Progress on Whirlpool washing machine, but same problem lurks.

Bad bearing?

With a washer from 1979, I'd be looking for a new washer.

I've heard of bearings locking up when they get hot. They'll rotate when cool.

Or something came out of his pocket and is getting jammed inthe works

- but yes, a bad bearing would be something to investigate and rule out (and quitea few parts - including some labelled "fearing block" are discontinued.

Bad bearing makes sense, except once running I timed it and it only took

Might be possible. I hope that's not it. I hope it's not a bearing. When I lived in Brooklyn, I found a Whirlpool washing machine on the street, brought it up to my apartment. It had 3 problems, clogged input water screen, with little stones iirc (easy to clean), bad lid switch, which I disassembeled, cleaned, fixed, and immediately stuck a paper wad in the hole. If I'd planned ahead i would have just bypassed it. rust on the top one inch of the cabinet. I bought a can of Appliance White E-pox-ee spray paint and it did a fantastic job, like it came out of the factory. Never chipped in the 5 more years I had the machine.

But I didn't use it often enough and it froze up. At the time, 45 years ago, maybe they still do**, Whirlpool had an 800 number, that they called a Cool Line, with actual repairmen, and one woman too, answering questions on how to fix their machines. They never told me, "YOu have to call a repairman", but when nothing I did would get the agitator off, because the bearing was rusted, we all gave up.

But that one never rotated again. I'm hoping this one still has hope.

Trader, not ready for another machine. I think this has another 30 years in it. It's a pretty fancy model, matches the dryer, and I like that the controls are mechanical and if I want to redo one step, I just rotate the knob and let it to it again.

Did you ever try to see what was locked up when it wouldn't turn (remove/loosen the belt). I am still betting on the pump with nothing else to go on. You could also have a transmission that gets caught in two modes at the same time (a sticking actuator the wig wag hits). You are really going to have to do more diagnosis before you know what you are dealing with. If it is the transmission and you can't find anything externally, it is probably new washer time. The pump is an easy fix. It may just be an obstruction inside. A penny will do it. It probably ate up the impeller a little tho. It will still pump water, just slower.

Yeah, that's something that could come and go, as the part** was moved around especially if I had pushed the belt backwards and freed it up from, say, the pump, I pushed in both directions several times before I freed up the belt the first time, but the second time I only pushed in the proper direction and only a little bit.

OTOH, the "clink" sound was just that, metallica and not like a floating part getting caught but more like one end of flat metal piece moving, hitting something, and resounding through the whole piece. And distinct, not muffled, like it was from the outside of the mechanism, not inside. -- although with a bunch of metal parts, maybe even from the inside it would not sound muffled.

What is a fearing block?

There are a lot of parts discontinued, most of the big ones like the transmission, and the timer,

It really sounds more like the transmission but I would be sure the shifting mechanism is working right before I gave up.

Make that BEARING block

Thanks. Maybe I should have figured that out, especially considering how many typos I make.

I still have the original docs including the exploded view. No bearing block but two bearings, and by golly, repair clinic has them. -- Not that I'm at all convinced I need these.

I didn't work on the machine today :-(

I would spend $25 on these.

Although I have the original parts list / exploded view and, OOPS, the part numbers don't match at all. Maybe I would take it apart first and see if they look like the pictures -- if this is the problem.

OTOH Ebay has both of them and includes the original part numbers. Same vendor, NOS

These are sleeve bearings. The other ones they sell, for newer models, are afaict roller bearings. But that's okay.

Is it the "agitator"or the "drum" that is locking up?? I suspect something broken insidethe "transmission" jamming it up. I'd take it apart and see what I find, then see if the required parts are available at a reasonable cost within a reasonable time-frame. I also suspect the required parts, if readilly available, will be expensive enough to make fixing it a not-so-viable alternative - and the parts availability will be dicey at best.

I don't yet think it's either, but I was fantasizing about rpelacing these bearings after someone brought the topic up.

Hmm. Maybe.

I may loosen the belt to see what is not always turning easily. I think it is the transmission.

This post is just a progress report, especially about the website I found. No added information with which you can help me.

What I could do is cut a big hole in the front of the cabinet so whenever it jams up, I could grab the belt and move it until everything frees up again. That might be the easiest thing.

(Did you all know the National Farm in suburban DC has, or had, 2 or 3 cows each with a door leading from her belly into her stomach, with a window in the door to see what's happening, and the door opens so they can take out partially digested food and analyse it?)

I read part of this before but didn't take the time to read the whole thing until tonight. It's got a 27 page (albeit with a lot of white space) great description, very clear and detailed, with drawings, of how the old whirlpool machine works, how to diagnose it and fix it. It's a shame I'm probably the only one here with a pre-1985 machine like this, but it has most other brands too.

also

One thing I learned: I knew the water level switch turns off the water when it gets deep enough, but I didn't know that it keeps track of when the tub is drained enough and, it says, won't let the tub spin uuntil the water level is almost empty. I thought it just waited a set time, a long time, enough for the water to be pumped out before spinning. One, maybe two times I did have it spinning with water in it, and I thought I had tricked it by turning the timer knob by hand to the spin part. -- It's not important but I may to figure it out if I get this running again.

Also he says "If the centerpost (spin tube) bearings are worn, replacing the basket drive will not solve your noise problem. You will need to call a qualified service technician to replace the bearings, or simply junk the washer. (I stress the word qualified, because it is a specialized job that many technicians will not tackle.)" So my bargain price of $25 for both bearings probably won't help me.

Also, he says "If the transmission locks up, you will need to replace it: don't try to rebuild it yourself. They are pretty standard items: most appliance parts dealers carry rebuilt Whirlpool transmission in stock (but I don't know when this was writtten and looking now they seem to be 125 to 180 dollars. Even I don't think that's worth it.). Given how he explains how to fix everything else, if he says don't try to rebuild it, he's probably right (though I will try anyhow, in part because of your encouragement (but I would anyhow.))

He also goes into even more detail than other pages about replacing the belt and despite what I think someone said, it's the opposite of simple. Have to remove three brackets, three bolts, lower the transmission, a couple other things and when one puts it back together again it might not spin or spin very slowly, which require re-aligning the transmission. That requires removing the brackets, backing off the bolts again, setting the machine upright, setting it to spin, then without moving the machine, tighten the bolts, test it and if doesn't spin right, do this again. When it does work right, replace the brackets.

"Nobody I know of rebuilds transmissions themselves any more. It is far quicker and easier to just replace it with a rebuilt. See the chapter about your brand for replacement details."

Looks like transmission and or wigwag levers. If it needs a transmission FO changwe the wigwag levers as well or you might screw up the transmission. It's the "shift linkage - and if the transmission "goes into 2 gears at once" you have TROUBLE

That is what I think is happening. I suspect something in the shift linkage is sticking. I haven't looked up under a wig wag machine for decades but it is pretty easy to figure out of you look at it. There is a good chance that since the belt is slipping, nothing serious happened to the machine. OTOH if the drum or agitator is seized, you would get a similar result.