Replacing the Agitator Dogs in an Early to Mid 2000s Direct Drive Whirlpool

[mjg0619]

Hey all, I usually post over on Vacuumland, but have been lurking here for quite some time and occasionally I'll respond to a thread that interests me.

My Whirlpool washing machine has been problem free since installation and gets used quite heavily. My friend Jonathan (GusHerb) who constantly sings the praises of his new Speed Queen, says that the agitator dogs need to be replaced, after watching the machine in action a few times on FaceTime.

While we constantly bicker about who has the better washing machine and which one's sound we like better, he loves the smooth agitation of his SQ and I love the steady "bumpa, bumpa, bumpa, bumpa" of the DD Whirlpool, we both agree that the machine is absolutely worth fixing.

He says I can do the job myself, as I'm reasonably handy, but I wanted to get some additional input from the Gods and Goddesses of Wash over here.

(BTW, it's my eventual goal to replace the Whirlpool washer with a vintage Maytag, either center dial or side dial with push buttons, a belt drive Whirlpool with Super Surgilator, or a G.E. FilterFlo. I'm perfectly content with the Whirlpool dryer design)

 

[DADoES]

 
Dogs are an easy repair but there can be a slight bit of trickery depending on the details.

Four dogs are (were, haven't checked in a while) available as a separate part item.  A full "agitator repair kit" is also available which includes a few additional items.  There are at least three different kits (short, medium, and tall cam) so be sure to get the correct item per your machine's model number if you go that route.

In some cases if the agitator has not ever been disassembled, the upper auger is attached to the base with two tabs and essentially must be snapped off after the hold-down bolt inside is removed.  Any remaining bits of the tabs are then to be broken off as they are present to assist in factory-line assembly and not otherwise required for proper operation.

 

[moparwash]

There are many YouTube vids on the subject for this quick and easy fix

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0cfpHhxoeE

 

[mjg0619]

I made a brief video of the machine last night while doing a load of wash.

Thought I would share it for you, as well as a few pictures.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=D--vATz8ZPc

 

[mjg0619]

Thanks for the input so far. It definitely looks like something I'll be able to handle myself.

 

[DADoES]

Video

 
Too much water for size of that load, IMO.

 

[midcentnurse]

I need to do the same thing on the late 80s whirlpool washr at our new house. It won't be there for long but, it'll be nice to have the full agitation working. It has the same upper corkscrew agitator as in the pics.

 

[mjg0619]

There was more in there than you could see. Before the cycle started, the dry clothes went up to the top of the agitator. It was small, light items, so they probably all went down to the bottom.

I generally only use the large or super plus water levels.

 

[gusherb]

That's what I've been telling him, that he could get a lot more in that washer without overloading it. It just needs the corkscrew working for proper rollover. It's sometimes surprising how much one can put in a traditional TL and still get adequate rollover.

 

[mjg0619]

In my mind, when the clothes go up to the top of the agitator before the cycle starts, the washer is full.

Unlike my mother who would set the machine on a medium fill, cold/cold, and shove in 6 pairs of my father's VERY, VERY large jeans, a pile of his heavy fleece sweatshirts, six towels, and her queen sized bedding in ONE LOAD and wonder why the washer would try to dance out of the laundry room.

Personally, I would rather have some room to spare in the wash than have the machine fight to get through all of my clothes.

I generally do three loads of laundry: socks/underwear/undershirts/t-shirts in one, dress shirts and polo shirts in second, and khakis/slacks/pants in the third.

Given how many pairs of jeans I own, I'll do three or four pairs at a time in their own separate load.

In case anybody was interested in detergents, lately I've been using Tide HE Turbo powder or Persil Pro-Clean Original Scent liquid, depending on my mood.

 

[whirlcool]

I find that an agitator dog replacement can be done in as little as 20 minutes. Very easy to do. In fact the first time I did it I was kind of shocked how easy it was!

 

[dartman]

I did the dogs in our old direct drive whirlpool/Kenmore just before we retired it too and it was very fast and easy for me as well and the kit was dirt cheap on Amazon.
Too bad, I replaced the pump when we moved in here first of septmeber 2012 and even dated it with a permanent marker so I'd know how long it'd been done for next time as that was the second time it needed replaced. I did the direct drive coupler a year or so later when it finally ate itself, then the agitator stopped working the top half so I researched and got the dogs for it just before the lid switch went out and I bypassed it and started searching for a decnt HE top loader to replace it.
All the parts were easy to replace and cheap though and it was in service till the day our new HE 28102 Kenmore was delivered.
I later listed it n Craigs list and it sold cheap within two hours to a repair guy that was going to rebuild and sell.
Probably still be using it except our water rates at the new to us place are super high so needed to cut back to save some money on water use.