cristalfb wrote:

Hi IEUAN,
Try this link. http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/albums/use...Repair.pdf

I have made a small change to the procedure so if you email me 'cristalfb@bigpond.com', I'll send you the latest.
Cheers.
Chris

Hi Chris,
I made the mistake of winding up the spare wheel winch having removed the wheel to have the tyre changed. Tyre changed unable to raise the wheel back up fully!
Saw lots of replace, replace, replace threads but then found your repair guide.
I followed it today and fixed the winch, wheel now fully raised and in position,so a huge thank you for the guide
I followed your guide using the following approach:
5mm drill bit to remove the rivets
Two cold chisels, 10 and 15mm to work around and separate the two halves
Once removed I found that the plastic drum has helical grooves which the wire MUST follow - mine had jumped a groove and therefore wouldn't raise the last 3 or 4 inches.
I also found that the end of the wire was as shown in your pictures and i was able to straighten it as you suggested.
I also found that the walls in the grooves in the plastic drum were broken in a couple of places which might allow the cable to ride over into the next groove. This could have the effect of either jamming the drum 2 x lengths of wire in one groove or skipping a groove leaving a length of wire outside the winch, i.e. dangling.
Clutch plate was as you had suggested, the wear to the square drive on mine was minimal so no filing or welding necessary.
Rebuilt the drive shaft using the original lock washer and used a 12mm flat washer on top of it however had to remove it as when re-assembling the unit it wouldn't close.
Drilling the rivets out had left four 'lugs' on the lower plate. I drilled the receiving holes on the top plate out to 5.5mm to allow the lugs to fit. I then used a vice to fully relocate the lugs before pop riveting the housing back in place.
When fitting the unit back under the car make sure that the two bolts are aligned and taken up to at least finger tight before starting to tighten the four nuts holding the body.
I didn't test the unit as my work bench was the shelf of my bbq but did use a 5kg weight to carefully lower the winch, I pulled on the end of the wire every couple of turns just to make sure tension was maintained.
I then attached the wire and raised the wheel until there was a click from the clutch/ratchet. I then wound it on until there was a second click just to make sure.
All good after a short test drive.
Once again a big thank you for the guide.

crews control wrote:

Yep, that exactly what happened to me. Punctured tyre placed in boot and winch wound up without tension. This seized the winch and the whole part had to be replaced under warranty, (it's a sealed unit). I can't see if there are any design changes inside, but I certainly won't be winding this up or down without some weight on it!

Discussed here:
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic2632.html
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic15894.html