[dazza]

71jimmy,
I just recently opened up two of them, one sounds about like yours, water, dirt, etc. Working on getting those gears cleaned up.

The other looks almost new inside, except the seal at the motor shaft was leaking... the motor was completely full of oil!
I believe the one that leaked is actually just an o-ring, so easily replaced.

I have an older Ramsey style(and probably built) Hickey winch that I did rebuild a few years ago and if I remember correctly, I was able to get the seals not too far from here, at a farm/tractor supply store in Stockton. I may head over there sometime in the next week or so, let you know what I find.

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