GE, about 15 yrs old and it crapped out tonight. Sigh
Anything to look for in particular with GE washers? Pump still works fine though, just wont agitate or spin. Wife says its not been spinning very well the last week or so.
I guess Ill have to pull it out tommorow. Nother project I need..sigh
Gunner
That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell
Probably just the clutch on the end of the motor shaft, Gunner. Ken.
Maybe this will help...
If it won't agitate _or_ spin, you might have got lucky.
You might be so lucky as to find it's just the drive belt, an easy fix on a GE, except for the screwed up flex coupler from the motor to the pump. (Slitted thin lightly reinforced rubber sheet, held on and circular with light hose clamp wannabees. Hardest --well, most frustrating-- part of the whole job. Lets the motor keep driving the pump even when the tub's wobbling around spinning.)
Just did one on my daughter-in-law's washer. Took about half an hour.
"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers (1879-1935).
The same thing happened to my washer. Being the undaunted DIYer, I attacked the machine only to figure out that I had no clue on how to disassemble the machine, so the machine sat up side down in the laundry room and I went off to work, figuring on picking the brain of some appliance guy. 10 minutes after I left for work my wife calls me on the cell phone to say she has ordered the manual for the machine and it should be here next week.
Figuring that I would wait for the manual rather than pestering the appliance guy, I left the machine sitting upside down. When the manual arrived, I found out that all you do is remove 2 screws on the front of the control panel and tip the control panel up. This exposes two clips and with these removed the top, sides and front tip forward and slide off.
Off to the laundry room I go only to find that all of the oil has drained out of the transmission. (yucch) I cleaned up everything and found out how easy removing the motor was. A couple of clips released the pump from the motor, and a few bolts held the motor to the transmission. Between the motor and the transmission was a rubber coupler similar to a lovejoy coupler and that was the part that had gone out.
But it was a really a good thing I had the book so I could then remove the now oil-less transmission from the machine. This required removing the agitator and a few other parts and when I looked to the manual for guidance about replacing the oil on the transmission all I found was an admonition to seek a qualified repair facility.
Since the oil smelled and looked like 90W gear oil and the appliance parts place had no clue that's what I used and just gave my best guess at how much oil to install.
Good luck, it sounds like you have a similar problem, but don't invert the machine.
That's what's wrong with mine every time it won't spin. I even cut a slot for the tension bolt so it would work till a new belt could be located. That poor belt lasted way past its life time. The flex coupler is on my mind before I start to work on it. It's one of those
3 hand , don't give up while blood circulation stops, and hold your tongue just right jobs.Check the solenoids on the arm thingy...mine have craped-out twice in 25 years
If I am not mistaken, the GE washers have a little plastic and rubber coupling between the motor and the transmission. When that breaks, they don't aggitate or spin. If that is it, it is a cheap part and fairly easy to get to.
Whoops... not GEs... GE washers have a clutch assembly and a rubber belt. The pump has its own motor. At 15 years I am betting on the belt.
Take a look at
-- Joe
-- Joseph M. Krzeszewski Mechanical Engineering and stuff snipped-for-privacy@wpi.edu Jack of All Trades, Master of None... Yet
Mine has 2 solenoids on a strange lever/cam arrangement. When the motor is running, this mechanism is rocked back and forth at the agitator rate (about one reversal every second). When the solenoids are activated, it opens gates to allow the lever/cam to shift one way or the other, switching something inside the transmission. The modes, as best as I can figure out, are agitate, spin and nothing. Every few years, due to somebody spinning the timer knob at just the wrong moment, it jams the mechanism, and it can't shift. I just fiddle with the mechanism, and it usually releases whatever is stuck. I've never exactly figured out what jams against what. This lever/cam also throws the lever on the pump valve to select between recirculate and pump out modes.
I've never been inside the transmission, but have replaced the motor once and the pump about 4 times. This machine is now 28 yrs old, so it may or may not be similar in design. Mine is a White/Westinghouse, but I think that's the same guts as a GE.
