Upgrading the Warn 8274

By Michael Knorr (www.bc4x4.com/thbsjeep)

April 2, 2000

Introduction

This whole swap took me less time to do than it took me to write up the article to show how easy it was. After a volunteer clean-up day for a local adopt a river program I had managed to overheat and fry my winch motor on my old 8274. I had heard about the new faster motors that Warn had just come out with so instead of rebuilding my existing motor I decided to see if the new motor would fit in its place.

A quick email to Warn was sent off posing just such a question. Within a few days I had the answer I was looking for along with a part number (7536). That number is the same part number used to reference the old 8274 motor. That alone made a strong implication that the new motor would bolt-up to the old 8274. The winch motor was a direct fit with only one part, the drive gear, being different and it was included with the new motor. At the time the motor was so new on the market the only way to be able to be sure to get the new one was to order directly from Warn. An order was placed through an Authorized Warn dealer and within a week I had my new motor.

May 23, 2007
Our most recent contact with Warn has revealed the least expensive method for doing this upgrade. If you order part #39972, you can save around CAD$70 because it will get you an incomplete motor assembly which has what you need but doesn't duplicate the parts that you already have. If your current 8274 is the old style that uses a keyway shaft (not splined shaft), you will need Warn pinion gear (part #15879). If your 8274 has a splined shaft, you won't need to order that pinion gear.

Installation

The original 8274.

Here is a picture of the winch before removing the old motor. I pulled out all my cable when I changed the motor but this is not necassary to do the swap. I just wanted to check the condition of my cable as well. To remove the motor start by disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery. Once this is removed then remove all the wires that connect from the solenoid pack to the motor. Also remove the ground and positive cables from the winch. Once you have the electronics disconnected now loosen the bands that hold the solenoid pack on and remove it. The next step is to remove the clutch assembly from the housing. Remove the four screws and the remove clutch assembly from the housing. Once this is removed remove the key from the shaft of the winch motor. Then proceed to remove the two screws in the endplate of the motor and pull the motor away from the winch housing. Click here to see a detailed diagram of the winch.

The motor is removed from the spur gear housing.

The new motor above the old motor. It is slightly longer than the motor it replaces.

Here are the two drive gears side by side. The old one used a key to retain it to the shaft. The new one uses a splined shaft instead of the key. The external splines are identical on both.

Here is the finished installation.

Conclusion

The unit appears to be much faster than it was before, but as of this writing I haven't had a chance to test it out against an old style 8274. Since my old motor was fried I was unable to get before and after figures. So look for some coming information on this as soon as I am able to match it against an old style 8274.