Whirlpool Vertical Modular Washer premature gearbox failure.

[maytagneptune]

Today I picked up a Whirlpool WTW4616FW1 Vertical Modular washer. Upon running diagnostics I noticed that the machine would not agitate at all after dismantling the machine. I noticed that the gearbox was defective. The agitator shaft comes right out of it with no effort from me and it grinds whenever I turn the agitator. The story from the original owner is that this failure occurred 3-4 years ago which tells me that this is a premature failure. I know of many VMW's that are pushing on 5 years old and their gearboxes still work. The Maytag "Commercial" has the same cheap gearbox and it comes with a 5 year parts and labor warranty. These gearboxes are very cheaply made although this machine is showing symptoms of overloading. The suspension seems OK for now but there is visible damage to the tub cover (scoring and a little bit of tearing) Which indicates to me that this machine was mistreated. I have seen many VMW's and this is the first one that I have seen with a gearbox that failed in this way. Usually it's the bearings that go bad in these gearboxes. I attached Eugene (Lorain Furniture)'s video on this post of taking one of these apart. It's a cheap inferior design but it's a cool machine when it works. I know 2 people who have a GE GTW680BSJWS which is basically the same design as this machine and they're going on 5 and 6 years old and I told them to not overload the machine and the gearbox hasn't failed yet. These machines are very common at the recycling center and It's clearly obvious why. These machines can hold up kind of if you treat them with respect but Whirlpool's lack of quality control makes so many of these machines fail prematurely. I think they're supposed to last 5-10 years with minor repairs in between before the gearbox breaks. Not a year and a half. I'm now seeking out a replacement gearbox at the recycling center. I'll keep you posted.

 

[ryner1988]

VMW washers--gearcases

I had a VMW machine, model number WTW4816FW which is essentially the same washer you are referencing here. The gearcase failed last spring, which would have put the machine at just under six years old. Although knowing what I know now about these washers, I'm actually wondering if it was the mode shifter that failed and not the gearcase. It drained all the water out and then got stuck between drain and spin, just made a weird buzzing/humming, the exact shifting sound it makes in transitioning from drain to spin except it was stuck there. I was able to get the machine to cancel the cycle and fill back up with water, but then it went right back to being stuck in the same place. So yeah, two or so years sounds premature but in my opinion, my washer failing that majorly in six years is also quite sad.

Ryne

 

[vacerator]

Chit

is chit, at any price!

 

[cfz2882]

VMWs

most of the bad VMWs I have delt with had bad PC boards or bad seal/damaged bearings-one had a bad lid lock,another-2010 Cabrio now in collection-had bad capacitor on the PC board.

 

[maytagneptune]

Reply #3

This sounds about right. Usually it's one of those parts or the shifter or splutch. Sometimes it's the suspension rods. It isn't usually the gearbox/gearcase

 

[maytagneptune]

Took Apart the Gearbox

My dad and I took apart the gearbox today and discovered that it may have not even been assembled properly at the factory. Opening up the gearcase my dad noticed that the bottom of the housing was rough. He also noticed that the shaft wasn't pressed in all the way at the factory. The Metal collar had it's splines completely stripped out. The bottom of the housing had a piece of plastic that wasn't smoothed out at the factory. The 4 plastic gears seemed OK. I feel like a improperly assembled Gearbox + Overloading lead to this premature failure. The World Washer I have is almost 24 years old and still has the original gearbox which is EXACTLY THE SAME internally. Either the one it has was built better or the machine was well taken care of. I have seen 3 World Washers around here and all 3 had a good gearbox.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE's copycat washer

GE's washer is just another copycat of the whirlpool vmw in my opinion.

 

[lovestowash]

Gearbox...

I have the WTW4816, and the gearbox was replaced within the first week.

 

[maytagneptune]

I got the machine working again.

I wish I would have done photos and documentation but me and my dad attempted and succeeded on the first ever VMW Gearbox Rebuild! We drilled out the rivets and managed to get the bearing to come out of the top half of the metal shell without destroying it. Taking apart the gearbox itself we noticed that the splines where the shaft attaches to the collar where the 4 gears are were completely stripped out. Our remedy was to take the drill press and drill through the shaft and the collar and put a pin through the middle, My dad flattened out the ends of the pin so it wouldn't go anywhere. My dad thoroughly cleaned the gears and put in fresh synthetic oil and reassembled. We got the gearbox to stay together using nuts and bolts we had laying around. The machine worked with this improvise but after the first load. The splutch melted a bit from friction, Upon further investigation, I noticed the center shaft where the pulley attaches has some up and down play in it, Realizing I didn't put a spacer in place when re-assembling the gearbox. I modified the splutch and put a nylon pipe washer in the center and secured it with 2 very small screws for an adjustable spacer. I had to get it right in the sweet spot. Too low and the splutch will still melt and too high, The teeth won't lock properly. I managed to get it in just the right spot and now the machine works great. I have already put 7 loads through it, (2 Weeks worth of laundry, I saved it up) I have inserted a clip of the machine operating with the rebuilt gearbox and splutch on the link below. I also got rid of the DAA this machine came with and swapped in a Single Action Agitator P/N WP63235 with a beautiful turquoise KitchenAid Fabric Softener Dispenser (courtesy of the scrap yard, Found a destroyed KitchenAid DD there but the softener dispenser was somehow unscathed.)