Factory winch just died

I will say, this moment has me somewhat regretting getting the factory winch for two reasons:
  1. I’m limited on choice in every regard. I need to go to a Ford dealership to get warranty service, and getting into a dealership in this area is brutal. They’re all booking nearly a month out. Also need to stick with this exact winch even if I wanted to try something different.
  2. The winch is nigh unserviceable. Need to remove the front bumper to do anything other than changing the rope. That’s brutal if there’s an issue.
I do like the looks, and really, really like the fact it’s crash tested (along with the rest of the front bumper). But dang those are some downsides.
Why cant you put another winch in? Most winches have the same bolt hole pattern only differences might be width/height/depth etc. but you could shop around. Ive had two warn winches fail on me in less than a couple years with light use. Then went to a smitty submersible and never had an issue. I plan on ordering the winch plates etc from ford and using a smitty.
 
Why cant you put another winch in? Most winches have the same bolt hole pattern only differences might be width/height/depth etc. but you could shop around. Ive had two warn winches fail on me in less than a couple years with light use. Then went to a smitty submersible and never had an issue. I plan on ordering the winch plates etc from ford and using a smitty.
IIRC, Ford doesn't sell just the plates, and the Tremor specific Warn winch has a unique frame and bolt pattern.
 
Fair comments. Only relating my experience from my own years of crash data.
Totally fair. Glad to hear you're OK after those crashes! That's crazy how many red light runners you've encountered.

I cut the wires on both sides of the plug and reconnected with marine heat shrink butt connectors.
Ohh I see, so you replaced the connector. Got it. In that case I'm definitely waiting for the dealer to deal with it. I did try to get to the connector and couldn't see or access anything. On the front side the adaptive cruise module was in the way (am not touching that at risk of putting it out of alignment) and on the backside there's so little room to access things, and all of the connections, short of a ground cable, are on the top-side of the winch.

What was the verdict, winch control connector bad? And motor still good?
Unknown at this point. Will need to wait for the dealer to diagnose. They can deal with removing the bumper lol.

Why cant you put another winch in? Most winches have the same bolt hole pattern only differences might be width/height/depth etc. but you could shop around. Ive had two warn winches fail on me in less than a couple years with light use. Then went to a smitty submersible and never had an issue. I plan on ordering the winch plates etc from ford and using a smitty.
Bronco is correct. The Ford winch is an older Warn winch that's been modified to fit in the tight constraints of the Super Duty front bumper. It has an 8" mounting pattern and fairlead compared to the 10" pattern and fairlead standard winches have. I believe there's some other differences around how the solenoid box/contactors/etc are mounted, though don't know for sure.

It's not impossible to fit a standard winch behind the front bumper. @04sshd came up with a bracket that works with a Badlands Apex winch (and possibly others?):


But you definitely can't reuse the factory brackets. The Ford winch, while manufactured by Warn, is exclusively available through Ford. It's not a standard Warn design or product.
 
Update on the winch! My hack job to hold the loose rope and hook in place worked a treat over the holidays while putting on lots of winter highway miles.

Shadowfax went into the dealer yesterday for their first look. Seems like they didn't do terribly much, but I'm happy with the outcome. Here's the summary:
  1. Checked all the connections, verified they were good.
  2. Reproduced the issue, including sparks.
  3. Decided it's an internal failure and the entire winch will be replaced under warranty.
So it seems like they aren't going to root cause the failure, which is a bit sad. I'm going to take the long shot and see if I can get the old winch to root cause myself, but given its a warranty failure I strongly doubt they will let me do that. A bit more hopeful they'll let me keep my winch rope so I can turn it into an extension.

Service guy said they have winches in stock down in Portland, just need to work with Warn to approve the replacement (made it sound like paperwork, nothing too concerning) so once he's done that they should have the replacement fairly quickly. My main concern is how long it will take to get me scheduled back in for the replacement.
 
Would've been nice if they said if the sparks were coming from the solenoid pack at least, since the motor is sealed up and not a path for visible sparks to escape really. :)
Very true. Didn't ask about that, but I really do suspect they didn't even try to figure where the sparks were coming from other than "the winch".

Debating whether to call it lazy or efficient. I feel like there's arguments for both lol.
 
I have a Warn winch 9.5ti that lost a solenoid. I took it to Warn in Beaverton and a few weeks later got a call from them letting me know it was done. They replaced all the wiring, all 4 solenoids, motor etc. (basically a new winch) and it costs about 350 dollars.
 
I have a Warn winch 9.5ti that lost a solenoid. I took it to Warn in Beaverton and a few weeks later got a call from them letting me know it was done. They replaced all the wiring, all 4 solenoids, motor etc. (basically a new winch) and it costs about 350 dollars.
That’s awesome! I’m really curious about the long-term support of this winch. It seems Warn has been punting all support to Ford, which means a service like that may be out of the question when out of warranty.
 
Just adding to the conversion of broken winches. First time using winch it would work for a few seconds and then stop. Wait a min and then it would work for a few seconds and stop. I check all connections in contactor box and everything was good. Took it to a local dealer (bought truck out of state) and they looked at it and said they needed to contact ford. They put very little effort other than it doesn't work. Ford told them replace the winch. They said ok, but then called me back and said they cant since it was a dealer installed accessory eventhough its on teh window sticker they dont know how to bill for it. Called ford myself and they said they will absolutely pay for it and dealer doesn't have to accept work they dont want to do. Finally after several calls to Ford corporate I have a case open with dealer relations team who will contact local dealer and see what they can work out. Im very certain its just the bad contactor box but ford only sells winch as an entire kit. Still waiting for resolution and winch still useless on an 80k truck. Never even got a chance to use it.
 
