1974 Lady Kenmore washer rebuild

[jons1077]

With the dryer completed and running smoothly, it’s time to tackle the matching washer. I’ll do my best to take pictures as I go.

First, I went ahead and removed the lid and hinges. The gray spacer pads under the hinges always seem to turn to putty so I’ll be replacing those. Then, we will finally get to pop the top and see what we’re dealing with, especially in the dispenser department. I can already see that it will need a good cleansing.

 

[jons1077]

Now to open the top

Use a putty knife to depress the spring retainers on each corner and pop the top. As suspected, probably hasn’t been opened since it was built 45 years ago so plenty of nastiness.

Triple dispenser is attached to the cabinet by three screws and has two hoses attached, one to the pump which sends recirculating wash/rinse water to the soap and softener dispensers and the other is a simple hose attached to the bleach dispenser directly into the out tub. The solenoids are basic spring-loaded rubber plungers that, when activated, allow water to flow into the softener chamber or allow bleach out and into the outer tub. She will get a deep clean.

Thankfully, the dispenser came out nice and clean. Sending linty wash water through small holes means lots of build up and clogging. This dispenser should be quite vigorous now.

 

[jons1077]

Agitator removal

Working our way down, the shroud will need to be removed which means doing a couple of things. The snubber isn’t looking so hot so it’ll just get removed and replaced with a new one. Detach the water inlet hose and the three retaining springs and the shroud very easily is removed. She needs a bath too so we will just set that one aside for now.

On to the scary parts, removing that agitator presumably for the first time in 45 years. Just one item of contention to start with is the engineer who thought a large flat head screw would be a good idea for agitator retention. Lordy that thing was a beast to remove! I had to attach a flat head bit to vice grips and work it back and forth carefully so I wouldn’t strip my contact point. Finally go it going and out safely without gouging myself. Probably will be using a hex screw instead next time. Much easier to ratchet these things out.

The agitator is absolutely frozen! (This is why it takes a week or two to rebuild these things. It’s always one thing after another!) For this, I had to spray penetrating oil in the screw threads and slip my handy IV pressure bags under the agitator skirt. Even the inflated bags weren’t making any progress. I had to switch to a combo of pressure bags and pour boiling water over the agitator. After about an hour or so of this, she finally popped up. YAY!

 

[jons1077]

Wash basket removal

Since I’m on a roll, let’s go for the wash basket next. Any manual will simply tell you to remove the spanner nut and lift the basket out. Umm...right. Much to my surprise, the spanner nut came off rather easily giving me false hope for the wash basket simply lifting off the drive block. Haha! This bitch was absolutely frozen. Pushing, pulling, rocking, oil, hot water, torching and NOTHING was going to get this basket out.

I decided to soak it with more penetrating oil over night and revisit this issue in the morning. Good thing I did. This morning, a few more hard rocks back and forth and the basket finally came free! Whew! That was hard work!

 

[jons1077]

Drive block removal, outer tub inspection

Basket is out and drive block needs to be lifted off the spin tube. I didn’t take a picture of this but easiest way for me to remove the block was to lay the spanner wrench over the block and attach the spanner nut over that. While holding the wrench up against the nut, pound upwards on the spanner wrench bringing the block up and finally off the spin tube.

The spanner nut looks good and the drive block ain’t too bad either but you can definitely see the areas where the basket was frozen to it. I’ll swing by the local appliance dealer and see if I can snag a new block. These are very common and were used on DD models as well.

Outer tub looks ok. No serious rust. Needs a good cleaning. The water that was poured in last night is all still there with no leaks onto the floor. Hopefully that means my baseplate is fairly rust-free. Time for a break and some coffee. Will soak up the water and come back in a bit to remove the outer tub. More to come...

 

[extmaxspin]

Awesome find and save.

For it's age, that machine is immaculate. Hope the trend of good fortune continues. Stuck components are frustrating, but seeing things pretty much rust free once inside is well worth the time spent.

 

[jons1077]

Outer tub removal

Word to the wise...none of this deep dive seems to be getting any easier. The outer tub removal proved that. Holy shiitake!

Outer tub needs to be removed so this involves a few things. First, disconnect the tubing from the air dome that drives the water level pressure switch. It’s simple. Twist and pull.

Then we need to disconnect the side mounted self-cleaning lint filter. This is attached to the outer tub with a spanner nut. I used the tips of my vise grip needle nose pliers and loosen and remove. Remove the 4 bolts in the base of the tub and simply lift out! (Anyone who’s done this should be laughing out loud about now.)

This thing wouldn’t budge! The center post built up so much junk and corrosion that it melded with the outer tub seal. I had to cut and pry off the top of the seal and shimmy the tub for a long time until it finally broke free. Yes, my back is sore now. Check out the old seal compared to a new one. Nasty!

Next, I’ll be laying the machine down onto its front side with the rear facing up. I can’t remember what the sexual position is called but basically face down, ass up. The next fun part will be removing the transmission and pump assembly. Easy right? I doubt that!

 

[DADoES]

 
Yup.

