C36 Basic Maintenance 101

Lewmar makes a Winch Maintenance Kit.  My local West Marine didn't have the kits in stock, so I did an internet search for "Lewmar Winch Maintenance Kit", found one at Boater's World for about $23, and ordered it.  Shipping USPS first class, the kit arrived in about 3 days.  The Lewmar manufacturer number for his kit is 19701500. 

Lewmar also produces a "Winch Repair Kit".

The kit comes with a manual (in five languages), a tube of winch lube, a tube of winch oil, a brush, and a bag of pawl springs.

Honestly, all I wound up using was one page of the manual, and the winch lube & oil (oh, and one pawl spring).  You can probably buy a tube of the winch lube for about eight bucks, use products you probably already have on hand, and save a bit.

Besides the items in the kit, I used a roll of paper towels (about 1/2 roll was enough to complete all the winches), a few squirts from can of WD-40 for cleaning, and a screwdriver.

DON'T LET THIS INTIMIDATE YOU...

This chart is taken from the Lewmar manual that came with the maintenance kit.  Items 7 and 8 are on the newer "Wavespring" winches - they weren't on mine.  This is only provided so we have the names of the parts.

1 - O Ring

2.  Feeder Arm

3.  Collet

4.  Upper Crown

5.  Stripper Ring

6.  Lower Crown

7.  Spring (not in my model)

8.  Spring cup (not in my model)

9. Main Spindle

10. Drum

11. Roller Bearing Assembly

12. Drub washer

13. Gear Spindle Sleeve

14. Pawl Gear

15. Gear Spindle

16. Center Stem

17. Pawl Spring

18. Pawl

19. Ratchet Gear

A cup of coffee is a probably good idea as you prepare to open the first winch.  I like mine fully leaded, with a little Coffee Mate.

TIP:  Whenever you're taking apart anything where you anticipate you'll soon be wondering, Where the heck does this stupid thing go? --  You can avoid much frustration by taking a few digital photos along the way -- especially at the very beginning.  Then you can refer to the photos, if necessary, as you reassemble it.

II.  Opening the winch

Rule of thumb is to cut a hole in a towel and placed it around the winch to catch any parts that may fall.

The O-Ring has a notch in it.  Give it a counterclockwise push.  I used the tip of the screwdriver.  That worked okay, but it wasn't my brightest move.  In retrospect, I'd suggest you use a piece of wood or maybe a pencil with the eraser into the notch.  It only takes a quick nudge to loosen the O-Ring.

Now spin off the O-Ring...

NOTE:  According to Tom Sokoloski, earlier Lewmar winches have 4 phillips head screws on the top in place of the O-ring.

And lift the O-Ring off and place it on a towel.  

I'd encourage you to have one towel on the seat to place the parts on.  I tried to keep my parts in order as I removed them, to make reinstalling them easier.

Now lift off the Feeder Arm and place it on the towel.

Now you'll remove the drum. 

It's a bit heavy.

Place the drum on the towel.

III.  The cover's off... now what?

This is the inside of the winch.  Take a moment to look it over.  

At the top are two collets.  For some reason, I think of them as keys.  They fit into a groove in the stainless steel spindle (inside).

Remove the collets and place them on the towel.

The tall bronze unit is called the Center Stem.  Inside the Center Stem is the Spindle.

Now pull up on the Spindle...

NOTE:  In the manual it's called Centre Stem.  Not to worry -- our friends in the UK spell funny.

Pull out the spindle and place it on the towel.

That's my inspector dog, Conor, (a Wheaten Terrier) in the background.   If only I could train him to take the photos...

Resting around the Center Stem should be two roller bearing assemblies, a black washer, and possibly a black spacer between the roller bearing assemblies.

If you don't find two sets of roller bearing assemblies, look inside the drum.  One or both of them may be inside the drum -- attached by sticky grease.  If they're in the drum, just reach in and pull them out.  

Place the roller bearing assemblies on the towel.

And now remove the black washer and place it on the towel.

For a 2-speed winch you'll have two sets of gears.

Use a flat tip screwdriver to pull up on the Gear Spindle... 

Once the Gear Spindle comes up about 1/4" or so, you can pull it out with your fingers.

You need remove the Gear Spindle so you'll be able to remove the gears for cleaning.

Place the Gear Spindle on the towel.

If you're worried about getting confused with all the parts on the towel, so was I... so on my winches, I only removed one Gear Spindle and one set of gears at a time -- removing, cleaning, lubing, and replacing it, before I removed the second set.  

Wiggle out the gear assembly and place it on the towel.

Underneath the gear assembly you'll probably see some crud that needs to be cleaned out.

There are lots of cleaners/degreasers out there.  I found a little WD-40 sprayed on a paper towel did a good job of cleaning off the crud. 

Now just work in the towel towel & cleaner to remove the old grease.

You could also use a toothbrush or rag and any other metal cleaner.

I used WD-40 and paper towel to clean off the Center Stem as well.

Once the Center Stem and base unit it cleaned to your satisfaction, take a look at your gear assembly.  It's actually one geared mechanism that fits inside another -- with two pawls inside that allow the gears to work together.

Lift up on the top/smaller gear and remove it from the larger one...

Inside the smaller gear (left of photo), you'll see the two pawls -- they're like levers that go in and out, fitting in notches in the larger bottom gear.

