MacGregorSailors.com

My pretty much so new Factory Forespar winches (both port and starboard) are seized.

I figured that taking them apart and lubing them up would likely solve the problem. I went to the vendor site and that said take the top screw out and then disassemble. The screw came out just fine and the top came off easily but that is where it ended as nothing seemed to want to "just come apart" without getting serious.

Can anyone lend some advice on disassembling and repairing these?

Thanks!

Jim

Hi Jim,

They sound like they are faulty. I think you will find that if left in the sun the drum will expand making them near impossible to remove. Try to remove them at night when it is cool. My guess is that they will need to be replaced as the tollerences were probably a little too tight when they were manufactured.

Also, I think you will find that if you lube them, the warranty will be void. So you dont want to do that.

Its a shame they changed from the previous winches. They were a lot better.

Cameron

Unbolt them and throw them away and replace with the Lewmars...rebed with lots of sealant of course.

Hi Jim, is your boat still under warranty? I had one of my winches replaced recently for free. (one of the plastic sprung loaded pawls inside broke) If your boat is out of warranty then replacing them with decent winches would be a good long term solution. However, I dismantled my other winch & cleaned all the parts up. I know they don't recommend lubricating the parts but they fail anyway if left dry! I use a thin semi liquid marine outboard lube called "Lubriplate" (made in the USA) which makes them work fine. Regular dismantling & cleaning is what I do now & I lube all the moving parts. I've had no problems since.

Your winch should come apart if you soak some penetrating fluid into it. Once apart, use some emery cloth to sand down the spindle a little so the bronze bushed outer spool is really free. I have seen a brand new boat straight out of the container with seized winches! Macgregor used to fit good quality Lewmars to the I guess cost cutting has led to the inferior units now fitted. Regards, Dave

If you buy the Forespars from Defender they offer a three year warranty - that doesnt apply to the winch that comes with the boat of course. If I went to the trouble to get it off, for 100 USD, I would replace with the Lewmars, though.

Maybe get a warrsnty replacement and sell it on ebay to recover the cost.

I went out this evening and was able to get them apart. Did some sanding to free them, hit them with some Sailkote and they are spinning again.

edit: To get them off, I sprayed them with some WD-40 and was able to get them to turn and as they turned I was able to work them off. Once off, I sanded them with some 400 Wet/Dry until they went back on a rotated freely. Then I cleaned them thoroughly with Sailkote which is a dry lubricant that they seemed to like put them back together. You are dreaming of pulling these things off, you have to twist and raise them as you are twisting them.

I agree completely with replacing with a decent Lewmar.


Jim