How to repair stripped washing machine agitator

All,

I have a 5 YO Hotpoint wlw3310b washing machine. A few weeks ago it starting squeaking in the wash cycle, then the agitator stopped working altogether. I pulled the agitator and noticed the plastic up in the shaft was stripped. There may also be some wear on the slots on the shaft (the metal pole which spins the agitator. If i push down on the agititor (with the kill switch bypassed) it works again.

Its an old machine. Are there some easy quick fixes to increase the friction between the agitator and the pole it sits on? Perhaps a carefully placed nut and bolt(least desirable)? Or perhaps epoxy, electrical tape, rubber bands, O-Rings, or other things to increase friction between the agitator and the shaft? I see I can replace the agititor for $50 or so online, are there generic versions to buy at Home Depot?

I am about to embark on a trial and error mission, but wanted to appeal to the experts first to make sure i don't do something stupid.

Thank You....

Reply to
dczoomzoom
Loading thread data ...

working

Hi,

That is part of a full model# and the washer is probably more like 10+ years old.

Replace the drive block inside the agitator and clean up the tranny shaft.

This is a common coupler that is onside the agitator...it can strip out if the washer has been over loaded a few times.

formatting link
machine agitator coupling, for 20 spline drive shaft transmissions.

This may help,

formatting link
jeff. Appliance Repair Aid
formatting link

Reply to
Appliance Repair Aid

I'd take a shot at securing it with JB-Weld (Metal Filled epoxy). If it doesn't work you're only out a few bucks for the stuff, and you could then just carve it off the shaft splines before putting on a new agitator.

Chances are you won't have to pull the agitator again before the machine wears out, and if you did, and broke it in the process you'd be no worse off than you are now. 'eh?

Just remember to be patient and give the JB-Weld a FULL DAY to cure completely before you test your work.

HTH,

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

$50 seems reasonable to get your WM back in working order. Especially rather than mess around -trying- to kludge some other fix. (and then having to go back and do it the right way,or even causing more damage with the kludge,making it NON-repairable)

Perhaps you overloaded the washer and that was the cause of the problem in the first place?

Reply to
Jim Yanik

$249 solution:

formatting link

Reply to
Ed

replying to dczoomzoom, figure it for yourself wrote: there are no experts to look up to , you are your own expert , you know best so try what might make sense !

Reply to
figure it for yourself

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.