Help prevent me from becoming a Frigi-derriere

[bajaespuma]

I got a tire-iron wrench and rigged it up to fit the nut at the base of the Rollermatic agitator, and have got it turning counterclockwise, but the agitator is turning with the nut. It seems to be coming up in the world, but as it does I'm hearing a squeaking of rubber and it doesn't seem to be loosening at all. I'm worried that I might be tearing the rubber bellows, but I can't manage holding the agitator AND the tub in place and turning the nut by itself. Would somebody tell me if I'm doing this correctly or wrong? Picture is Joe Lippard's.

 

[joelippard]

Yes, you are tearing the water bellows up as you turn it.  What this means is that the brass keyways between the agitate and spin shaft are either broken or missing.  While this is not terminal there are some procedures you need to follow in removing this agitator nut.  First you must wedge a vise grip on the agitate shaft to hold it at it's end (in the mechanism).  Wedge it so that it pulls against the snubber bracket, not the pump or any other part of the mechanism.

 

Next, get a torch and get that nut hot as hell, then jump on it with your wrench and see if you can get it loose.  These nuts are a major pain to remove most of the time.  Next you're going to need to remove the nut that holds the lower pulsator on, this also is a pain, soak it with PB blaster because you can't heat this one up.  Tapping at it will help break rust loose and free the nut easier than sheer brute force will.  Hopefully you have not ruined your water bellows.

 

I'll be happy to give you all my tips and instructions you need so I'm curious as to why you are removing the agitator?

 

Joe

 

[laundromat]

Uh oh! Sounds like you caught that horrible appliance lovers disease,FRIGIDAIREITUS. Very common among appliance collectors.You need to go outside for some Jenn Air. Being that Spring has finally sprung there's not as much.bb frigid air to share.share.

 

[washdaddy]

lol @ chuck

 

[philr]

If the agitator turns but not the tub, that means the lower agitate shaft bushing is excessively worn or broken.

Mine wasn't worn enough for that but...
See the link.

Questions for rollermatic experts

My 1968 Rollermatic washer works but it makes some noise during agitation. There is some up/down play in the agitator and when I move the agitator up-down by hand and I look under the washer, the agitate arm and agitate shaft seems to move sideways. When I move turn the agitator clockwise or...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[icetoddy]

Laundormat, with your comments. YOU fun E

 

[laundromat]

Tanx hon! Ah doan misss livin aire hon speshlee widd alll datt sneww yer gennen oaver dair,hon. We get lots of rain here this time of year. Our late May is dryer but,this is a rain forrest,tropical and here in Hilo,we have lots of waterfalls. It is fun to bike down zeven miles and go biking around the Hilo Bay.Great exercise and fishing is pretty much a given. I go out as often as posible and stock our freezer . Never have sailed back emptyhanded. Ne er need to lock up the house or fear going out walking anywhere. Got mugged at gunpoint three times in Baltimore . Never anywhere else.I miss my friends and family but,its cheaper for them to fly here and back then it is to live here and fly out there.

 

[jetcone]

So Joe

how do you handle a torn brass bushing at the bottom of the shaft? I've never overcome that problem.

 

Jon

 

 

[joelippard]

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jetcone, check out the post above (Post# 744269) from PhilR.  He shows how it's done.  Usually when this is happening though that brass keyway in the top of the shaft is either missing or broken.  Sometimes these shafts just like turning through anyway.  I always without even checking use a vice grip on the bottom in order to get maximum leverage and keep stress off the other parts.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I've said this here before but one thing I always do when I put the top end of these machines back together is to cut out from a piece of thin rubber a washer that fits directly under the pulsator nut.  Originally these had a thin plastic washer that deteriorated over time, that nut will practically fuse to the cone over time.  I also use light threadlocker inside the nut, this keeps it from rusting back onto the shaft and facilitates easier removing in the future if necessary.  I keep my vice grips locked on the shaft until I'm done because you don't want to tighten it good enough to prevent cone hop.</span>
</span>

 

[bajaespuma]

Very new at this

Do you have any diagrams of some of the parts you're talking about? Even with the photographs, I'm not sure what I'm looking at and it seems to me, to get to some of these shafts and bushings and keyways, I'd have to get the agitator off first.

 

[joelippard]

Since you're new I think studying this will help. Go into the library and download the manual titled

 

"Frigidaire Service Tech-Talk Jet-Action Washer Service Manual"

 

[combo52]

You could also just throw it on your truck and take it to an automotive shop and have them take a pneumatic wrench to it. You have to hold the shaft with a vice grip while they do it however, I've found this really works. Same thing when trying to get frozen Unimatic parts to cooperate. I've taken more than one mechanism to the shop to treat with their pneumatic wrenches.

 

[philr]

And if you want to do it at home, I guess you could get an electric impact wrench too. When I remove an agitator in my garage, I always use the pneumatic impact wrench (I don't have an electric one). And since your bushing is probably already shot, you won't damage anything. 

 

Holding the shaft with vise grips is a good idea but be sure you hold it next to the agitate arm coupling to avoid damaging the shaft when it enters in the bushing when going up. 

 

Once you're done, and you removed the agitator, remove the water and oil bellows and unscrew the agitate shaft from the agitate arm coupling. I don't know the model of your machine and if it has a rubber coupling or a newer/replacement acorn-shaped coupling but if it has the acorn coupling, just leave the vise grips on the agitate shaft an add another pair around the coupling and unscrew the coupling from the shaft (the threads are regular treads so just turn the coupling counterclockwise (from under the mechanism) while holding the shaft. I never had the rubber-type coupling on a machine but I have read on this site that some members who had those just used hose clamps around theirs to hold it with pliers without damaging it.