Is GE washer supposed to last only 12 years?

[phamq]

I used to have a GE washer, looking like the one here:
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It still worked but made some grinding noise when it agitated and the clothes were not clean after being washed. I asked GE and they said the average washer would last about 12 years. After that, the oil (I guess transmission oil) would dry up, and you got to buy a new washer since oil can not be added like you would in your car. What about these vintage GE here? Do they still work as they're supposed to? Is it only applied to GE while the other brands don't run out of oil regardless of how old they are?

 

[jons1077]

12 years

I'm sure GE didn't mention you could just drop a new transmission in any of their machines and it would work just fine. What you describe almost sounds like a broken agitator spline (a $20 part at most). I think alot of washer companies, particularly now, build machines with a short shelf life so they can keep selling new ones. Anyone who tells me my old machines are so inefficient aren't sure what to say when I tell them their new machines may use less water, but are filling up way more landfills. Just a thought.

Jon

 

[phamq]

I did not know how to fix or any trustworthy repairman so I just got rid of it

 

[kenmoreguy64]

12 years may be stretching things for today's machines..

I think 12 years is actually a good service return from a machine made today. I have heard of washers lasting far less than that in a heavy use, family setting. Of course that all depends on how the machine is used and treated, how many loads per week are run, etc.

Just like John said, GE filter-flo washers are ripe for a transmission swap, and it's not even very difficult. I did it for a a buddy who needed my help (he'd had recent back surgery) and I don't like to work on anything but Whirlpool stuff. It took seems like less than 1/2 hour, and back then GE provided a rebuild/swap program where you could return your old trans. for rebuilding and a credit. Perhaps they still do? It wasn't all that expensive either.

As to older machines being less efficient - I know that's true in water usage (some more than others) however the combined carbon footprint is smaller in keeping the old machines in service when you consider the energy and pollution that are needed and created when assembling a new machine, the materials used, transporting it to market and to a home, along with all that is involved with disposal of the old one. I would personally prefer to keep wringing use out of my old stuff that already used energy to make and distribute. I don't see the value of building a new machine just to save some water, especially if I can do that anyway using a suds-saver, etc.

 

[bobbins]

OMG…someone actually told you the oil dries up? These machines are built well – just like many others in that era (exception to the WCI crap!). I regret getting rid of my 1970’s Kenmore Gems for a new Cheap FL.

Many of us on this web site know that any vintage washer (1980's earlier) can be rebuilt and is often better then any new washer that is currently being manufactured. I believe EPA and DOE have some effect to the industry as they are requesting stricter water conservation and lower power usage requirements, therefore newer washers are built to use less water, and less power. Manufactures are constantly trying to find cost effective ways to manufacture their products – such as using plastics, uni-bodies, and thinner metals…consequently lower quality. When I was servicing appliances (this was in the 80's and early 90's) - after the 2nd service call under warranty, WCI rather replace the appliance - it was a policy! All I have to do contact the rep, and in a week the customer has a brand new washer/dishwasher/range/fridge - whatever! This was their marketing tool then (very effective)...I struggle because I rather see my customers buy Maytag or Whirlpool or even GE. I am not sure if WCI are doing this today?

As for your GE. Generally, transmission oil does not dry up. Usually the consistency (gets thicker) or if the seal goes – water gets in the transmission and gears rust – which eventually oil stains will appear on your clothes. The noise you might be hearing could be the agitator block, the motor clutch pads, sock in the pump, or something broke got under your agitator.

Bob

 

[laundramatt]

Manufactures are constantly trying to find cost effective wa

I agree. I wish they would make them like they did in the 50's, 60's, and the 70's. I think the downfall began with the direct drives, the short agitation strokes, and the dreaded dual agitator, an excuse to cheapen something that wasn't broke!

I hate most of the new washers, except for the new Speed Queens. I am a proud owner of one. They are built like a tank! Toploader, 210 degree agitation stroke, great warranty, copious water to get the job done.

I'd recommend that anyone who wants a toploader. And please hurry up before the new federal regulations kick in in 2012.