NOTE:  On some winches the pawl springs are not symmetrical - they fit into the pawls only one way.  One "tail" of the spring is straight, the other is curved.  Check as you take them out.

This is another view of the larger gear.

Each pawl can be removed.  Inside each pawl is a small spring.  The spring fits in the slot in the pawl, and the pawl presses into the gear.  The pawl spring makes the pawl open/close so the gearing system functions.

IMPORTANT TIP from Tom Sokoloski:  The pawls and pawl springs should NOT be lubed with grease.  Use only a light oil, so the pawls will not stick as the grease hardens with age.  Use winch oil, 3-in-1 Oil, or similar. 

In the Lewmar kit there's a bag of pawl springs.

This photo is kind of blurry, but you can see the spring near the tip of my middle finger.

The spring just drops into the pawl...

And using your fingers, the pawl spring and pawl are simply slid or pressed into the gear.

NOTE:  To lubricate the pawls, make sure you apply oil, and not winch grease.  The grease can eventually cause the pawls to stick -- oil will prevent this.

Clean out the gear pieces using a cleaner and some sort of brush.  

When it's clean to your satisfaction, squeeze about 1/2" of the Lewmar winch lube on your finger... 

And coat the entire gear section in the lubricant.

When both sections of the gear assembly are cleaned and lubed, squeeze in the pawls and place the pieces back together.

If you haven't done so already, make sure the bottom of the Center Spindle also has a coating of lubricant...

And set the gear assembly back in place. 

There will be a slight notch as the gear fits in correctly.

Now take the Gear Spindle Sleeve, put on a coating of lubricant...

And press the sleeve into the gear assembly.  

NOTE:  There's an indentation at one side of the sleeve -- that indentation goes next to the center stem.

You'll probably need to wiggle it a bit as it fits in.  

Okay, this leads to at least 3000 possible jokes -- all of which I choose to ignore.  If you know me very well, you know the pain I'm in trying to hold back on this.

IV.  Now that you know what you're doing...

Excellent, you've finished the first of the gear assemblies.  The second one should go quite a bit faster.  I'll pick up the pace a bit as we go straight to removing & cleaning the second gear assembly...

First, remove the Gear Spindle.

Remove the gear assembly.

And place the gear assembly on the towel.

Check the bottom of the Center Spindle for dirt/crud.

And using some cleaner and a towel,

Clean out the other side of the housing for the gear assembly,

And apply a coating of lubricant/gear grease.

Pull out the top/smaller gear,

and check the pawl springs to make sure they move in and out freely.

Again, to test them, just squeeze the pawls in and out...

Squeezing them in and out a couple of times, they should work easily.

NOTE:  Make sure you apply oil the pawls, and NOT winch grease (which can eventually cause the pawls to stick).

Remove old grease and clean each gear...

Apply a coating of lubricant...

all over each piece,

And reassemble it by pressing in the pawls

And pressing the parts together.

This one's clean and ready to go.

Replace the gear assembly

Replace the Gear Spindle so it's fully seated.

Note:  The tops of the gear spindles should be at the same height as the base of the center stem.

Now add a coating of lubricant to the center stem.

Clean and lubricate the main spindle.

Place the main spindle back in the center stem (with the geared side down).

Clean and lubricate the collets, and place them into the slot of the main spindle.  

NOTE:  This may take two hands -- one to pull up slightly on the spindle as you fit the collets in.

This is the center stem with the gears in place -- all cleaned and lubricated.

Hang on -- we're getting close to being done.

V.  AGH!  I have all these parts left over!!

Take a sip of your coffee and breath deeply.  What you're down to are the two roller bearing assemblies, the washer, and the spacer.

The 48ST has a spacer that goes between the roller bearings -- not every winch has a spacer.

Clean and lube the washer...

and place it over the center stem, pressing it down as far as it will go.

Clean and lube the one of the roller bearing assemblies

place it over the center stem

and push it down in place.

Now add the spacer, and the second roller bearing assembly -- cleaned and lubed.

Take a few minutes to clean and lube the inside of the housing...

that includes all the notches that will fit against the gear assemblies...

And inside -- especially those areas that will go against the roller bearings.

Pick up the drum and prepare to set it in place...

Sliding the drum over the winch gears and spindle. 

In the background is our other dog, Uncle Sam (he was born on the 4th of July).  Sam is a Scottish Terrier.

VI.  Almost done

ONLY TWO PIECES LEFT...

That funny piece with the self-tailer is next.  It's called the feeder arm.  

Now clean off the Feeder Arm and apply a coating of lubricant in the center area.

This can be a little tricky, because the Feeder Arm has to fit around the collets.  

If the collets work their way out, you'll have to press them back into the main spindle or the Feeder Arm won't fit.  

NOTE:  The self tailer (the little bent part) must be inboard.

Put a little lube on the inside/grooves of the O Ring and hand thread it back on.  

And that's it.  

Take a winch handle and test it by working it, turning the winch both clockwise and counterclockwise several turns.

Take your rags and towels and toss them the trash.

VII.  Final inspection

Make sure you get an official nod of approval from your own Inspector Dog before you consider the project done.

And as a final step, take a little Never Dull or Brasso (or other stainless cleaner) and polish off the outside to remove any remaining grease or surface pits and you're done.