[Grizzly71]

Does anyone have a good idea where to mount winch Contactor solenoid? Instructions are scarce.

 

[BigBuck]

That was a tough one for me. It would be easy to screw it to the outside of the box that holds the battery and relays, but I did not want to expose it to the elements any more than necessary. Under the hood is tight and if you mount it above the battery, you would have to remove it if the battery had to come out. I found a small amount of space under the main harness that runs into the compartment under the hood. There is a cavity that the harness is in that looks shallow, but if you can get the harness up a bit that channel is pretty deep. I pulled up all six of the relays of their studs that are on each side of the channel and the one down in the left corner and whatever else was holding the harness down. You can hold the solenoid in place and bolt it to the side of that box. I ain't gonna lie to you... It is tight getting it in there, but it will go. You will also have to bend your black and red wires a little on the end so the wires come up more than off to the side.

If you look at the #1 in the green circle in the picture below, that is the solenoid.

 

[Bob3663]

I mounted mine to the front of the firewall above radiator. Not the best place but all I could figure out. I have big fingers and hands. Couldn't find any other spot at the time. Drilled a hole and ran wires through. I keep and eye for rubbing. I need to get a rubber grommet for it. I drilled another hole and zip tied them to it for holding purposes. I have to take off plastic soon for switch plate mounting. I plan on tidying up all wires when I do.

 

[Nissanman1]

That worked.

Thanks man, that worked. You are correct it is tight but hey..... it fit.

That was a tough one for me. It would be easy to screw it to the outside of the box that holds the battery and relays, but I did not want to expose it to the elements any more than necessary. Under the hood is tight and if you mount it above the battery, you would have to remove it if the battery had to come out. I found a small amount of space under the main harness that runs into the compartment under the hood. There is a cavity that the harness is in that looks shallow, but if you can get the harness up a bit that channel is pretty deep. I pulled up all six of the relays of their studs that are on each side of the channel and the one down in the left corner and whatever else was holding the harness down. You can hold the solenoid in place and bolt it to the side of that box. I ain't gonna lie to you... It is tight getting it in there, but it will go. You will also have to bend your black and red wires a little on the end so the wires come up more than off to the side.

If you look at the #1 in the green circle in the picture below, that is the solenoid.

View attachment 739

View attachment 741

View attachment 740

 

[quadley]

For point of reference, the dealer install in front of the firewall. I don't hit lots of water or mud, but I'm going to put a rubber flap over the front to prevent direct impact of the water.

 

[Brentonb]

I put mine where quadley did it works good for me

 

[PapaSkeeta]

x2 on the quadley location above the radiator, except I rotated it on a 45 deg. angle to see the terminals easier. Very easy to keep an eye on here, not a spot water normally will get to unless your a very deep water player. The occasional splash should not make any difference, heck so many of us use to mount them on the winch plate on our ATVs and how many times were they completely under water, probably to many to count - granted they usually went out in a few years. Keep the solenoid from going under water and it should last as long as the winch.