1957 Westinghouse laundromat Help

[hoover28]

My 1957 Westinghouse model L-100 just bit the dust, I am pretty sure that the transmission is bad, it wont wash, but will spin, this is a 2 belt model, the last of them, I be leave. it has been leaking oil for years. pardon the oil, its do for a cleaning.

anyone have a extra transmission I can buy.

any suggestions on what to do.

I also have the matching dryer

thanks

Chris[this post was last edited: 4/8/2024-00:33]

 

[combo52]

1957 Westinghouse front load washer

Hi Chris, if it wants to spin whenever the motor is running, it would be a transmission problem, I didn’t have much experience with these machines. The transmissions were pretty reliable. I don’t think they were very repairable. They usually exchange the whole thing back then as it was welded together.

I probably have a good used one laying around will not have time to access it for a while. I’m about to go on vacation. There may be others that have one of these laying around also

Does it seem to be leaking oil from the rear shifter end or from the front around the shafts?

Maybe some sort of repair to the seal could be done. I’ve never fooled with one of these. There is a small drain plug where you can add oil to it once you remove it from the machine. It may be that it finally ran out of oil and just sort of locked up into the spin phase.

John

 

[hoover28]

combo52

thanks for your reply.

when you have time to look for one, I would be very interested in it, mine has been leaking from the bottom shifter part, it was ran dry when I first got it, and I keep adding oil. I made a seal for it a few years ago, but it still leaks, also at the time it looked like the brass bushing was worn. so that may be why it still leaks, If I push on the shifter when its washing, it will only spin, the drum wont turn on wash mode. it just fee spins.

I really need to find one soon, as we do use this washer a few times a week. we also have a 1982 Maytag set that my mom uses daily.

Chris

 

[Unimatic1140]

Yes I bet it is low on oil. I also had a leaky seal where the shifter moves back and forth in the rear of the transmission, I tried to seal it up with silicone which slowed the leak but didn't completely stop it. For now you may have to keep adding oil back in and keeping that tray down there to catch it when it leaks out. Low on oil would keep the wash tumble speed clutch plates from slipping properly. These units are sealed and not meant to be serviced other than the spin shifter solenoid.

 

[hoover28]

unimatic1140

I just put more oil in it before we used it, it was making some noise so I put some more in, then it went out after a few loads. so it must be shot.