Wiring up JDM Aisin winch - connection question (1 Viewer)

[shaggy_mutt]

Hey guys,

I'm putting an Aisin winch on the LX and have one question. It's clear to me where all of the connectors go, except for this one that shows up between the solenoid ("magnet switch", in Toyota-ese) that lives under the battery and the winch :

It wouldn't reach the winch, so it doesn't plug in there.

The gentleman who sold it to me believes it goes to a connector on the HDJ that tells the winch whether the ignition is on, so that you won't run your battery down on a long pull.

I'm assuming my truck doesn't have that since they didn't sell the winch on the LX. If it's in fact an ignition-based lockout, should I just delete it? I feel like I can remember whether my truck is running without an electronic nanny reminding me... Or what do the winch gurus think?

 

[Pin_Head]

I don't have any experience with that winch and I don't have a schematic for it, but I note that the connectors are a little too beefy for a sensor to just tell whether the ignition switch is on.

 

[shaggy_mutt]

I think the picture makes them look bigger than they are. In real life they don't look like they're meant to carry a whole lot of current.

 

[mehbohdi]

I have 1 and I installed it. It is a ignition sensing wire. I know I looked all over engine compartment wire loom hoping it was in my 1fzfe engine compartment, never found it. If I remember correctly I think you just have complete the circuit to make it work. I put it on its own toggle in the hand throttle hole. You can just put power to 1 side or the other to figure it out, with a jumper wire. I know I gave up trying to find a Toyota connector to make it right, ended up cutting connector off and just extended wires into cabin. Feel free to ask questions I can open it up and look if you can't figure it out. Winch works great you'll like it

 

[Pin_Head]

HDJ80s don't have an "ignition".

 

[mehbohdi]

They have a ignition, switch...... that thing you put the key in and turn it.

 

[shaggy_mutt]

HDJ80s don't have an "ignition".

Well, if we're going to be really precise, an HDJ81 whose fuel fails to ignite isn't going to go very far -- even if it's normally ignited by compression instead of spark plugs.

Mehbohdi, thanks for the response. Makes sense and frankly, I prefer your switch idea to Toyota's always-on system. Why power the solenoid for endless hours on the highway? I'll try to look for a switch at pick-n-pull.

The two wires going to this plug are white with a black stripe and blue with a black stripe. The white-with-a-black-stripe one has continuity to the plug that goes to the winch itself. The blue one doesn't. Do you remember which one you connected to 12v? And what did you do with the other one? Anything?

Thanks again!

 

[mehbohdi]

I will check it out and get back to you.

 

[shaggy_mutt]

Hey, just traced the circuitry with the multimeter and it makes sense to me now, so if you haven't gone out to your truck yet, don't worry about it. Thanks for the offer, though!

Will post more later for future mudders installing the Aisin winch.

 

[shaggy_mutt]

(deleted double post)

 

[mehbohdi]

glad you figured it out.

 

[Crab Sack]

I know that as soon as I plug in my winch controller it completes the electrical connection and the solenoid is then engaged. It makes a solid clunk noise when the solenoid is activated.

 

[shaggy_mutt]

Now that I have it running, here's the scoop.

The connection in the picture provides +12v and ground to the solenoid. When you power the solenoid, the winch gets 12v. When you don't, it doesn't.

Toyota did a clever thing with the wiring for the winch: they designed it so that the remote is also a part of the circuit to the solenoid, such that the winch will only get power if the remote is plugged into it. Because of this, and because I did not want to run additional wires between the passenger area and the engine compartment (those grommets are only intact and non-leaky once...) I chose to wire it like so:

Positive lead of battery -> fuse -> black/blue wire -> solenoid
Solenoid -> white/black wire -> ground

The solenoid will close the circuit when given current in either direction (+12v to either wire and ground to the other one) but the remote will only power up if you wire it this way. It will not power up, and the winch will not do anything, if you wire it the opposite way. Adding this since Toyota chose to make the + wire black for some reason!

I used heat shrink tubing to protect the connections after I soldered them:

One other note. I had been concerned about how much work I would need to do to get the LX ready for the winch. Thankfully Toyota makes life pretty easy here: the holes for the solenoid are already present in the fender, the mounting holes for the winch are already there in the frame, and it is possible (if you're careful and think about how you route it) to get the wires all the way to the battery and the solenoid without cutting anything.

In the end, we only had to make one change to the LX itself. If you look closely at this picture:

you notice that the solenoid pack for the winch is very close to the transmission cooler in front of the radiator. We had to remove the grill, loosen the bolts on the cooler, and move it to the top of the travel that this provided before we could slide the winch fully into position. But once we did that, it fit.