Sorry that happened....one reason I wouldn't spend $3K on a winch. I was lambasted on this forum for buying a Chinese winch (Zeak) at 10% the cost with the usual comments about reliability. Some of Ford's OEM features are a bit over-rated.
 
Sorry that happened....one reason I wouldn't spend $3K on a winch. I was lambasted on this forum for buying a Chinese winch (Zeak) at 10% the cost with the usual comments about reliability. Some of Ford's OEM features are a bit over-rated.
In this case though, its a warn and they are known for reliability. I had one in my powerwagon and never an issue. Hopefully its just a fluke.
 
Just adding to the conversion of broken winches. First time using winch it would work for a few seconds and then stop. Wait a min and then it would work for a few seconds and stop. I check all connections in contactor box and everything was good. Took it to a local dealer (bought truck out of state) and they looked at it and said they needed to contact ford. They put very little effort other than it doesn't work. Ford told them replace the winch. They said ok, but then called me back and said they cant since it was a dealer installed accessory eventhough its on teh window sticker they dont know how to bill for it. Called ford myself and they said they will absolutely pay for it and dealer doesn't have to accept work they dont want to do. Finally after several calls to Ford corporate I have a case open with dealer relations team who will contact local dealer and see what they can work out. Im very certain its just the bad contactor box but ford only sells winch as an entire kit. Still waiting for resolution and winch still useless on an 80k truck. Never even got a chance to use it.
Ya I've noticed that as well, where it's a factory option but dealer installed and that changes the warranty service a bit. Seems like Ford proper covers the winch itself, but the installing dealer is who warranties the install?

Sucks that you're still waiting, though. :(

Sorry that happened....one reason I wouldn't spend $3K on a winch. I was lambasted on this forum for buying a Chinese winch (Zeak) at 10% the cost with the usual comments about reliability. Some of Ford's OEM features are a bit over-rated.
Eh, Warn has one hell of a good reputation. Not only for reliability, but for standing behind their winches with parts and service over the long haul.

Now that latter part is a bit of a gray area with the Ford winch since it's not sold directly by Warn, but ultimately Warn put their name on it so I'm guessing they'll stand behind it long-term.

Ultimately, though, defects happen and that's why warranties exist. I haven't seen any evidence there's widespread problems with the Ford winch.

In the same breath, the Badlands winches in particular have been proving to be consistently fantastic winches. Also, there will always be those who luck into a good cheap product. Consistent (albeit still not perfect) QA is a major factor in cheap vs expensive products. If you got a good one, then that's awesome!
 
I was bummed I didn’t get a factory winch but it seems like issues with it are popping up. I was fortunate enough to have a lady hit my bumper and make the decision easy for me. After seeing this thread I couldn’t be happier with the direction I went. Plus replacing an Apex winch is very easy. I think the final product came out great. Posting incase people are interested in different options.
 

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I was bummed I didn’t get a factory winch but it seems like issues with it are popping up. I was fortunate enough to have a lady hit my bumper and make the decision easy for me. After seeing this thread I couldn’t be happier with the direction I went. Plus replacing an Apex winch is very easy. I think the final product came out great. Posting incase people are interested in different options.
I mean, replacement is far less about the winch and far more about the bumper/mounting around it. Aftermarket bumpers intended for a winch do tend to be far easier to access the winch (both in use and for replacement/service).

Definitely lots of great options once you go to an aftermarket bumper, though also trade-offs (discussed earlier in the thread).
 
Just got off the phone with the service advisor. He's still working with Ford on getting the replacement. In explaining things he said they are indeed trying to avoid root causing the failure since it's an accessory. Apparently it's standard practice with accessories like this that they don't take them apart and just replace them all-up.

A big reason he's pushing for that is time savings. He doesn't want to need to have me come in two more times - once to remove the winch for diagnosis and a second time for re-installation.

I didn't push back on him, but it does raise the question of "why not remove the winch the first time?" since they had my truck for the better part of a full day already. 🤷‍♂️

The way he was speaking it's clear I'm not going to keep the broken winch - not surprising - but he is going to ask Ford about me keeping the winch rope. Would be nice to keep it as an extension and backup rope. But it may need to go back with the winch as a full package in order for them to honor the warranty.
 
Glad this is working out, but also a drag to read. Somehow I missed all this when I was going HAM bonkers.
 
Glad this is working out, but also a drag to read. Somehow I missed all this when I was going HAM bonkers.
Ham will do that to you lol.

On the drag part, I really am struggling with modern day service and how anyone who relies on their vehicle for income survives a mechanical failure.

“Well, we’re booking 3 weeks out before we can get you in to look at it. Then it will be another week to get parts. Then another 3 weeks before we can get you in again to install those parts. Sorry about being without income for 7 weeks.”

(Yes, I was being optimistic when saying parts could be acquired in a week.)
 
Just got off the phone with the service advisor. He's still working with Ford on getting the replacement. In explaining things he said they are indeed trying to avoid root causing the failure since it's an accessory. Apparently it's standard practice with accessories like this that they don't take them apart and just replace them all-up.

A big reason he's pushing for that is time savings. He doesn't want to need to have me come in two more times - once to remove the winch for diagnosis and a second time for re-installation.

I didn't push back on him, but it does raise the question of "why not remove the winch the first time?" since they had my truck for the better part of a full day already. 🤷‍♂️

The way he was speaking it's clear I'm not going to keep the broken winch - not surprising - but he is going to ask Ford about me keeping the winch rope. Would be nice to keep it as an extension and backup rope. But it may need to go back with the winch as a full package in order for them to honor the warranty.
Sure would be a shame if just before you took it in somebody just happened to steal the rope off your truck.;)
 
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