Winch Install Gone Bad - Lost All Power

[Bronco_MI]

Bad day here. Tried to wire up my winch and when I turned on the power switch, I lost all power to the truck. I'm assuming I blew a fuse somewhere, but not sure where to look. Any assistance appreciated. Just want to get the power back up at this point.

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[WarthogJr]

Try to get back to a good starting point. Undo the main power lead to the winch. Pull the trucks power lead from the battery for a minute and then plug it back in. Truck power (hopefully) will come back up.

 

[Bronco_MI]

No luck there. Has to be some sort of fuse that I've blown. No power at all. No key fob, no nothing.

 

[HighVelocity]

What's your battery voltage at?

 

[Johnkn]

Bad day here. Tried to wire up my winch and when I turned on the power switch, I lost all power to the truck. I'm assuming I blew a fuse somewhere, but not sure where to look. Any assistance appreciated. Just want to get the power back up at this point.

Exactly where did you connect the winch’s + and - cable?

Were there any other connections you added to the truck?

That will help identify where the problem is.

Good luck


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[Bronco_MI]

Ok - I'm gonna have to go buy a volt meter. I'm at the lake house and can't find in here.

The winch comes with a switch, which I mounted in the engine comp. + and a - wire from the winch to the switch. Then + and - wire from the switch to the battery terminals.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Ok - I'm gonna have to go buy a volt meter. I'm at the lake house and can't find in here.

The winch comes with a switch, which I mounted in the engine comp. + and a - wire from the winch to the switch. Then + and - wire from the switch to the battery terminals.

pics?
winch brand & model so we can look up what parts you're dealing with?

 

[BigJim1957]

Fuses are discussed from page 312 to 319 in the Owner's Manual.

 

[Johnkn]

Without seeing your winch’s mounting instructions, I would start by removing both new cables from the battery to confirm no issues or damage to the truck and isolate the fault to the winch or switch...

If everything you added is removed and the fault still exists and no power to the truck the fault is on the truck side.
(fuse, fusible link, etc.)

If the truck returns to normal the fault is in the winch\switch.

If the fault appears to be on the truck side, disconnect the trucks cables from the battery, wait a few minutes, then reconnect in order to reset before going further.

 

[Bronco_MI]

pics?
winch brand & model so we can look up what parts you're dealing with?

it's a Badland Apex from Harbor Freight.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Here's a very basic relay/solenoid/"switch" diagram.

All the red wires and the black going from batt to winch will be heavy gauge.

The black going to the relay/solenoid and the aux/yellow will be a small gauge wire.

 

[Bronco_MI]

Without seeing your winch’s mounting instructions, I would start by removing both new cables from the battery to confirm no issues or damage to the truck.


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All wiring from winch removed. I disconnected the battery for about ten minutes, then reconnected. Still no power to the vehicle.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

it's a Badland Apex from Harbor Freight.

Yeah, that's a manual switch, a battery disconnect, it would only need the large hot wires, an "in" and an "out" .... the red wires in the diagram above.

Red is the "hot" or +
Black is the negative (-) or ground.

It simply keeps power from going to the winch until you damn well want it to go there.
Keeps it from accidentally turning on.
No different than a light switch in your house, except it handles a LOT of current.

 

[Bronco_MI]

So is the selenoid built into that switch?

 

[HighVelocity]

So is the selenoid built into that switch?

No, it's just a switch.

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