110.20712990 Kenmore Washer Rebuild

[repairguy]

I thought I’d share the mechanical rebuild of this Kenmore washer built the 32nd week of 2000. I did this for some friends of mine that wanted to keep this machine going because they like it and are not amused by new offerings. This job kind of snowballed into more than I was planning on but it turned out great.

I sold this washer to them used around 10 years ago. It’s been heavily used in that time and only had the lid switch and drive coupling replaced. The complaint was that it was no longer spinning. I took the cabinet off and found that water had entered the gearcase and displaced the oil. So I figured I’d go with a new gearcase, clutch, and spin tube seals. When I removed the basket I discovered that the bearings had too much play in them and water was leaking through the center post seal as well because of the bearing play.

So this machine received a new gearcase, basket drive including spin tube seal, clutch, tub support including new bearings and center post seals, tub seal, and drive coupling. The tub, basket, frame, tub cover, and agitator all received a good cleaning. After all of this I found that the timer would not pause in any cycle to begin spin after the neutral drain so a new timer was ordered.

I didn’t think about picture taking until after the machine was disassembled but here is the assembly.

 

[repairguy]

A few more…

 

[pulltostart]

Melvin,

Nice job!  So it's basically like new.  Nice to have a friend like you to take care of something like this!  Just curious, how much do you figure that you have in parts?  And, if you were charging for your time (and you might be), how much might the owner be out for being able to keep a washer that he likes?

 

lawrence

 

[goatfarmer]

Nice job!

 

[repairguy]

Hi Lawrence, I hastily went through a popular parts site and calculated the parts to be right at $1000. I’ve hoarded all of these parts through the years at much better prices. If you meticulously shop around today you can still find decent prices on these items. Off the top of my head I’d probably charge around $1300 full retail for this job in today’s market and that’s probably short of where others would be but I like saving these machines and usually the people are really great and appreciative that want to keep these machines.

The better of these machines are at a minimum of 18 years old and while you can still find some in really great original condition it’s not the norm anymore. At least around here. I’ll be curious to see how this one holds up in the long run. A rebuild like this wouldn’t normally include a timer so that was an extra $200. I did not charge labor for this job.

 

[repairguy]

Thanks Kenny!

 

[ryner1988]

Did you use a new gearcase? When my bro-in-law worked on my machine over Christmas, I had him use a remanufactured gearcase because of horror stories I've heard about the new ones going bad prematurely and being incredibly noisy. So far, the refurbished gearcase has worked perfectly. He also replaced the drive coupler and upgraded the clutch to a heavy-duty 6-pad version. The top spin tube seal was also replaced even though the basket drive seemed fine and he sanded/repainted some rusted areas on the lid and around the bleach dispenser. I bought the parts myself and it came just shy of $400 if memory serves. I also paid him gas money and bought dinner for everybody, so he didn't take money for labor even though I offered. Time will tell if the price was worth it.

 

[maytag85]

Dumb question but do the direct drives use the same bearings as the belt drive machines or not? Seem to think they would be similar since they use use the same center post seals.

 

[repairguy]

Reply# 6 Yes in this case I did use a new gearcase mainly because I can get a 1 year warranty with it as a business owner going through a distributor.

Reply# 7 The direct drives call for a different bearing kit. The complete tub support comes with the bearings and lower seals installed. You add turbine oil before installing the top seal.

 

[combo52]

You can use the same main bearing and seal kit in DD and BD WP built washers.

That said I never replaced bearings on a DD machine, the few times I have had one where water got past the seals I just replaced the whole support.

John L.