Broken shock in Frigidaire FL- Can I fix?

[drhardee]

Upon taking a large load of clothes out of the Frididaire today, I noticed that there was a lot of side-to-side "shimmy" to the basket that I knew shouldn't be there. I removed the top and shined a flashlight down the left side, and sure enough the shock (strut?) that stabilizes the basket had broken off at it's plastic mount (on the basket, it appears). The right side shock appeared to be in good condition, and the upper springs were fine. I've been noticing some extra noise as the basket powers up during a spin cycle, but just attributed that to a large load. I believe that it's been broken for several weeks, but I'm just now noticing it.

My question is, can I replace this strut myself, or is this something for a tech to do? I'm reasonably mechanically adept, but I don't have a huge assortment of tools with which to work. A friend can help with that part of the problem, if this is a user fixable thing.

Where would I purchase a strut...online?

This is a 2002 TOL Frigidaire GLTF1670 FL machine (no heater and 900 RPM spin, but a damned good little machine) and I've been telling myself that when it finally dies, I can replace it with a Miele or a Bosch. But in fairness, this really isn't "death", it's more of a "crippling condition".

Ya reckon it's worth either me doing this repair or having a tech do it?? It's got to be many hundreds of dollars cheaper than even a Bosch...sigh...a dream for another day, I suppose. The husbear is grinning at me from across the room, happy that I won't be buying a $1,200.00 washer...today.

 

[coldspot66]

The shocks come in a set of 2 ...part # is 134564200. About 35.00 retail..not hard to replace...comes with extra pins as well. Hope this helps!!!

 

[panthera]

definitely worth doing yourself

And there are Whirlpool videos on how to do it (can't find the damn thread, but someone linked them here not too long ago). The Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Electrolux, Kenmore, etc. versions of this machine are really quite good.
You might want to take a closer look at the machine before you do this, tho'...it is not impossible that other parts were pulled loose (rubber hoses, for instance) or the machine has gone badly off balance.
Please post what you did, and if pictures aren't too big a nuisance, I'd love to see...we may have a similar repair coming up soon.

 

[appnut]

Dan, I have the exact same machine. Steve 1-18 brought it to me October, 2006. He found it behind an appliance store almost 3 years ago. He brought it home and discovered all it needed were two new shocks. It even had a little dent in the side of the cabinet where the tub hat hit it, probably after the shock absorber blew. He said some little ol' lady had the machine and it scared the hell out of her and got rid of it. Tell the husbear to keep on grinnin' cuz you won't be needing to buy a new machine.

 

[drhardee]

OK. Upon pulling the beast out and opening up the back, I discovered the culprit:

 

[drhardee]

And the "poor victim": the broken shock is the right-side unit. What I can't figure out is how to remove the plastic nut (it has a slit in it) that holds the rest of the shock to the bottom of the tub. There is a similar nut holding the shock to the bottom of the base pan. I've tried pulling and turning, turning "leftie-loose-ie"..is this thing meant to be broken and not reused somehow? What's the purpose of the split in the nut body?

 

[drhardee]

Here's a close-up of the offending nut (slightly out-of-focus):
what's the purpose in the slit in this?

 

[coldspot66]

you squeeze the tapered section of the nut and push it through. The new one just snaps in the same way. Where is toggleswitch when I need him ...LOL!!!

 

[appnut]

Where is toggleswitch when I need him ...LOL!!!

Performing the same repair on himself prior to discussing results!!

 

[drhardee]

I take it that the tapered part of the nut is the grease-filled back side of the nut not seen in my photos...oh well, grease, lube, it's all the same thing. I'll pull the washer back out and see what I can do. Is this a "squeeze it with pliers" thing, or can I squeeze this with fingers and get it to work?

 

[drhardee]

Well, I dithered and dithered, and called the repairman. He charged me $50.00 for the ($25.00 pair of) shocks, and another $150.00 to install them. Sigh...But, a new Frigidaire (with heater) would be $900.00 and a new Miele is $1600.00. With what I've put into it with a 3 year service contract (now expired) and this repair, I could have bought a new BOL model FridGEMore.

 

[sudsmaster]

Hmmm. The seven year extended service agreement on my Neptune 7500 runs out next month... Maytag/Whirlpool wants far more to extend the agreement another 1-3 years, which I've decided not to pay. If an when the Neptune requires repairs totalling more than the agreement would have cost, I'll probably replace it with the Miele 1918 out in the workshop, temporarily at least, or maybe even a new Miele 4840 set.

I did get my money's worth out of the 7 year agreement, though. Motor, motor control board, drum spinner/spider, main control board - all these would have cost hundreds to replace with labor. But since all that work in its 3rd year, it's been reliable. Knock on powder coat!