Worth exploring?

[nrusinak]

Hi,

Our house came with a late model Kenmore top load HE washer that I despised. Our clothes came out of the wash covered in lint and residue - dirtier than they went in. It was gross. I swore I would get an older, better machine. EVERYTHING now appears to be crap. A friend runs the local Habitat for Humanity store and brought me a 2008 Whirlpool (model WTW5520SQ0) free-of-charge. Not as vintage as I would like, but it was free. I can’t find anything about it online. 2008 seems to be right at the edge of things starting to go to crap. No idea if it was considered a good model or a clunker. It definitely is an improvement over what I had before, but a washboard in the creek would have been an improvement.

But then, just today, I found this bad boy sitting outside a local gas station/convenience store. It’s a mom & pop place where the owners live in the back of the store. They’re remodeling. From what I can tell, it’s a Kenmore 700 from around 1969. I’m wondering if I should explore / dig deeper or stick with the model I have. No idea on if it works. Just trying to decide if I should bother to inquire.

FWIW, hubs and I are handy, can work on motors, etc. but I also know parts on these really older models can be hard to find. Would love any thoughts.

 

[70series]

Yes.

 

[washerlover]

It's definitely worth an inquiry! I guess good news is the tub doesn't look like it leaks so you're off to a good start there...I say go for it. You'll get lots of support and encouragement from folks on this website. Lord knows they've helped me out many times with questions and problems when I had vintage machines.

 

[repairguy]

Built the 24th week of 1969 it’s definitely a cool machine that is worthy of saving. It will need to be completely rebuilt mechanically to use regularly. Parts can be hard to come by. If you currently have a whirlpool from 2008 it’s a direct drive and definitely more dependable at this point.

 

[qsd-dan]

Worth tearing to discern its needs. If it's too far gone, at least you learned something and can apply it to a different washer. There are probably some here who could use some parts off of it.

 

[ryner1988]

I say definitely explore tearing into the '69machine and seeing what you can do. Best that happens is you find it's easily repairable and doesn't have much rust, no leaking issues, etc. Worst case is that you have to part it out and maybe save another old washer later on. But definitely keep the 2008 machine hooked up and in use while you work on the old Kemmore. That newer machine is a direct drive and still has good availability for most parts. Some direct drive parts have now been discontinued by Whirlpool officially, but I'm sure they will be floating around the internet for some time to come since so many of those washers were made for so long.

Ryne

 

[cfz2882]

moonshot era washer

Nice vintage.That the washer holds a tub of rainwater is a good sign

 

[mrsalvo]

Yes, definitely worth looking into. Those machines are getting hard to find. That’s a good find.