Winch wiring questions

[86mud]

Hi all

One job I have been meaning to do for a while is repair/overhaul my warn 9,000pd winch. It has never worked since I bought the vehicle 2 years ago. I have a new motor to go in it and I am going to replace the cables as they are old and the connections are not the best.

My question is the main battery feed is currently attached to the starter motor terminal and the negative is attached to a bolt on the bell housing.

Is this ok? Shouldn't these be connected direct to starting battery?

Oh...vehicle is a 1998 Defender

Cheers
Andrew

[VladTepes]

Theoretically the bell housing would be earthed back to the battery anyway.
Presumably the starter motor terminal is the one with the positive feed from teh battery ?

If the above is correct then you should be fine, but yes direct to a starting battery is the usual set up.

[pfillery]

It never hurts to double up on your earths. The better your earths are the less likely problems are. I have owned vehicles with an earth running to the body, the chassis, the engine and the gearbox all seperately. Means wherever you need an earth you are sure to have a good one.

Large drain items like starters or winches are better with large cables and hooked directly to the battery on both the positive and the earth.