Warn M8000 failed while stuck on muddy hill

A couple of weeks ago I was up in Vermont, and due to some landowners who illegally redirected some Class 4 roads, we ended up stuck on a hill on someone's vast property. We winched out twice, but on the 3rd pull (straight, about 70ft away from the anchor point) I heard a loud clunk and the winch stopped responding, and any attempt to use it would drop the battery voltage down to 6-7 volts. We were able to get winched out by a Jeep (damn it all) and a series of maxtrax and mud flinging sprints up the hill.

This was only my second time using the winch since I installed it last year, the first was using it to clear a tree from a maintained trail the dray prior. I plan to send it in to Warn for warranty repair, but I'm curious what could have caused this? When it failed I was making forward progress, not just winching from a stuck position in park or neutral.

Thanks for any help or opinions. Pic for attention from earlier in the day.

 

Interesting. Im curious to know what happened.

 

I'm gonna mail the winch in to the closest Warn certified shop when I get a chance, hopefully it will be under warranty. It wasn't anything too crazy and only my second time using the winch in a recovery.

 

Warn will take care of you. Unfortunately as great as Warn is, these are still mechanical devices, and no matter how good a company is things sometimes fail.
That's why they have warranties .
I know of a couple of people who use Warn and even tho there Winches were out of warranty Warn took care of them.
Another reason to buy Warn!

 

Any pics of the truck stuck? How long was your cycle time on the winch? Was the winch able to free spool? I had a Warn M8000 on my Rubicon and used it many times without issue.

 

Unfortunately no pics as I was in panic mode trying to get out. I don't think I was spooling for more than 15-30 seconds at a time. Once it failed, it would not free spool either.

 

Do you wheel in VT often?

 

would like an update when you find out what broke

 

A few times a year, usually during Vermont Overland Rally.

 

I will definitely update it. Still need to figure out a box for this thing.

 

Oh cool. I wasn't aware of that event.

 

How close were the pulls in time? Maybe you overheated the motor and cooked it?

 

Warn will be all over this. Incredible warranty response. Sounds like a short in the control pack to me....

 

Hearing the clunk leads me to believe mechanical, not electrical. I have owned 4 different Warn winches and abused them in my younger days. I'm close enough to deliver them in Portland and have a few times so I'm wondering what the issue was. Thanks for bumping because I forgot about this thread.

 

I had a solenoid burn up on an old Warn 8000lb I had in the 80's....When it went, it made a loud "thump"....Sounded like metal to metal....Turned out to be a simple solenoid change. Those old one's used Ford starter solenoids....

I'm on Warn # 3, spread over 45 years. That solenoid, as well as the wireless remote for my current VR12S is the only issues I've had. Both were taken care of very quickly and at ZERO cost to me. Warn is a "stand up company"....

 

Interesting and thanks for the info. I had solenoids go on 1, and never knew until I needed it. Then I was stuck and in deep shit but luckily a guy came along and had a working winch.

 

So @whiskeytacos , any update?

 

Unfortunately not. I've been chasing front end demons the last several weeks. After my wheel bearings and alignment tabs are done I'll tackle the winch.