Posted: 1/1/2002 10:29:56 AM EDT
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Anybody know what causes a washing machine to just spin when it should be agitating? It is a 5 yr old machine. I took the cover off and the belt seems ok. Thanks |
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This might sound weird but no kidding. There is a thrust bearing under the tub, where the pulley is mounted and if it grinds itself to death you will have that effect. It cost under 20 bucks to fix mine. I have a Maytag, which is a Kennmore and a Wards I believe. The local parts guy was cool and told me how to do it, he would stop by for 30 bucks labor if I could not. It was not too hard and took an hour for me to fix this. Mine was about five years old at the time as well. If you have a matching dryer, the teflon rollers for the tub are about to go as well,lol good luck |
| We recently had the motor go on our 5 year old GE washer. When it came down to it, it was only $20 more to buy a new one, so we did. I was told by the repair guy that Washers are built with about 4 years of expected life. They are also pretty much now built to be disposable. I bought the cheapest one that fits our needs + the best buy extended warranty. ( yeah I know ) but I figured with 4 kids we would wear out the cheapie in 4 years and they would have to give us a new one with the warranty. |
| The same thing happened to me years ago. As cheap as I am, decided to "fix" it myself. Keep in mind this was a while ago and I dont know how mechanically inclined you are, but lets take a shot... I had a bad solenoid on my wig-wag (real nomenclature)causing the agitator not to kick in, so it sorta defaults back to spin cycle. I could manually get it to work...until the next cycle. Study the workings of the wig-wag/solenoid and you may figure out the problem. AND pull plug when fingers are in there, good luck. |
| Washers should last more than 4 or 5 years. My Maytag just gave out after 22 years. I replaced it with an 18 year old Hotpoint that I got for free. Wost part was moving washers up and down basement stairs. The Hotpoint has 2 cinder block counter weights in it and the Maytag wasn't any lighter. |
| Recently our set (washer and dryer, aged 18yrs.) both went down. I told the bride of 27 years not to worry, I could fix. She said she would wash my clothes when I fixed them, so about a week later,I bought a new set. I can fix nearly anything, but not them!!!! fullclip |
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In my opinion, washers and dryers should last a good deal longer than 5 years. More on the order of 10+ years. While you are mucking around with the washer, replace the hoses with braided stainless ones (burst hoses are a bitch for flooding the house), and check the exhaust hose from the dryer. If enough lint builds up in the exhaust, a fire can result. If you are building or remodeling, a drain pan beneath the washer and water heater is a great idea. Now dishwashers are a POS, and I'll replace our $300 Kenmore with a $700 Bosch, in hopes of getting more than 5 years from a dishwasher. Ours went to hell in a hurry. |
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Quoted: Anybody know what causes a washing machine to just spin when it should be agitating? It is a 5 yr old machine. I took the cover off and the belt seems ok. It's really hard to say what's wrong without knowing at least what brand of machine it is. kind of like saying "my gun jams" - a little more info would be helpful. But since you said "belt" then it may be a Maytag. If that's the case, your transmission is locked up. Maytags use a reversible motor to turn a self-contained transmission under the tub that agitates when turned clockwise (looking from the top) and locks solid when turned counter-clockwise for spin cycle. The controller merely switches power leads to the motor to make it turn the correct direction. The water pump also runs off the belt so it actually turns backwards during agitation and forward (draining the tub) during spin. If the tub spins the same way during "agitate" as it does during "spin" then you have a controller/motor problem. If it turns the opposite way, then it's the transmission. And if it's not a Maytag, throw it away and buy one!!! [:D] Or at least give us more information to work from next time. |