Attaching a winch to battery terminal , but which positive terminal do I attach to?!

[Washingtonwarrior]

So I have used my winch for a solid hour and have had no problems but my buddy attached his winch positive in the exact location and his fuse blew .... where is the best spot so I don’t blow mine. The fuse is 80 bucks so I don’t want to blow mine

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[LoneRNGR]

Don't connect the negative terminal at the battery post. Connected it to the ground. Otherwise it interferes with the Body Control Module / Battery Monitoring Sensor, then your ASS will not work and you will get warnings on your FordPass app that the vehicle's connected services are going to shutdown to conserve the battery.

Yes, you can connect your positive terminal there.

 

[Washingtonwarrior]

Don't connect the negative terminal at the battery post. Connected it to the ground. Otherwise it interferes with the Body Control Module / Battery Monitoring Sensor, then your ASS will not work and you will get warnings on your FordPass app that the vehicle's connected services are going to shutdown to conserve the battery.

Yes, you can connect your positive terminal there.

wierd when did that happen ? I’ve used the winch for a solid hour and got nothing of the sort, also it says In the warn instructions not to connect the groundon the vehicle chassis

 

[P. A. Schilke]

wierd when did that happen ? I’ve used the winch for a solid hour and got nothing of the sort, also it says In the warn instructions not to connect the groundon the vehicle chassis

Hi Josh,

Agree....do not run the current of the winch through the Battery Monitor System which I believe you do if connect to Chassis ground. I did battery plus and minus for my brakiing system for my towing behind the the motor home.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retied

 

[LoneRNGR]

So I had an issue with my Ranger's Body Control Module (BCM), of which the Battery Monitoring Sensor (BMS) is a part of. I charged the battery using the positive and negative battery posts. It turns out the sensor could not read the charge when I did it like that. Eventually I started getting alerts on my Ford Pass App that indicated that the connectivity features were being turned off to conserve the battery and also my Automatic Start Stop didn't work.

You also should not jump-start the Ranger using the the negative battery post.

I will make the assumption that if you discharge the battery using a winch by connecting directly to the negative battery post that you will be bypassing the Battery Monitoring Sensor which will prevent the Body Control Module from using the Ranger's alternator (or the Powertrain Control Module or PCM) to properly charge the battery. Eventually you will start developing the type of problem that I experienced.​

Some of this information I learned from the 2019 Ranger Technical Shop Manuals. You can find it here: https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/2019-ranger-technical-shop-manuals.1548/

The manual I would reference would be 414-00 Charging System General - Description and Operation - Charging System Operation.pdf. See page 3 & 4 the sections on Battery Charging and Jump Starting. It is also referenced in other manuals in section 414-00.

 

[Leftcoast]

Here's a PDF another member posted a while back.

 

[LoneRNGR]

Yes. That's a much better document than the one that I referenced. It also indicates that the ground point on the sheet metal next to the battery is the logical place to connect a charger and probably a good place for the negative terminal of your winch.

 

[LoneRNGR]

Yes.

 

[LoneRNGR]

You are not hurting anything short term. However, over time the condition of the battery will not be what the Body Control Module expects.

 

[GregsFX2Ranger]

Dumb question I guess. Where is a good place for chassis for a ground?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

HI Alex,

You do bypass the Battery monitoring. I do not think this is a bad thing with a high current draw like a winch. It does not give a good state of charge for a while until the system figures it out... I do not think it is good to run high current through the monitoring system....Anyway...I connected my aux braking system directly to the + and - on the battery with no ill effects. For charging as indicated it is good to have it run through the monitoring system. JMO...

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Alex,

Right off the - battery terminal is a black box (small) before it runs to chassis ground on our North American gasoline Rangers.... I want to stay on the battery side of that black box.....

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Washingtonwarrior]

So I guess out of all 3 spots on the - , where should I attach for a winch ? From what I’m reading , the nut to the right of th post ?

 

[Washingtonwarrior]

So I guess out of all 3 spots on the - , where should I attach for a winch ? From what I’m reading , the nut to the right of th post ?

Or the one that is connected to the chassis ? It shouldn’t be this hard lol

 

[RV Tony]

Hi Josh,

Agree....do not run the current of the winch through the Battery Monitor System which I believe you do if connect to Chassis ground. I did battery plus and minus for my brakiing system for my towing behind the the motor home.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retied

Phil
I think you said in a different post that you went straight to the negative post with your 12 volt plug for your braking system is this the way to pass the BMS. Did you hook up the RVI towed battery charge on the negative post also or now do you use a complete different ground point from the chassis ground . I am a little lost after reading this post all the way through.

Thanks
Tony

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