Restoring the 1959 Lady Kenmore.......

[filterflo]

The problem with these valves is that the rubber deteriorates and becomes water logged and wont "float" up or down anymore.....also the inside of the chamber becomes rough and corroded and pourous and the "ball" wont seal around it anymore.......This is the valve cleaned out. Luckily this valve didnt give me any trouble.......and is working fine!

 

[filterflo]

There is ANOTHER check valve, higher up on the side of the tub. This one was a big problem. Its the intake for the water during wash filter recirculation and when the flow of water reverses during pump out, this check valve is supposed to shut to keep the flow of water from re-entering the tub..... Luckily, just by chance Jim Frigiman and I FOUND a brand new one in out last parts hunt.......talk about perfect timing! Old valve on the left, new REdesigned valve on the right.......

 

[filterflo]

Better picture of the old valve vs. the new valve......

 

[filterflo]

The old valve had the rubber ball float in it, and the chamber was completely corroded........ The new re-designed valve has a rubber flapper inside a plastic housing. FSP redesigned these valves in the mid-60's. When I worked for different repair services in the past I replaced many of these valves. I believe they are only used on washers with self-cleaning filters......

 

[filterflo]

New check valve installed

 

[filterflo]

Everything installed it should have worked! It DIDNT! I still could not get water to pump thru the filter... Earlier I had given up on using my NOS pump. Even tho it had never been used, it too leaked when I installed it. I tried to seal it to no avail, so I "modernized" and installed the new pump that the seller sent me.......

 

[filterflo]

And here was another learning experience. THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE...... A three port pump WILL NOT PUMP thru the recirculation system that has a self-cleaning filter. It should, but it doesn't !!
I had another pump, also NOS, 2 Port, of the older style. I installed it and FINALLY, the system worked as it should. It seems the inner chamber on the two pumps is different even tho FSP catalogs this as a replacement, it is not correct. Since there is no way the 3rd port could have been used on my machine, it would have NEVER worked properly using that pump...... The pump on the right DID work and correctly....

 

[filterflo]

A final water test before reassembly. All systems worked, no leaks, it filters and drains......

The washer as shown in the previous link is all back together and works (so far) beautifully. Man, what a complicated washer, but I love it.

 

[tuthill]

Nothing short of fascinating

Thank you for posting this! Certainly the best of 1959. How much of that extra stuff was dreamed up by Kenmore? Could you get all of those features on a TOL Whirlpool?

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Jimmy -

Its a shame that you had all that trouble with the pumps. The 3-port pump is useful only in machines made from 1976 forward, which have either a waterfall manual filter or a non-recirculating filter under the basket (late production models after 1982 or so).

The three port with the boxy chamber as shown on the left in your picture is not capable of recirculating water directionally through the pump as the old 2-port is. Water flows through the inlet in only one direction and the recirculation is accomblished from the tiny third port, whereas in the two port water flow reverses direction based on the position of the shift lever and is always flowing in one side and out the other. All the shift lever does in the three port is open or close the back port for draining.

The three port you show pumps massive amounts of water per time as compared to the older pumps. Whoever advised you to use it on your beautiful machine was mistaken - that pump design wasn't "born" until your machine was 17 years old.

If in the future you have any issues with NOS pumps leaking, I have had some success with putting hot water through them - a load or two to make the parts warm up and expand has usually made a new pump seal itself again.

What fantastic shape the outer tub is in. That is GREAT. I think your decision not to pull it was smart - those rusty centerposts can often cause the tub lip to crack when pulling the tub, then it is much harder to seal.

I hope you enjoy the machine for many years. Great job!

Gordon

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Another interesting tidbit about those pumps....

The majority of Whirlpool/Kenmore belt drive machines in the 80s were made to use the three port pump (WP's part number was 285317) though a few models used the old two and four port pumps.

One would expect that of the belt drive parts still supported by WP, it would be those still in most demand. Logic would then have it that whatever was used last and in most volume would be most in demand today.

Well, the three port 285317 is not available now from Whirlpool, yet the older two and four port pumps are (350365 and 350367). They are made in Brazil for/by Brastemp and exported to the U.S. Apparently Brastemp never used the "new" three port design. The cool part is they're made of bright blue plastic and more closely resemble the original appearance of the plastic pumps from the late 60s.

The three port is offered by Supco now (taken over from Gemline) and is even offered by Sears when a 285317 is needed. I have not had much experience with their pumps - has anyone else?

 

[autowasherfreak]

WOW!

That was very fascinating! I can't wait to get started on my Lady Kenmore!

James

 

[filterflo]

Thanks for the info on the pumps. Its a case unless you work on these a lot and have first hand knowledge of their application (which the dealer apparently did not) when it seems like you are using the right part and it still wont work then often these things are considered "unfixable" and get relegated to the junk heap. For the sake of simplicity, I left out a lot of information dealing with the NOS pump I tried to use. It leaked from the upper pulley shaft. Upon disassembly and inspection the rubber shaft seal had completely compressed and cracked from age, even tho it had never been used. I tried another impeller/shaft/seal with no luck and gave up on it after several tries. The pump I finally used worked and worked very well......There seemed little logic to using an old pump when I had (more than one) new one in my parts inventory.....
Sounds like you have had a lot of experience on Kenmores.....Im sure you will agree they were a great design...Restoring this one got me back in the loop from the hundreds I had done in the past.

Thanks again for the info on the pump.....PS. I made sure I didnt tighten the 95405 belt too much to ruin the pump bearing!

 

[fridgiman]

Jimmy,
Thanks for posting the pics of the restoration.
I now have a visual to go with all the explaining that you have been telling me about the restoration.
Now all you have to do is kneel and pray to the God of Washer Leaks to keep that baby running trouble free for another 50 years.

Jim

 

[mihi]

whow man.....

this is one awesome report. and the photo's are great. Good job on this washer!

 

[volvoguy87]

A job and a half!

Thank you for saving this beauty. Your photos are wonderful and your final results are supurb.

Beautiful,
Dave

 

[northwesty]

Though you had problems with it looking at the pictures, I though most of the parts, like the "self-cleaning" filter, etc., looked to be pretty well preserved. Congrats on sticking with it and restoring such an interesting machine. Thanks for all the pictures it sure is a help in the future when another one pops up.

 

[danelto]

Final Grade

A+++ You did an excellent job on this project. Thanks for educating all of us!

 

[gansky1]

Thanks for showing us the inside of the filter - another magical mystery of washday solved!

Very interesting info on the pumps too, I'll bet that was a frustrating afternoon spent trying to get to work - patience prevails again. Congrats again!