It's always a gas to watch those repair how-to videos on YouTube that some of the online parts sources produce ... never any trouble with disassembly.

 

[felix]

I would like to see these kenmores here in Brazil. pity they are extremely rare for us

 

[eurekastar]

Thank you for allowing us to see the step-by-step process!  I love it!

 

[jons1077]

Transmission and pump assembly removal

For once in this process I was wrong, removing this transmission was actually very easy and it typically is not.

First, gotta start disconnecting hoses. Hoses connecting the pump are removed as well as hoses to the trap. The pump is held on by two bolts which are removed. I went ahead and added a few drops of oil to the pump bearing since I had it out. Otherwise, it looks just fine.

Disconnect wires from the detergent dispenser solenoid and get that hose out of the way. Also disconnect the wires connected to the wigwag (red on left, yellow on right).

Now, there are a few stabilizer brackets attached to the gear case that will need to be removed. Once those are out, there are three large bolts that are driven directly through the gear case housing and attach directly to the baseplate. Once these are out, the transmission is free and ready to be pulled out.

Usually corrosion forming on the spin tube makes this a bit of a task and very difficult to pull it out past the bearings. I lucked out big time and, much to my amazement, it came out with ease.

 

[jons1077]

Motor removal

Two nuts hold the motor to the baseplate and it’s as simple as that. One of the wires broke as it was extremely brittle so I’ll do some repair on that. No big deal.

 

[jons1077]

Transferring over to a new gear case

The older transmission appears to be in decent shape but I suspect it’s malfunctioning and not engaging fully into agitation may be due to debris and low oil inside the case. I’ll get into that later when I rebuild the transmission. For now, I have a replacement transmission that I’ll simply move components over to as well as adding a new spin tube. The old spin tube is actually in excellent condition but I’m going all the way with this machine.

The old spin tube and break assembly amazingly lifted right off the old gear case with ease. I’ll break that down and attach the break assembly to the new spin tube.

The wigwag, can bars and pulley wheel will be removed and placed on the new case as well.

 

[jons1077]

Break assembly

Let’s move the break assembly to the new spin tube. It’s pretty simple. There a screw that holds a hub over the 4 springs. Use an Allan wrench to get that off. When reinstalling, I had to use a c-clamp to depress those springs so I could line up the holes of the tube and hub and get that screw back in. Once this was all back together, drop the t-bearing (white plastic thing) onto the agitator shaft and then follow it with the spin tube/break assembly. Just before it’s all the way on, drop some oil in the top.

I noticed on this new transmission case there is a slight difference. Newer cases used a small plastic retainer clip on the break yoke and the ‘74 model used a spring and pin retainer. That won’t work on the new one so will have to search for a plastic retainer to install.[this post was last edited: 11/27/2019-03:19]

 

[jons1077]

Oops! I went a little out of order.

Before installing the break assembly, etc. you need to install the wigwag and come bars. This can be a bit challenging as one of the rods has to be lifted up (I had to grip it with vise grips) and lift it enough
So I could slide in the cam bar. Reattach the bow tie retainer so your cam bars stay quiet. A little lube and grease and we’re good to go

 

[DADoES]

 
The motor mounting grommets are QuietPak style.  Would like to see some detail on the pulley (removed?).

From where can belt-drive spin tubes, agitator shafts/tranny seals and such be sourced?  I have an LA7800XP that I'd like to refurb, although there may be aspects of it that are more far-gone than this LK.

 

[jons1077]

Dadoes

I’ve been able to find most of these parts online on eBay. Just need to be clear about part numbers for some of the items like spin tubes as they come in three different lengths (standard, extra large and super capacity). The ‘64 Kenmore will need a shorter spin tube I believe. I lucked out and have perfect bearings in the Lady but the older machine will need bearings removed and replaced.

This washer is the quiet pack with the skinny belt. As far as the pulley, a hole in the side of the wheel’s center is aligned with a hole in the shaft which are held firmly with a screw using an Allan wrench. It should just slide on and off easily. I had to coax it off by gently wrapping it with a mallet.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, JONS 177, I wish you the very best in getting this beautiful washer also working like new...

— Dave

 

[bradfordwhite]

Wow, you are doing a great job from what I've seen.  I've rebuilt a few of these myself.

 

Yours looks to be in very good condition considering the age. 

 

The 1st LK washer like this I had was a 1972 and was used in a closet with the dryer UNVENTED for 10 years.  Unfortunately, the washer was a rust bucket.  Yours looks so clean.  

 

The dispenser looks to be in very good condition, too.  Those have been known to get brittle and break because of the exposure to bleach, unfortunately.

 

About the only recommendation I can make to help you is with regard to laying it on the side.

 

1. always put a blanket or other soft and cushy item on the floor and make sure there are no screws down that could scratch the cabinet.

2. make yourself (2)  18"x 24"  x 1/2" plywood blocks to slide into the machine BEFORE laying it down.  One on the front and the other on the side you're going to lay it on. The block will prevent the main plate from laying on the inside of the machine and denting it.  Which will look really bad and obvious when your done. 

 

Can't wait to see it complete.  It's coming along great !