Jon
:GE, about 15 yrs old and it crapped out tonight. Sigh : :Anything to look for in particular with GE washers? Pump still works :fine though, just wont agitate or spin. Wife says its not been :spinning very well the last week or so. : :I guess Ill have to pull it out tommorow. Nother project I need..sigh : :Gunner : :That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's :cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays :there. : - George Orwell
If the motor is running it just may be a circlip type retainer on the bottom. Once that clip is out it will not engage. It's a 10 minute repair. Don't pull the whole machine out, the front panel can be removed by jamming putty knifes under the front lip and pushing sheet metal clips in. A $7 general washing machine repair manual is a worthwhile investment. Alos, get the serial and model number when part hunting.
Do a little searching on the internet. I found instructions to repair my Whirlpool there. Gary Brady Austin, TX
Hum - sounds like the TV - what happened to our Bar-B-Que - took it off the back deck.... :-) Husband, the fire watcher, smiles for a well done night work.
Martin
Just had the same problem on my kenmore washer. I don't know about GE but with the kenmore the pump is one end of the motor and the other end goes to the transmission. Between the motor and transmission there is a coupling, a rubber disk is between each half of the coupling and each half of the coupling has 3 pins that stick into rubber disk. Very similar to most motor couplers except this one is made of plastic. Over time the holes in the rubber disk became elongated so there was a lot of slop in the coupling. Eventually the holes in the disk were so elongated the pins on each half banged into each other and broke. I went into the parts store and before I could say a word the clerk said you need a kenmore washer coupling. He didn't need to look up the part number he just walked back into the store room and got the part. This probably indicates that a broken coupling is a common problem. Part cost about $13.00
I think a lot of washer made today use direct drive instead of belt drive so on the GE it could be the same problem. On the kenmore it is amazing how the motor, transmission, and pump are held together. 2 spring clips hold the motor to the transmission and 2 more hold the pump to the motor. Cheap but effective.
On the kenmore it is amazing how simple it is to open up the machine. Remove 2 screws from the control panel, flip the panel up and backwards, disconnect 1 connector that goes to the lid switch, remove 2 spring clips and the whole cabinet can then be removed. (front, sides, and top are all one assembly).
Scp
I didnt get to it last weekend, but when I got home tonight, I pulled the motor and clutch assembly. From what I can determine, it has a two speed clutch, and the clutch will not grab. There is a inner and outer clutch, and the inner fingers which apparently active the inner clutch links are worn to feathers.
The motor runs fine, but the centrifical clutch arraingment which carries the belt and pulley will not engage. I can spin them freely, the bearings are a-ok, but it simply will not engage.
Far as I can tell, on the net the clutch assembly is around $100USD or more. Ill check at an appliance parts place tommorow over in Bakersfield. But since used washing machines tend to go for $50-100, Im not sure its worth messing with.
Any comments? Is a pre 1995 GE washer even worth sinking any money into? I think the cold water solenoid is also history, but Ive not gotten that far yet.
Thanks
Gunner
That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell
On Sat, 15 May 2004 05:19:37 GMT, Gunner brought forth from the murky depths:
Having just bought my first new washer and dryer set in this lifetime, (Both Maytag-built Magic Chef top-of-the-line models) I'll never buy a new appliance again. The wsher motor smoked within a month, the dryer rollers are too soft and were thumpy from the get-go. When the guy came to replace the washer motor, he installed new dryer rollers. They are precisely as soft/bad as the first and the "fix" _didn't_. The appliance store refused to let me pay more to swap to the Maytag. Maytag said they couldn't do anything except double my warranty. Just so I don't support that a**hole of a company any more, I'll never buy another -new- Maytag appliance in my life.
Suggestion: Stick with 20+ year old Kenmore or Maytag boxes. They were built to last and are inexpensive to repair. Ask any repairman what they have at home, and it'll be older K or M boxes every time.
P.S: When the guy climbed on top of the washer to reach behind and plug it in (first delivery day) the top sheetmetal was so thin that it dented where he put his palm and knees. He replaced that, too.
----------------------------------------------------------------- When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction. --Steven Wright ----------------------------
My Whirlpool washer is 23 years old. First service was last year, changed the belt. While shopping with my wife, a saleslady told us the the average washer lasts 8 years. I said "Oh no, mine is 22years old". "You must have a Whirlpoo!", she replied.
After that exchange, I ordered a service manual, shopped ebay for a spare timer and am looking forward to the pump going out. I've decided to go with this one for the long haul. Gary Brady Austin, TX
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