I recently refurbished a 2010 Whirlpool direct drive washer (model WTW5510VQ0) to add to my collection. I picked it up for free and the original owner told me it wouldn't drain and the motor locked up. I pulled a baby sock out of the water pump and that fixed the draining issue.
During testing, I noticed that the transmission was not neutral draining, so I replaced it with an older transmission from my stash. That one also would occasionally miss the neutral drain so I decided to overhaul both transmissions with new neutral drain kits and replaced their oil with Pennzoil 80W90 gear oil. Around the same time I also picked up a sad-looking, but free Maytag Centennial direct drive and replaced the spin basket on the 2010 Whirlpool, which was starting to rust out in the center, with the stainless steel one from the Centennial.
I put the rebuilt older transmission back into the Whirlpool along with the stainless steel drum from the Centennial and did some testing. Everything was working as it should. Occasionally, however, I find that after the initial fill and agitation, instead of neutral draining, it will go into a spin drain. Then it pauses at the correct time and follows with a neutral drain (although there's no water left to drain.) So essentially the neutral drain is reversed! Once that is complete, it fills again, agitates, neutral drains and does the rinse spin as it should. I can run another load immediately after that and it performs as it should again.
I notice that this always happens on the first load in the morning. It is also in a colder warehouse (maybe 55-60 deg F) while I test it. The fact that 95% of the time the brand new neutral drain kit works properly and the transmission sounds normal during the entire cycle, makes me think that I installed it correctly. I've rebuilt 5-6 direct drive transmissions with new neutral kits before and have never had this happen.
I don't think the stainless steel Centennial drum should cause this. So could this be a cold temperature issue? Or is there an issue with another component of the transmission outside the neutral kit that would cause this to happen occasionally?
Also, I'm nearly certain that the neutral drain plate on the older transmission that's acting up was one of the rare ones without the two holes, so I replaced it with the same version of the plate from the kit. This is the first transmission I've done with the older neutral drain plate and the smaller bolt with the Loktite on it. I'm not sure if this behavior is more common with the older transmissions or not. All the other neutral drain kits I've installed have used the two-hole plate and the thicker plate bolt.
Thanks for your help!
Jeff
During testing, I noticed that the transmission was not neutral draining, so I replaced it with an older transmission from my stash. That one also would occasionally miss the neutral drain so I decided to overhaul both transmissions with new neutral drain kits and replaced their oil with Pennzoil 80W90 gear oil. Around the same time I also picked up a sad-looking, but free Maytag Centennial direct drive and replaced the spin basket on the 2010 Whirlpool, which was starting to rust out in the center, with the stainless steel one from the Centennial.
I put the rebuilt older transmission back into the Whirlpool along with the stainless steel drum from the Centennial and did some testing. Everything was working as it should. Occasionally, however, I find that after the initial fill and agitation, instead of neutral draining, it will go into a spin drain. Then it pauses at the correct time and follows with a neutral drain (although there's no water left to drain.) So essentially the neutral drain is reversed! Once that is complete, it fills again, agitates, neutral drains and does the rinse spin as it should. I can run another load immediately after that and it performs as it should again.
I notice that this always happens on the first load in the morning. It is also in a colder warehouse (maybe 55-60 deg F) while I test it. The fact that 95% of the time the brand new neutral drain kit works properly and the transmission sounds normal during the entire cycle, makes me think that I installed it correctly. I've rebuilt 5-6 direct drive transmissions with new neutral kits before and have never had this happen.
I don't think the stainless steel Centennial drum should cause this. So could this be a cold temperature issue? Or is there an issue with another component of the transmission outside the neutral kit that would cause this to happen occasionally?
Also, I'm nearly certain that the neutral drain plate on the older transmission that's acting up was one of the rare ones without the two holes, so I replaced it with the same version of the plate from the kit. This is the first transmission I've done with the older neutral drain plate and the smaller bolt with the Loktite on it. I'm not sure if this behavior is more common with the older transmissions or not. All the other neutral drain kits I've installed have used the two-hole plate and the thicker plate bolt.
Thanks for your help!
Jeff
