winch install / need schematic

[Harry Ferguson]

OK, thanks to those who have gone before, I had no problem selecting the Terra45 winch with synthetic rope to fill the hole in the grill of my 2014 825i. Bolting it up was a breeze, wire routing required some disassembly. I was disappointed to find that the steering wheel does not accommodate a standard puller. Could not get the dash off to bolt switch from behind. Found two holes in the perfect spot inside battery box that lined up with the relay and I like the way all the cables fit. Only mod required was a larger eye on the neg cable to attach directly to battery terminal clamp. Remote not yet installed, still debating where to locate connector socket. I post some photos of the relay install and the insulator I made from water hose for the circuit breakers. Now the piezo beeper goes EEEE....EEEE....EEEE whenever the switch is on. The manual makes no mention of a warning beeper but I think it is the park brake warning. Either I have connected the wrong wire somewhere or maybe left one off, but I can't find the cause without a wiring diagram. Anybody know where to find a schematic? 312031213122

[Bunky]

On my install, I purchased switches rather than use the handle bar switch provided with the winch.

I also had to make the battery cable hole larger to attach to bolt on post.

For the remote, I put it in the glove box but some have mounted to dash and one attached it to fender so it was the exterior. The exterior mount actually makes a lot of sense but could get dirty if the cover is not always on.

From a wiring perspective, you pull power from a switch line so that is the yellow/black wires (JD standard). Red/black are always hot and higher gauge too.

These wires go to the solenoid that engages the winch. You may have tapped to another line instead. Where did you pull power that goes to the solenoid? This is likely the issue. Can you post a picture of where you connected?

I have the tech manual at home.

[Harry Ferguson]

Bunky, I see why you used the blanked off holes and put switches in the dash. The handlebar switch is less than satisfactory and I may go to your setup. I could always mount a cigar ashtray where I drilled holes in my dash! There is an unused yellow wire / black wire plug behind the left side of the dash and I used that yellow ignition power feed to supply the switch. I think the yellow wire / black wire plug in the battery box that I connected to the buzzer is the wrong one (hot all the time with key on). Do you know what colors are supposed to go to the piezo buzzer under the passenger seat? I'll post more pics as soon as I am done. Just ordered the new design diamond plate roof with black deck coating and I don't want to post pictures of my Gator naked.

[Bunky]

From my study, yellow is always switched so if you taped into a yellow line then it is switched. Now the question is where did you tap?

I looked at my tech ref manual briefly and the parking buzzer circuit is very simple and is fed by the main feed when the ignition switch is on.

[Harry Ferguson]

Much thanks, all better now! Yes, yellow is switched power and black is ground, I had connected the buzzer to a live plug for some unknown accessory. There was another two wire plug that was in the battery box and fit the buzzer. It had a black wire and a dark blue. I connected it to the buzzer this time, must have swapped them. My winch install is done and I post some pictures of the job.
The obligatory frontal shot, because it is a fine looking accessory; The "handlebar" switch attached to the top of the dashboard; The way I finally stretched the rope thin enough to feed it through the hole in the winch spool. That was a real b***h, I spent two sweaty hours yesterday taping and retaping it, only to get a few strands of rope through and the rest wadded up in the hole. This morning I finally hit upon clamping the end of the rope in the vise and hanging an 8lb hammer from the other end over the grinder so it could pull with constant force. Then I rubbed the rope with various smooth metal tools until it had the proper size and taped it. The tape is critical, make sure it is new and has good adhesive. Stretch the tape really hard to hold the rope tightly compressed, and cut the end tapered so the tape can come to a point. I include a pic of the final tape job that went in, and an 8mm wrench. Looks like about 7mm. And a final bit of advice to others who may do this install, when tying the wires to frame members and such, be sure not to tie the ground cable to the rear drive shaft way down in the bottom of the battery box. I actually drove around for a while like that and only saw the horrifying damage when I pulled the battery to add the remote wires. The wire was slipping and smoking and fixing to tear the relay apart and set my new Gator on fire (just like the stickers that I removed warned me about). The relay bracket was bent but fixable, relay and other wires undamaged. I lost about six unnecessary inches of ground cable and three inches of black powdercoat off the drive shaft. Must have been beer sweat on my glasses blocking my vision when I did that but I was lucky, no $$$ to fix.

[Dane]

Yea, feeding the synthetic rope through the hole is the worst part of the install. I had to do it twice as I forgot to put on the winch saver doughnut the first time.

Good looking install. Now go get stuck so you can try it out.

[Bunky]

Good to see you got it working. Did you put the solenoid and relay both in the battery area? JD does seem to make a lot of power connections (including switched one) in the battery box area. The OPS switch feature and the wiper feature add a bunch more with connectors for who knows what.

I am still curious how you got to the drive shaft. I really never noticed it.

[Harry Ferguson]

Yes, the solenoid fits nicely on the inboard wall of the battery box. There are factory holes that fit the bracket and position the relay properly. When the battery is out you can take the plastic tray out and see all the way to the skid plate. In the very bottom is a drive shaft to the front diff. Maybe it only turns when 4wd engaged? Above that is a coolant pipe and above that is a frame tube. My final install keeps every wire up and clear of the space below the tray. And it turns out the warning buzzer does sound if 1.) the park brake is set and 2.) the transmission is in gear and also 3.) the engine is running and the throttle is opened from idle. Must be controlled by the ECM. So all my testing in the barn never would have showed me the right wire. Good thing I'm retired or the hours I wasted without a schematic would have cost somebody $90/hr.!