Another update on the Malleys whirlpool

[smartdrive1100]

So I got the agitator off just not in one piece, I wasn’t comfortable have a heater blasting at the agitator for a few hours so I carefully broke away at the agitator, there is rust on the agitator shaft, nothing to be concerned about but probably enough for it to not come off easily.
But Now I have the issue of trying to find a new agitator…

Is there anything to look out for on these machines? Like bad seals, bearings that go out? Or are they a fairly well made and don’t have many issues.

 

[bazzybtec]

Some old appliance shops may have one kicking about in an old washer. I have had limited luck. however i used to have one sitting up behind the shed but not sure if i still have it. I will have to have a look.

I am however in Queensland so would be hard to send.

had a look at it and it is fairly damaged.

however was able to find this online

https://www.whirlpoolparts.com/PartDetail/Agitator-Assembly/383951/544370.[this post was last edited: 6/20/2022-07:42]

 

[gizmo]

Just watch on Gumtree. These machines are very old now, but in their day they were commonplace, they will still be around. I look at Gumtree only occasionally, usually just for a look, not to buy, and I would see an old Whirlpool about once a month at least. They are usually dirt cheap, sometimes free. Don't just search "Whirlpool" because people are often hopeless and don't list a brand, so look at searches like "old washing machine" and "cheap washing machine" and you can even select "price type" in the left hand column and then select "free" so you can find machines being given away. Some of these will be old belt-drive Whirlpools.

It's useful to know that these machines, although great survivors, were not particularly reliable, and could have any of a multitude of common faults. This is actually a good thing today, because you can collect two or three similar cheap or free machines, and chances are they will each have different faults, leaving you able to make one good machine out of two or three parts donors. 

Some other machines have one or two common faults, you could collect 10 of them and they would all have the same fault, which makes them useless for donating parts.

 

[smartdrive1100]

Thanks bazzybtec, I’ll check it out, something looks a bit odd about that agitator, don’t know what it is though. I’ll have a look at my current agitator and see how it compares.

gizmo, my grandfather did the exact same thing with land rovers, even put a Holden V8 in one, can’t really piece things together now with all of the electronics.

 

[smartdrive1100]

Closer inspection on the new agitator

It turns out to be a large capacity double duty one, not the standard capacity, I’ll punch in the model number tomorrow and see what it shows.

 

[smartdrive1100]

bazzybtec,
Could I please have a photo of your agitator? As long as the fins aren’t cracked and the agitator is air tight I don’t see an issue.

 

[bazzybtec]

I will go up the back and grab it to take a photo. It has however been in the elements for a long time so i would doubt it will be in good condition.

I also found this one on ebay in case it is no good.

this one is the shorter agitator

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[bazzybtec]

Aside from being very dirty it’s got a chip in one of the fins. It may be possible to fix it?

 

[smartdrive1100]

Thanks Bazzybtec,

I think it could be possible to fix it but I’m just thinking if it’s worth it because as you mentioned it is pretty dirty and that shipping is pretty expensive. What I was thinking is that I could cut the top off of my agitator (as that’s the only bit damaged) and put the top on from your agitator but I don’t know if that will work out to be as strong and precise as the original.

As for the eBay agitator, I saw that after typing in the part number of the agitator, it looks good but the shipping cost is really expensive. At least now I have a couple options. I think I might just go with the eBay agitator. Thanks for offering your agitator!

 

[bazzybtec]

Yeah international shipping is high but on the other hand it is brand new. I just bought a few parts from USA, one being a fabric softener (cost me like $14 plus $80 shipping)

I am not sure why shipping costs are so high at the moment. however for new parts in my opinion it is worth it.

 

[smartdrive1100]

Yeah, shipping is really high now, but $80 shipping for a fabric softener dispenser!? That is insane.

 

[smartdrive1100]

Is this fixable?

I already noticed that the agitator shaft has rust at the seal but after playing around with the agitator shaft I noticed a very little amount of play (probably less than 1 tenth of a mm). Is it something to worry about or should I just leave it?