Why do I get myself into these things?

[pulsator]

Ok, so, I was tipped by someone on the site of a Kenmore BD washer at the Salvation Army in town. I went out there, looked at it, it seemed to look ok..... I guess I'm not a very good judge of that though.... lol! Anyway, after getting it home and getting it in the house (DAMN that was hard!!!!) I got it in place and decided to see what it could do. I wasn't really expecting it to work perfectly..... But, GEEZE!! Ok, I put some hot water with some Tide dissolved in it, and I let it sit for a few minutes. Then I plugged it in and filled it up. I love the way Kenmores fill!!! Anyway, I decided to set it on low, which was smart, cuz it shifted into a VERY LOUD agitation. From what I heard it needs some grease and perhpas a new belt. But the loudness of it startled me, so I shut it off. Then I decided I had better drain it and take care of it's little issues before doin much with it. I turned it to drain, pushed the knob in and all I got was a buzzing sound coming from the control panel that got louder and LOUDER. So, I shut it off yet again.... And here it sits... HELP!!!!!!!!!

 

[pulsator]

Control panel...

 

[pulsator]

And the tub.... I've got some work to do.....

 

[westyslantfront]

Hi Jamie. Do you have pictures of the inside? Congratulations and good luck with your new find.

Ross

 

[DADoES]

That's similar to a machine one of my aunts had. Except hers had a RotoSwirl, 3-speed control instead of rotary water level on the right side, and water level was a lever across from the cold temp selector.

 

[sharples]

Congrats

I love your new washer...i wish the salvation army near me had appliances. I'm Jealous.

 

[spats]

Very nice!

 

[pulsator]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone! I have a quick update though, it seems there is a rather large leak, the motor now smells as though it's overheating/burning dust. Could it be seized bearings? The motor will as least make a better attempt now... I can hearing it start, but then nothin moves....

 

[westytoploader]

Hi Jamie, first of all, congratulations and welcome to the world of Kenmo'! What a machine to start with as well! They're really quite fun machines, but only when they work ;-)

So I'm assuming that when you put it on drain, the motor didn't come on at all? Instead of turning it off to drain it, just skip the timer forward, since it shifts directly into drain without pausing. Try putting it back on agitation and advancing the timer manually to drain and see what happens. If it still refuses to do anything, you'll have to bail out the water in the tub. Fun stuff...I had to do that when the pump on the 24" Kenmo' decided to quit.

How does the mechanism look? Is it really filthy or in decent shape? You probably need to put some lithium grease the cam bars at the point where they go through the agitation and spin forks, and where the wig-wag comes into contact with them.

If the motor comes on and it refuses to drain, the pump bearings could be seized up and you'll need to replace the pump. Since yours has a self-cleaning filter, I'm going to assume it's a 2-port. Relatively easy to find on eBay.

Keep us posted on what happens.

--Austin

 

[peteski50]

Why do I get myself into these things?

Well Jamie,
This was a good thing you got yourself into.
Best Of Luck
Peter

 

[pulsator]

Well, I found the wigwag and the spin/agitattion forks, How do the forks moves? do the slide horizontally? Or vertically?

 

[westytoploader]

Cam bars/wig-wag move horizontally; forks move vertically.

 

[swestoyz]

Hey Jamie,

Cool looking Kenmore! Don't get bummed out about the little issues right now - this machine looks like it still is in great shape - beauty is the hardest part to fix ;-)

Are you able to move the belt any? Are the plungers/forks loose within the solenoids of the wig wag? Is the drive pulley free? You'll need to reach a bit to get to the pump to check if it is seized. Even though you have a full basket of water, you should still be able to tell if the pulleys or belt is seized or free. I'd say scoop the water out, and start inspecting things below. Just guessing, but if something has seized or binding, it would make sense that the motor growled at you, from the sounds of it. Keep us posted.

Ben

 

[hoover1060]

Beautiful Kenmore jamie!
you'll have it right in no time!

 

[pulsator]

Ok, the wigwag is stuck and I can't get it to move... Any thoughts?

 

[coldspot66]

Jamie,

The pump might be seized....There is a bolt on the top left side of the baseplate..loosen it with a 9/16 wrench. That will loosen the belt so you can roll it off the transmission pulley. Does the tranny pulley turn now? Now check the pump pulley to see if it turms easily. If not, that may be your problem. Hope this helps!!!

 

[pulsator]

Whoa, ok, maybe not, I just looked at the under side of the belt... DAMN!!! there appears to be a LOT of the little rubber chunks missing that stick out and grab the pulleys. The belt moves pretty freely, it turns all the pulleys as far as I can see. when i turn the belt so that there is a little group of these rubber chunks that stick out, the motor and the wigwag move a bit til it runs out of the chunks, then it just stops and starts growling at me again... I'm guessing this has a major roll in why the machine is acting up? How hard is it to install a new belt? How do I do it?

 

[swestoyz]

Hey Jamie, the actual wig wag assembly will not move unless you can spin the drive pulley (the wig wag is connected to a gear that is driven by a rod from the drive pulley). When you are looking at the machine from the back, the drive pulley is the large pulley on the right hand side.

Ben

 

[swestoyz]

Woah, I posted that last message late. Sounds like a new belt is in order.

Ben