1984 Whirlpool Automatic Washer LA5300XM

[number1lenny]

I'll cut to the chase. I have a 1984 Whirlpool belt drive washer that operated just fine except for a squeal when running each cycle. I flipped it over and replaced the belt with a brand new one. After reassembling it a new issue came up that wasn't present before. The belt operates as it should now but now it runs with a grinding sound and the agitator does not work during the cycle. The wig-wag seems to still be working fine and the belt looks to be working fine as well. Maybe in the effort to pull the old belt out I somehow loosened the bearing for the agitator? Maybe the clutch? It's a very tight assembly so I did have to be a bit forceful to pull down a few parts. While it was tipped over to do the work there was a bit of oil that leaked out, maybe too much left the transmission and I am hearing grinding due to that?

The link I shared has a video with the sound and the images are showing the underside of the unit. Maybe someone can figure out by sight or sound?

Hopefully this isn't too much of a puzzle to solve. I appreciate any assistance.

 

[114jwh]

It could be a few different things but the first two items I would check would be steps 11, 12 & 13 on the image of the Drive Belt Installation Instructions within the attached link.

If the belt is too tight or the bearings were misaligned when you reinstalled everything then that will cause issues.

I doubt a little bit of transmission oil leaking out would be the culprit.

The squeaking that you had before could also be a few other things other than the belt. I know if the noise was happening during spin that's sometimes a sign that the bearings are dry.

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?60411