303 winch operation

[Cole Wilson]

I own a 303 civilian. I am trying to figure out the PTO winch. Is there something more than the switches behind the drivers seat. I have vacuum to those 2 switches. I put the selector into neutral and then put it into second gear it just makes a buzzing sound when I try to operate it. Please HELP! Thanks Cole

[Lightningpinz]

A stupid question, but are you putting the t case in neutral and then putting the transmission in gear and letting the clutch out? These are a power take off winch. The engine must be running and the transmission must be in gear. If you are doing this reply and I'll try to look at the next step.

[Cole Wilson]

Yes, I am doing all of those steps. The shaft is not turning for the PTO it is making a noise. I got the cable to pull in once but I can not get it to engage again to let it out. Also how do you put the cable into nuetral so it can be pulled out? Thanks Cole

[Lightningpinz]

Cole, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I was sick last week. The prior owner of yours once wound the spool up tight enought to stall the engine. What I did was to start the engine and run in neutral untio you can hear the switches making the hissing sound when you change from in to out. At that point put the winch to in position, and pto to in position, then put into gear and let clutch out. (don't try to engage pto selector in gear with clutch out). If it doesn't work, put pto selector into out position and shut off the engine. Crawl underneath and try to turn the pto to winch drive shaft by hand CAREFULLY as the shaft might spin quickly when the winch disengages. I did this in the parking lot today on another winch that was bound up. If the winch frees up, you can now pull the cable out when the winch is in the out position.
Let me know if this works.

[Thomas]

Hello

Normal operation of the winch goes like this:

-when not using the winch
-Put PTO-swich in "out"
-Put the winch-swich in "in" to prevent unwanted freespooling.

-To freespool the cable
-Have the engine running.
-Clutch down
-Put PTO-swich in "out"
-Put the winch-swich in "out"
-Gearbox in "N"
-Cluth upp. The cable shold be easy to pull out at this point

-To spool the cable in or out
-Engine running
-Clutch down
-T-case in neutral
-Gearbox in "1" for spooling in slowly and "4" for fast.
"R" for spooling out
-PTO swich "in"
-Winch-swich "in"
-Cluth upp. The cable shold go in or out depending on the gear chosen.



If normal operating is not possible:

Try spooling out using the "R"-gear first
The cable shold go out.

If it does'nt go out, nor in. there is somthing wrong with the manouvering things of the winch, or the cable might be stuck due to "overspooling" as "Lightningpinz" discribes.

I have a rather brutal way of finding out if the cable has been overspooled:

-Attach the cable to a tree.
-Have the engine running.
-Clutch down
-Put PTO-swich in "out"
-Put the winch swich in "out"
-T-case in "L"
-Gearbox in "R"
-Reverse the vehicle to spool out some cable.

If the cable is stuck on the drum you might have to try several times. Forward, reverse, forward, re...... "yanking" I think is the term......

If this works there is no problem with the dissconnection of the winch nor the PTO. Try to operate the winch using normal methods as discribed above.
If this works the cable was overspooled.

If not, the manouvering of the winch "in" and "out" is broken (that is if your shaft from PTO to winch is turning) That is likely the vacuum manouvering unit.
-The vaccum at the unit can be to little or non existent
-The membrane could be broken.
-The unit could be stuck.

Now thats an answer for you! I have made my best but can not think of any other reasons for the winch not to operate OK.

/TF

[Cole Wilson]

Thanks Thomas!
That is Very helpful I really appreciate the time you have spent explaining the prosses. Thanks Cole

[Thomas]

Any luck with the winch, Cole?

/TF

[Cole Wilson]

Ya, Thanks A lot Thomas. Your instructions helped, It works perfectly.