Today's P.O.D.

[jmm63]

Thats IT! The washer I grew up with, in cooppertone, purchased in 1970 when we moved into our new house. What a work horse. Served a family of 5 until 1998 with its matching dryer with very few repairs, the dryer actually never had a repair. I had moved away when Mom replaced them with another Kenmore set. She got tired of having to "help the agitator get started by hand" I wonder what was wrong with it and if it could have been fixed. If I only knew then what I know now!!

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Jim -

I was going to comment on that machine also. This model or one VERY similar was available into 1973, in fact it inherited as a model revision the 1972 lid (notched with no separate handle) before it was finally discontinued. There was even a 1974 large capacity version that differed only in the color of the panel inset.

As to what was wrong with your machine - sounds very much like the springs inside the transmission (there are two - one on the agitator shaft and one on the gear-fork shaft that pulls the transmission in and out of 'gear') had worn out or broken. After many repeated switches in and out of gear, these springs tend to fatigue, and are generally a standard replacement item when a transmission is opened. If a transmission has been water-logged, which happens especially in later machines, these springs actually can rust and break.

When the spring(s) fail, the agitator shaft no longer has the downward pressure on it needed to slap into 'drive', and the agitator will sit there and at times fail to fully engage. Pushing down on the agitator will often make it go into gear fully, or enough to remain there. A replacement gearcase or a transmission rebuild would have been necessary to fix your Mom's washer.

Gordon

 

[jmm63]

Hey Gordon,

As usual, your wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Would you believe she kept a service contract on these machines for about 13 years. When I finally found out about it I told her those machines owed her nothing and that she could have bought several pairs of new ones for what the contract cost over the years. They kept on going for another 5 years after that.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Hey Jim, might these be similar to the machines your Mom had? I 'captured' this pic from a 2006 archive post from a no-longer-registered member called 'Wigwagster'.

I thought you might enjoy seeing these.

Gordon

 

[jmm63]

LOL. yup Gordon, those are EXACTLY them, same color, same everything. I even remember going to Sears in late 69 or early 70 with my parents and pointing this pair out to them, I just remember they were all light up and pretty. I'm going to send a copy of that pic to my mom, she'll no doubt think I'm crazy!