Outer door panel had shattered next to upper door hinge

The outer door cover contains the door hinge housing for this front loading washer. The Outer door cover had cracked and shattered above the top hinge joint, leaving only the lower hinge joint to keep the door mounted onto the washer. Initially, I was unable to remove the hinge from the front of the washer, because the attaching flat-head screws were REALLY torqued onto the washer. My hand held screwdriver was unable to loosen these screws, so I bought a Black & Decker cordless impact driver from Home Depot for $59. This power tool worked great, and I removed the hinge assembly and door from the washer. (When you're using the impact driver, make sure you've got the correct sized bit for the Phillips head. You can buy a bit set at Home Depot. If you don't the correct size, you'll just strip the head, and then you'll also have to buy a damaged screw extractor.) Once the hinge was removed, I discovered that the lower hinge arm had been bent, due to the door hanging off of just the lower arm. When I attempted to straighten out the hinge arm, it broke off. After a few choice words, I ordered a new hinge assembly from PartSelect. Once I received the new hinge, I reassembled the door, and attached the hinge to the washer. My washer is now working great. Using perfect hindsight, I would also recommend that my fellow handymen replace the proprietary flat-head screws which hold the hinge onto the washer. My first attempts to remove the hinge screws damaged them pretty badly. You should also consider replacing all the screws which hold the inner and outer door panels together.