May have committed Filter Flo Hara-Kiri...

[gefilterflew]

Okay, so here's what happened.
I accidentally shifted my 1991 WWA8898MALAD into GENTLE while it was already running.
Yes, yes, I know it was stupid.
I intended to raise the lid and then push the cycle change, but unfortunately dropped the lid as I grabbed it, and still mashed the cycle button before I could stop myself.
Because #Klutz.
Ugh.

SO. Now, I've got a lot of noises. Even when I don't use Gentle, but leave it in normal, you can hear clicking as one part in the clutch spools up. By the time it's going fast enough to drop into high gear, the clicking stops.
Spin cycle is fine, very little noise, EXCEPT... I learned something today... after spin stops, the motor stops, and the trans engages the brake, you can hear some part of the clutch spooling down. Is this the carrier plate maybe?
But whatever it is, you can hear it hitting something... CLACKCLACK. CLACK CLACK clack clackkk.

So how screwed am I?
Some runs, it doesn't make much noise at all,
Other runs, it makes lots of noise every time it does a new thing.

How long will the machine run in this condition?
What can I realistically do about it?

Can you still find NEW clutches for these monsters? My local appliance parts stores interrupt me when I say I need parts for a GE FilterFl.......NO, we don't stock anything for those machines.

To be honest, I've had some level of clutch noise for quite some time. But now, it's a couple orders of magnitude worse. And I never had ANY noise on the normal setting.

Thoughts??
Thanks folks!

 

[yogitunes]

well actually, you wont do any sort of damage if pushing the button to shift speeds while running.....the actual shift wont happen until the machine stops, either by you or the timer...

you may have some clutch issues, but wont know until you open it up, or at least remove the motor from the machine.....

it could be the shift actuator misaligned, or the clutch itself is not tightened completely to the motor shaft...

keep us posted as to what you find, and we can go from there....

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[gefilterflew]

It's been my experience that shifting from LOW to HIGH speed on the fly is just fine, but trying to go the other way is a surefire way to destroy some stuff.
And it certainly sounds like some stuff is destroyed.

Also, I can't get that ebay link to work; is it not an active auction?
Because a new clutch would probably do nicely.
How hard are they to change?

 

[gefilterflew]

Also, (since I can't EDIT unless I'm an upgraded member)

I've found a few auctions for 2 speed clutches. All are about $100. There's a used one for $10.
I'm thinking to avoid the used one, since I already have one of those...

Is WH49X265 the only clutch part number, or do I need to find another part number for mine?

Thanks guys!

 

[yogitunes]

not sure why the link stopped working.....

basically any two speed clutch will work....

I thought the same thing about switching speeds, especially going into LOW, but JohnL demonstrated to me once, and its true, you can select low from high, with no damage....it just wont shift until the motor has a chance to pause first...

all I can say is click the link again, possible a time out for some odd reason...

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[gefilterflew]

Well, be that as it may, I would CERTAINLY never do it again, as when I did just that, I hear the most gosh-awful noise you could ever hope to hear from a solenoid slamming into a pair of pins whirling at 1750 RPM.
Word to the wise.

There is certainly no delay in my machine trying to switch gears.
Nor was there one in my mom's machine, when I did the same thing (on purpose!) in about 1989!

 

[combo52]

GE filter flow to speed clutches

It does not hurt a thing to switch the speed switch back-and-forth all day long with the machine running on the GE filter flow washer, if it breaks when you do this it was not adjusted or working properly in the first place.

GE could’ve never gotten away with building a Washer that could be broken so easily with one flip of a switch.

I invite anyone to come to our Museum and flip the switch all they like on one of our vintage GE filter flows while it’s running It will not hurt a thing on a properly operating GE washer.

John L.

 

[aviator74]

Hi GEFilterFlew.
These are great machines and I'm sorry to hear about your issue.
You asked about replacing the clutch. I recently had to do my own, and I can tell you that they are easy and hard. Installing the new clutch is quite easy. I found getting the old one to release the motor shaft to be the hard part, it was seized on quite badly. I installed a new clutch on my original motor and, as part of a larger repair, I swapped that assembly for another I had installed previously. Now my machine makes more noise than before, but I think it may have to do with a bent motor mounting bracket. When I first tried to remove the old clutch, I lubricated the clamp and tried gentle prying, and then not so gentle prying and bent the mounting plate. I straightened it as best I could compared to the other unit but I suspect it is still a little out, hence the increased noise. The new clutch also had a black plastic spacer that looked out of place, but as I did not have any reference, I left where I found it.