Pissy Kenmore

[swestoyz]

Most of the time it is nice to post a thread of a well working, restored machine.

Here's a quick clip of a Kenmore gone pissy. Shot on my iPhone so the quality is mediocre.

My diagnosis is: the original version of the agitate spring has gone weak, causing the agitate gear to float inside the transmission assembly, causing the brief interruptions of agitation. The control magnet (wig-wag) is activating the cam with ease. This only happens with a decent load. A no-load full tub of water and the machine is fine.

The issue was discovered after a day full of follies during Mark's, kenmore71, visit Thursday and Friday. Everything that happened wrong was on my own behalf, nothing to do with his visit! This was the final straw Friday night.

Yet another washer added to the growing list of restoration needs. Gotta love the hobby!

The link below is to a thread from when Robert rebuilt the transmission from his previously-owned early 1952 Whirlpool. After a bit of research, it seems the spring was changed in 1964/1965 for the 'heavy duty' modifications to the gear case.

Ben

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?17429

 

[jetaction]

Oh wow!

We never tried that machine with clothes and water did we...

 

[tomturbomatic]

Ben! Thanks for stirring an old memory

We used to travel with daddy during the summer. The riding in the car part was usually very boring. Stops to fill up with gas allowed some out of the car time. After checking the office to see if they had an aquarium (some actually did) and emptying the bladder (you never wanted to have to ask for a special pit stop when the car did not need gas), I would walk over and check the cooler for two things: to see if it was a chilled water cooler and to see if they sold Bireley's non-carbonated grape or orange fruit drinks. The cold water surging around in the chiller case was fun to watch and, occasionally, we were allowed to purchase a Bireley's, but mostly we had to drink water. Most places had carbonated Nehi which my brother and I did not drink. Bireley's was rare. One morning at a station, they had a SQ wringer washer washing shop rags. The water was gray and did not have much suds, but it was running WITHOUT A COVER! No stern ladies like my mom or grandmother running this operation with orders of, "Keep the cover on." Heaven smiled down on me! Of course, this was just outside of the service bays, a ways from the gas pumps and I was soon called back to the car, but I noticed in my brief bit of watching time that the transmission had a quirk. Partway through the clockwise stroke, maybe just before reversing, the agitator seemed to stall for a fraction of a second and then jump forward a couple of degrees before reversing. The stroke was broken into two parts. It had a neat syncopation to it that disrupted the regular rhythm, sort of a dit, dit, dah with the dah being the reverse stroke. I wondered, at probably 9 years old, how it could have a tooth or two missing from a gear. "Pissy" Kenmore sort of reminded me of this ancient SQ winger more than 50 years ago. Somebody probably got rid of that SQ washer because of the transmission. It probably made way for an automatic. I could have listened to it all day.[this post was last edited: 12/6/2011-07:58]

 

[combo52]

KM WASHER JUMPING OUT OF GEAR

This was a common problem with worn transmissions in BD WP built washers with transmissions built before 1964. And it can still happen on later ones if water gets into the transmission as the first thing that usually rusts and breaks is the spring that holds the agitate gear in gear

.

The easiest way to fix these older pre-1964 machines is to replace the complete transmission with a good one from a later machine, you can use transmissions from BD washers all the way to the end of production. We are still throwing away BD washers with good transmissions every month so these are still plentiful.

 

But the best way to rebuild these old WP BD machines is to come to Maryland and see it done I am still working on several machines.

 

[swestoyz]

The easiest way to fix

@ John - yes, I totally agree about swapping in a transmission from a later machine. I parted out a super clean '84 Whirlpool several years ago in case I needed to rebuild this machine. I have a few NOS agitate shaft kits around if I decided to rebuild the transmission. When Don Shier and I rebuilt his '59, we used a 1978 transmission but we did install a new agitate shaft. It is super quiet now!

@ Tom - what a neat memory! You have great way of telling stories such as these.

Ben

 

[bendixmark]

transmissions

I totally agree with using a newer transmission on a rebuild unless you want to make it completely original with the fat solenoids with the cambar followers that make that neat sound.I have never tried to swap the cambars over though.When I rebuild my 57 kenmore I am hoping to reuse the transmission.I had neighbors in my youth that had kenmores of that vintage and when they got a new washer they said the transmission went on the old one but I never actually saw it myself so seeing this machine skip like that was very interesting to me.

 

[jetcone]

Oh Tom I love that

"No stern ladies like my mom or grandmother running this operation with orders of, "Keep the cover on." Heaven smiled down on me!"

 

HOW MANY OF THOSE DID GOD MAKE?? WE ALL HAVE RUN INTO THEM!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Jon, I think what shaped their attitudes was having to draw water for washing and rinsing, like from a pump or well, and then having to heat that water before bailing it into the washer. They were used to dealing with a finite amount of heated water that had to stay hot long enough to wash a week's laundry in most cases. What can be said of them was that they knew good cleaning meant washing in hot water and they did everything within their power to keep the water hot as long as possible.

I still remember the note of resignation in my grandmother's face and voice when, at the end of the washing while we were draining the washer and the set tubs, she went out and discovered that birds flew over the yard and the freshly washed sheets got bombed. There was no throwing them in the washer and rewashing them quickly. Hell, heating the water on the kerosene stove to fill the washer took an hour and you did not do that for just one load. She just folded them and placed them in the dirty clothes basket to be rewashed next week. I felt so sorry for her. The bedding was the first load or two washed and had been hanging outside drying all morning and all for nothing. Oy!