Washing Machine failure question

[Steve Pope]

I have an old (1986), Whirlpool Design 2000 washer which has never failed until now. The symptom is that during agitation, the agitator (a single-piece design) moves in one direction only, rather than back and forth. This causes grinding noises and clothes trappage at the agitator base. All the other cycles work fine. During spin, the agitator spins freely as it should, and there is no oil or clutch dust coming out the bottom of the machine.

I have one opinion that this is likely a transmission failure and if so I need to junk the thing. Is it possible that there's some lesser problem in the agitator mechanism (dogs, ratchets, etc.) that is causing this? I'm trying to evaluate if it's worth having a go at repairing it.

Thanks for any advice,

Steve

[Shawn Hirn]

Does Wirlpool have a consumer hotline? Try googling for it and call there to ask. They'll probably need the specific model number of your washer.

[Phisherman]

My Whirlpool washer has "cogs" that wear out and need replacing every

5-6 years, about $6. You get to them after removing the agitator. If so, this is an easy repair. Take a look.

[WDS]

Look up "Whirlpool washing machine parts" using Google and see what you find. Some of the repair part sites have schematics so you can see the various parts and assemblies. You can price out possible things you'd have to replace and maybe get an idea of the difficulty.

Given the age of your machine repairing it may not be very cost effective.

We had this happen on a different brand and they had to replace the whole motor assembly but fortunately it was under warranty at the time. Exact same thing happened some years later and based on what we didn't pay the first time (the cost was on the form I signed) I just got a new washer.

[Ulysses]

I think the technical term is actually "agitator dogs", not cogs. I bought some on eBay for a few bucks. On mine they fit into the top part of the agitator. I don't remember if I had to remove the whole agitator or not because I had it out anyway. Anyway, there are usually four of them puppies in there running around.

[Roger Shoaf]

Sounds to me like it is worth fixing. You can order a DIY manual from Whirlpool and if you google appliance parts you should find several places you can get washer parts on the cheap.

[AE Todd]

Based on the symptoms you noted, your gearcase has failed, and you would need to replace it as the fix. The other posters who talk about agitator dogs are referring to when an an auger doesn't index during agitation; not all agitators have augers, and I doubt yours does. The Design 2000 is the name of the very early direct drive machine that WP produced. If you replace the gearcase, make sure you match the exact part required, as your machine might require one of the uncommon non- neutral drain gearcases that were used in early models. On the other hand, your machine is old enough to prompt you just to purchase another one.

[Steve Pope]

Thanks for all the replies on this. My conclusion is the transmission is almost certainly out, and I need to replace the machine, much as I would prefer a repair.

Steve

[Don Young]

Replacement transmissions for many machines are available from appliance parts stores.

Don Young