m12000 full rebuild (1 Viewer)

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iptman

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Just bought a used M12000 and the wire won't free spool out. I haven't connected it up to see if it spools under power though. Also, the clutch lever spins 360 degrees clockwise but stops at 6:00 (disengage) when spinning counter clockwise. I want to take it apart but the serial number is gone so I don't know which parts are for it. Is there a way to determine the serial range this thing is in or is there another location of the serial number on the winch?
 
Sounds like there might be issues with the clutch lever. The flat, and its edges, which should be sharp, can get pretty chewed up it the lever is moved when the gears are still turning, even just slowely. If the drum can be moved at all I would suspect something like that in the gear housing. If you can't budge the drum, then it may be brake or motor oriented. Either way, you should disassemble, clean, and re-grease it anyway since you probably have no idea what the interior condition of the winch is in. Water can enter through the drum bushings if yours does not have seals (mine does not) and make a mess of everything in the gear housing and brake.
The P/N should still be there even though the sticker might be gone. The number is stamped in. If you have hex head bolts like mine for the cross bars it's an oldy from the ninety's. The newer models have allen head cap screws. I may be able to help you with the year I.D. if you can find the number. I have the info at home.
cp
 
I tested the winch today and I was able to power out the cable (a lot easier to carry now). I guess I'll take it a part to see why the clutch lever isn't working. Can I use bearing grease or knuckle grease in this thing?
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And this is where you guys say...meh, that's not so bad...right?
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Now the question is, what do I use to clean all this up? I figure brake cleaner for the grease end. What about the rust and motor and armature? I'll take off the armature tomorrow, can't find my torx bit set. Once it's all cleaned up I'm going to see if I can find some one who has a media/sand blaster and strip off the flaking paint. Then prime and repaint. I'm hoping nothing internal needs to be replaced, anyone have any opinions to the contrary? I'm in this thing $675 so hopefully all I need is gaskets and a new plastic end cap (rusted up long bolt is stuck in there).
 
Bet you're glad you took it apart now.......
 
Sorry to tell you this, but you might regret taking the drum brake apart. I'm told the service centers have to use a special jig to put that drum assembly back together. Too bad because I have a M5000 that needs the drum brake worked on. Putting the gearbox back together can be tricky but is doable with patience and a little finesse. Make sure you have the gearbox clocked the way you want it, otherwise you'll be doing it several times until you get it right (you might guess why I know this). Keeping that little star gear in place when setting the first gear set is also fun, fun, fun. I suggest that you dry fit the gear sets into the case and mate it to the drum assembly so you get a feel for what it takes to finesse the parts into alignment. It's so much easier to do a practice run without everything being coated in grease.

Good luck!
 
Sorry to tell you this, but you might regret taking the drum brake apart. I'm told the service centers have to use a special jig to put that drum assembly back together.
Good luck!

Yeah I'm reading up on this now that you mention it. It doesn't seem to be a complicated part to put back together. I've read it's more about the rotational load on the spring that needs to be right but I haven't found anything that says what the rotational load should be. I would think it'd be pretty easy to put back together if you knew it needed, say, 200 degrees of rotation under load then secure the other piece of the carrier. My search foo has come up with nothing on Goggle so far.
 
Call the guys at Warn

There are a lot of schematics on-line to help you figure out the part numbers. There are little details that have changed in the years and these schematics will help you figure out the model number of your winch. Warn tech service is extremely helpful. They really helped me find obsolete parts for my old M10,000 winch.

As to getting rid of the rust, I used little steel brushes, brass brushes, scrapers, sand paper, etc. to clean it all up. Repaint and you'll be ready to put it back together. Put in some Cat grease, and should last for years.
 
There are a lot of schematics on-line to help you figure out the part numbers. There are little details that have changed in the years and these schematics will help you figure out the model number of your winch. Warn tech service is extremely helpful. They really helped me find obsolete parts for my old M10,000 winch.

As to getting rid of the rust, I used little steel brushes, brass brushes, scrapers, sand paper, etc. to clean it all up. Repaint and you'll be ready to put it back together. Put in some Cat grease, and should last for years.

I haven't called Warn Tech Support yet but I did email them to try and figure out which schematic is right for mine since I don't have a serial number. The guy said I could use the latest model schematic but I don't think that's right. Mine has a gasket between the motor and the drum housing and the latest schematic doesn't show there's a gasket there anymore.
 
So this is where I'm at right now. All the gears degreased and all the hard parts with rust were hit with a 4 inch brass wire wheel and then 180 grit sand paper. I think most of it came out pretty good. The inside of the motor housing was the worst. I'm planning on painting the inside of the housing with POR15 to stop/seal the rust. I got the 4 inch wire wheel in there and this was the best I could get it. I got a call in to a local powder coater for all the exterior surfaces.
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The armature and contacts look pretty good now but what do I know. I'm not sure what to do with this tape around the copper coils. It's covered in rust and I assume this tape isn't just scotch. Anyone have any ideas?
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Just figured out my serial number. I actually didn't realize it was stamped in. I sanded off a little of the rust and saw the first 3 digits were 787 and that there were 3 additional digits I can't make out for sure (think it's 203). Either way I know the correct schematic is "636697 and up" now.
 
Thanks Andy, I called in yesterday and got through to Mike W in service. Definitely helped me out with sourcing some unnumbered bolts and screws off the motor as well as a couple other odds and ends.

I just dropped off the exterior parts at the powder coater today so I should have them back in a week or so. Crossing my fingers I can get everything back together or this will have been a very expensive learning experience.
 
I finally got my parts back from powder coat and was able to put everything back together last night. The two most difficult tasks were clocking everything correctly and getting the bushings on the armature. All in all a very straight forward process. Mike at Warn said a good rule of thumb on the brake assembly was to turn the two halves of the assembly 180 degrees so that the spring gets tighter around the shaft, then just shove it all in the drum. I videoed putting everything back together but really it's so simple I'm not even going to take the time to edit and post. The one interesting thing I noticed was the clutch ring with the 3 dogs on it doesn't show up in any of the schematics for these winches. Not sure if that's an omission by Warn or it's not an order-able part. The grease I used is probably too sticky for this application but I figured I'd just use what I had on hand. It free spools with some effort without the cable and should be fine when pulling the line out. I did find a replacement bearing for the end of the armature but don't have a way of pulling the old one off. I'll make sure everything works then pull the motor again and either take it to a shop or find something at HF that will pull it off.

Big thanks to Mike at Warn for both parts and info. Wouldn't have gotten this back together without his help. Now I just need to decide on a direction for a bumper to bolt this to.
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Very nice job. Mine looked just like yours when I bought it. I wish I had mine powder coated instead of regular paint but maybe next time I overhaul it I'll go that route. I was just so frustrated in trying to get the old powder coat off so I could paint it that I just got tired of dealing with it.
One word of caution, though. I would suggest removing the wire rope attaching screw on the drum until you are actually ready to install the cable because without the cable lug there it can screw too far in and then if you power the winch, as in testing it, the screw will chew through the cast webs on the inside of the side cover as the drum turns. Ask me how I know......
cp
 

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