 

[irishwashguy]

Obsolesence built into every machine

For extra money, my brother goes and gets scrap machines for extra money. I have seen way to many three, four, five year old machines, maybe even six years old that are over there waiting to go to the crusher and recycled.Most of them are the GE,Magic Chef,/Whirlpool, WCI el chepo variaity. When I look at my Mom's washer and dryer, Maytag that is 21 years old, starting to wear out, which one is doing more for the enviroment as far as filling it. Most of the old machines, at least in this part of the world, and I am sure everywhere else, are recycled. What is the real cost of an appliance when you replace it every five years? My time, and possibly frustration of having to drege it out, my clothes that I know what I pay for them, oodles, and then inconvience of a broken cheap appliance, just to go and get another, that aside from Speed Queen, and a small handfull of others are made in Mexico, China, Camco Dryers( GE) and the sort made for Fisher and Paykel, that is your real cost. When I have Vintage Refrigerator (Cold Spot) that works perfect with a little TLC, or some just keep going no mater what. Like my Mom's Maytags that have had the belts changed twice, and the Dryer that had a repair back in '98. The information that was given out by the GE rep may have been an average estimated by the US goverment. Whirlpool used to say the same thing in the day, and look at those. They go from cheap( Roper) to nice (Whirlpool) to nicer (KitchenAId) and yet to be determined Whir-tag.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

In defense of the manufacturers just a little....

One thing we need to keep in mind is the cost of today's machines, I mean purchase price. One can buy a nice MOL top loading Roper or Admiral machine at Lowe's for $340-something, and a Kenmore 60 for $389 or so. I paid $358 for my 1986 belt-drive Kenmore 70 in August of that year, and it was on a close-out special where I got $20 or $30 more off than I would have otherwise. When paying essentially the same price 22 years later for a washer, there is NO WAY the offerings of today would not be more cheaply built than their 1980s counterparts.

I don't know why the prices haven't escalated over the years. I looked at Mustangs that year too - $9.5k would have bought me a decent V6 LX that year, but today I would pay over $20k for something comparable. Did the appliance companies want to cheapen everything so we'd buy two or three times as many over time? Maybe, or was it the consumer who demanded low prices and in effect created the disposable appliance by forcing the "cheapness" - I don't really know the answer.

I can say that considering the materials in a 1970s or 1980s belt drive machine, a new duplication of those today would cost $800 or more. Would I pay that vs. buying a $350 DD, yes, as I like quality. Could the DDs be made more sturdy and durable (they really aren't bad though), YES. They sure are more easily serviceable than the older machines, but a more stout DD would cost more money too.

So, in a nutshell, we're simply getting what we pay for in those machines. What bothers me more than anything for now is the cost of the front loaders out there. I think consumers are going to find, if they're not already, that these aren't any more durable or well-built than current less expensive top loaders. IF I am right, consumers are going to collectively be complaining in droves on how their thousand dollar or more LGs, etc. are lasting 7 or 8 years and failing, needing highly expensive repairs. These aren't built to the standards of the 60s and 70s either, but they are priced as such.

I guess time will tell. For now, I'm sticking with my belt-drives and a little bit higher water bill.

 

[phamq]

All right. So what year is the "cut off" year where quality start to go down hill? I wish they put the manufacturing year on the label of the machine to avoid the guess work.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

There isn't a single year cut-off. I can see instances where certain things about machines got cheaper to manufacture even back in the 60s and 70s.

A later 70s machine doesn't have the heavy metal knobs of a 60s Kenmore, and an 80s machine doesn't have the cabinet thickness of the 70s machines etc. At the same time, there were improvements made to throughout the years and I'm sure this happened at other manufacturers as well.

You'd have to select a certain machine type, say a GE Filter Flo, then the experts here can tell you if there are certain generations better to seek or avoid, etc. Same if you select a Kenmore

 

[xyz]

Ok, as a service man who works for himself, I can give you a peice of advice on the GE transmission running low on oil. If you just drill a small hole into the side of the transmission and squirt some 90 weight gear oil into the hole and take a peice of aluminum and epoxy it over the drilled hole, you should be able to keep that machine running practically forever or until the brake fails. another thing, the EPA only allows 3 ounces of oil to go into new tansmissions so this should tell you something about sorry trannies in new machines. STICK WITH THE OLD MACHINES!

 

[iheartmaytag]

For a machine built today

I was told by the man as Sear's last Saturday that 12 years was the average life of a washer now.

In the olden days, a housewife got rid of her machine because she was tired of it, not because it was broken. Now they are crap in about five or six years, and total junk by the end of the life cycle.

For this reason the Sears man said he never lets a machine go out of the store without a service agreement. He even admitted that he makes more money of the contracts, but he keeps customers happier when they don't have a $600 electronics repair.

 

[xyz]

ya, those service contracts are a good scam but and a big but at that, an electronic repair can really be expensive if some child pours detergent on your console and it it leaks down onto the "Motherboard" inside the console. But I guess you'd have to clean all that up before the service man sees all that detergent and it is voided.