Smittybuilt XRC8 Solenoid Issues

Get yourself a tube of RTV silicone, black, grey, red, blue, whatever...

Apply following green lines.

Remove solenoid from plastic housing. Open solenoid. Lift clear gasket from it's groove. Apply light amount of RTV. Replace gasket, making sure it seats in groove. Apply more RTV. Re-assemble solenoid housing.

Apply RTV at the base of all connections. Take a picture to refer to which wire color goes where. Remove cables. RTV making sure not to get any on the contact areas. Re-attach cables and consider using dielectric grease. Small packets can be had at your local auto store for ~1.00.

Apply liberal amount of RTV where the black bundle of wires exit the solenoid. Both at the base and wire the wires leave their rubber sheath.

Apply dielectric grease to all connections for winch controller. Apply dielectric grease to plug in port for winch controller. This is easily done by smearing some on the male end and inserting into female end.






A couple other things I noticed on mine is that with it mounted feet forward the rubber boots on the connections on the housing collect water since they're effectively upside down. I cut large enough holes so that the water would drain. This also wouldn't be a bad place for some dielectric grease.

I also pulled apart my winch, cleaned it of factory grease and repacked it with quality marine grease, then I reassembled and applied RTV on the paper gaskets on both ends.

I periodically spray the winch, cable, and spool out handle with a lubricant/penetrating oil. WD40, PB blaster etc.... I also wash it with the HP wand at the car wash whenever I'm there.

I've abused it, submerged it, washed it etc.. for nearly 2 years without any issues. The XRC8 is a great winch for it's price with a little forethought and TLC. I don't put all my eggs in one basket however and wouldn't even with a more quality winch.



If you're unaware, there is a second generation of the XRC8 that is better and more reliable than the first. The first being a magnet motor, the second is a series wound.


I even made a thread.

 

I'll take pictures when I attempt to clean this thing up and save it. Maybe even do a dunk test to make sure it's waterproof, disassemble it, and do it all over.

 

Anyone have Krookz's DIY saved?

I only found this:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/6...d-save-yourself-winch-troubles-down-road.html

 

Get some dielectric grease and smear it all over the contact points inside the cover.

 

krookz' writeup isn't any different than mine really. In fact I think mostly I copied from him. Look at the top of this page. Pictures aren't as good but it's not complicated. I also made a separate thread.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/of...ur-smittybilt-xrc8-solenoid-before-fails.html

 

Cool thanks. I was using the winch this past weekend and when I let go of the button, the damn thing wouldn't stop pulling in. It ended up causing my bumper to cave in a little

 

yikes!

 

AND my solenoid is relocated in my engine bay so it wasn't exposed to the elements. Sucks these solenoids are a POS

 

so after 3 years of having the xcr10 the solenoid has finaly crapped out..sort of. works when it wants too. time for a rebuild of sorts.

sidenote: did you know that the xcr series winch is really a t-max winch? i reclocked the clutch lever and there it was..the T-Max logo on the inside of the cover

 

Oh boy, I forgot about this... I tried to rebuild the old solenoid by spending quite a bit of time cleaning it up REAL good, reassembled it and it worked for about 3 minutes before it decided it wanted to do it's infinite unspool bullshit. I got the solenoid replaced, and when I received the new one I used adhesive silicone around the seal, in the wiring harness going into the switch and the top electrical lugs because those aren't exactly sealed either. I think I might have taken pictures but I'd have to see if I can find them.

 

So I finally got around to servicing what I thought that would be a corroded solenoid only to find that it's in perfect condition.

 

Yep you did the same stuff. My old threads got wiped so no going back to view it