have found.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/115443-smittybuilt-xrc-winch-improvement-write-up.html

Good luck.
 
The smitty only has one solenoid unlike a warn or super winch...But all the same there have been a lot of instances where the ground was not making a good connection and failed. most folks have simply sanded the ground areas and it fixed the issue. Again. all things I have read as I have to work on mine also, so I am just passing things along.
 
I didnt know there was only one solenoid, that would make things easier, on the two warns I have fixed it was bad connections one because of corrosion the other one of the nuts on the solenoid came loose.
 
If you have a smitty built winch and the freespool is hard... I HIGHLY recommend the re-greasing of the planetary gears. I just took mine apart... hardest part was writing down procedure so I could reverse ;)
The cleaning with Mineral spirits was easy just time consuming and a bit messy. Note: a quart of spirits is enough you don't need a gallon if you don't want excess.
Re-greasing is equally easy just a bit messy and takes a bit of time. Note: I cut a one inch paintbrush with bristles like 1" long and it worked good for grease.
Put back together and it free spools as easy as it did with the gears removed :)
Can't wait to get the new solinoid and get it reinstalled.
 
Roger, when do you want me to drop mine off at your house to be cleaned and serviced?
 
Got the new solinoid installed and winch back in Jeep. Works like new (or better) but won't know until I can hit the trails!!! VERY GLAD I did it!!!
 
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