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Pump noise Due to the nature of the "shaded pole" motors used on these pumps, ANYTHING loose i.e. the attachment of the pump to the washer base, will cause a pronounced "60-cycle hum." Check the fasteners. If this doesn't do the trick, open the pump and see if anything like string, solid...

Frigidaire bearing failures I had a "Frigimore" machine (1999) and so did both my brothers, my ex, and a friend. Out of those five, 3 failed after about 5-6 years due to bad tub bearings. I think SactoTeddyBear is correct-there seems to be a correlation between oversudsing and bearing failures...

pilot light The pilot light assembly contains a tiny gas jet. You'll have to remove the assembly from the burner. Where the pilot gas line attaches to the pilot light, there will be a gas jet with an extremely small opening. This is likely clogged; a very fine wire or shirt pin will be needed...

Gas washer.....? Wonder if it has a V-6 or V-8....

A word of warning to those thinking of purchasing laundry machines (or other major appliances) from "home center"-type stores; you may be in for an unpleasant surprise regarding delivery. Note beforehand that I am a well-pleased owner of a Whirlpool Duet pair which I purchased from Sears back in...

Oil The tube on top of the transmission (it's not the motor, but it's bolted on to the end of the motor) is a breather tube. Ordinarily, the transmissions on these machines needed no attention, though it certainly won't hurt to change the oil especially given that there is a drain plug. I'd be...

LG nightmare Not that this helps you much, but anytime I'm asked by a customer or friend about LG washers, I tell them to ignore their high ratings by Consumer Reports and forget about LG, due to poor service and parts support. As an online subscriber to CU, I'm going to e-mail them about your...

Epic Forgot to mention; the new Maytag Epic is basically a Duet with different appearance. This should be a huge improvement over the Maytag Neptune, which is junk. The home centers and appliance stores are selling the neptunes at impossibly low prices-don't fall for it!!!

service issues I noticed that LG and Bosch took top honors in CU; however, unless things have changed, there have been serious issues with LG parts availability, along with a scarcity of service persons educated on these machines. The Whirlpool Duet was in the top echelon, just below these...

Frigimore timers I had a '99 "Frigimore," which had a mechanical timer in the backsplash. If it failed to balance the load for a spin cycle, the timer would continue to advance and the spin would often not happen. Recently that same model has gone with a "soldid state" timer, and it holds time...

CU I take Consumer Reports with a large tablespoon of salt these days. According to them, the '91 Ford Aerostar I bought new was more or less a piece of junk; I sold it for $1400 when it had 348,000 miles on it (after rebuilding the transmission at 342k). Likewise, when I replaced it with a...

Mystery part The "regulator" you mention is actually a vintage version of a solenoid water valve; today's valves have two distinctly visible coils whereas the one you picture has both coils inside the housing. Unless you can find an exact replacement (online, perhaps) I would suggest simply...

Helical drive oil You should be able to use S.A.E. 90 or 85-90 weight gear oil. You can buy it at an auto parts store-it is sold for use in rear differentials and manual transmissions.

Westy f/l's I owned two of these machines; one I got used in '74 and it needed a level control-easy fix. The other I got from my sis in '86, right after I got married. It was part of a stack setup, made in about '76. She said it leaked; after I dropped it off the tailgate of my truck, it...

Confession I recently tried to break the nearly 20-y.o. Maytag helical drive at the family's vacation home. I put solvent in the motor bearings and let a little water into the tranny via the agitator shaft seal (using a paper clip), to no avail. I've been trying to get my mom to get rid of this...

Maytag dispenser My mom's '86 Maytag helical-drive/"Dependable Care" machine has a dispenser in the agitator, and it seems to work well enough. However, after a while it does build up residue in the cup. The stuff flies out of the cup into the inside of the agitator column during the first...

Impeller I had a Hoover 2-tub impeller machine many years ago, and the impeller, mounted on the side, turned continuously in one direction. It tangled clothes without mercy-I could have gone into business making rope. Don't know about the ones with the impeller in the bottom, though.

Go with WP The Neptune 6700 is a piece of junk. They're no longer being made, but remaining stock is still being sold. If the standard Duet is too big (I'm not sure of the dimensions, but they're on the WP website), the Duet Sport will fit.

Best dryer I bought a WP Duet pair back in May, and the dryer (as well as the washer) is the best I've ever owned. I don't know what washer you have-the Duet dryer is huge inside, and would be overkill if you have a standard-size washer (the Duet washer holds about 20 lb. of wash). It has the...

Tangling Duets It's possible that WP may have changed some motor control programming in the years the Duet has been out, to alleviate tangling. I haven't used mine a whole lot yet as I've been out of town more than in since I bought the machines, so maybe I'm in for an unpleasant surprise-but...