Check-up on the 65 Lady Kenmore washer

[turquoisedude]

Yes, it's killing me that I haven't done more with this long-sought-after turquoise LK washer of mine... Well, on Saturday I finally had a look inside the lady!
Under the skirt, was the first place to look - motor and transmission LOOK fine...

 

[turquoisedude]

Spin test

Well, it doesn't sound good, what can I say??
That squealing noise scares the hell out of me, so I stopped the washer right away...

 

[turquoisedude]

Same very bad noise was noted while trying an agitation test... Note the creative use of a turkey baster.. LOL
The agitator barely moved, so methinks the Lady doth protest a bit...

 

[turquoisedude]

And this freaked me out... I have no idea what these wires were supposed to go to!
I think I am going to have some work to do on this here Lady!!

 

[llmaytag]

Lady Kenmore

We had a white one just like this...it's the first washer I was ever aware of! Very cool.

 

[pdub]

Paul,

I'm far from a Kenmore expert but do have 1 WP and 1 LK. The first thought that came to mind when I heard the noise on the video was that the pump may be siezed. It was too short of a clip to really tell but it could be the belt dragging against the siezed pully. I know you know your stuff and will have this figured out in no time. Maybe try turning everything by hand underneath and see if things are moving freely?

Best of Luck and I'm sure this will be simple.

Patrick

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Paul,

Whatever is binding up, didn't start out that way in the first second or so of the motor running. I can clearly hear the basket drive pulling wobbling a little bit on the spin tube.

I doubt the pump is causing this, usually a locked pump will just cause the belt to slip over the pulley. It can slow things down, and heat up the belt, but I don't recall seeing any that brought the whole machine to its knees.

I have a feeling that either the gearcase is locking up (or the shifting of the cam bars is causing a gear-case freeze) or the basket drive pulley, which is already making noise, has done so.

Best way to find out is to remove the belt from the pulleys, and see if they turn freely. If not engaged in spin, the basket drive pulley should free-wheel with very little effort from a finger. You should be able to grab the gearcase pulley and freely spin that too. If something is locking up during a function shift at the wig-wag, you'll be able to see it and feel it too when turning the gearcase pulley.

I'm sure it will work out, and that you can find the current issue easily!

Gordon

 

[pdub]

Wow Gordon, you're right. I didn't hear that very first part where it sounded OK. It was the 2 seconds at the end I focused on.

It was just a guess on the pump but hopefully it's something simple. Looking forward to seeing progress on this machine.

 

[bendixmark]

loud noise

I know that noise all too well,that is a dried out spin pulley bearing which is pulsating.To quiet it down temporarily squirt some wd 40 in there followed by some zoom spout oil.other than that it must be replaced.Havent heard that noise in 30 years sure brings back some memories.

 

[combo52]

Loud Noise

Gordon and Mark you guys have good ears, it is differently a dry basket pulley bearing I have heard that sound a 100 times. I would not spray WD-40 on it, instead a permanent fix is to lay the washer on its side and drip turbine oil at the bottom edge of the pulley while turning it. This is a permanent fix over 90% of the time unless the pulley bearing is very worn. The loose wires need to be reconnected fortunately they are all well labeled.

 

[stan]

what are

those wire to? or for?

 

[bendixmark]

wd 40

WD40 is often needed to dissolve the sticky crud on the bearing before oil is applied.This applies to all seized up bearings.

 

[combo52]

Loud Noise

This bearing is in no way sized, it instead is crying for proper lubrication. You are absolutely correct Mark when you have a gummed sticky bearing that WD-40 can help free up stuck items. But I wouldn't want to run even one load with just WD-40 on this bearing.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

John,

I have heard this noise a few times, but the worst was fairly recently. I had put back together my 1975 Kenmore 70, which I had scavenged from the back lot of a used appliance store. It was missing the console, motor, transmission, and pump, but they had left the basket drive attached to the basket and just let it all hang there. It was about 1995 or so when I hauled that washer home, but 2009 when I put it back together.

I sourced the proper pulleys for the motor, gearcase and pump, and when all put back together, I expected the usual KM/WP quiet pak near silent machine. NOT!!!

That basket drive was either the reason the machine was scrapped in the first place, OR, it dried out while sitting for 14 years. The thing sounded like an anxious water buffalo in heat! Just like Paul's machine actually.

I took the basket drive all apart, and experimented with cleaning and re-lubricating the pulley. It is tight on the spin tube and not wobbly, but it still is not right. I was going to swap a new drive into the machine....so you think I should try your suggestion and simply goober some more turbine oil into the lower flange area of the spin tube?

G

 

[turquoisedude]

Patrick - it's funny, but my first thought was the water pump, too - come to think of, I believe the person I bought it from said something about thinking the water pump was messeed up...

 

Gordon - I tried to manually rotate the pulley to the right of the transmission housing - it turned smoothly for a bit, then seemed to drag, but I was able to get it going again with some persuasion....

 

John- I will have to call you for more info on how to grease the basket pulley!   I am just dying to get this Lady washing again...