FWT445GES2 Frigidaire Washer - Instructions

The hardest part was figuring out how to get the lid off. You simply remove two screws from the back of the lid and jerk and slide the lid towards the back of the machine. Take out the screws that hold the front panel on, tilt the front out and access the lock/switch assembly and replace.

Removed (1) philips screw in toward back of vane (closest to rear of drum), pulled the vane forward to remove it, slid the new one in place, replaced the screw, and was done in less than two minutes. Piece of cake.

Using a cordless drill and driver bit I removed the back cover, bottom front cover and top. I then removed the rubber bellowed hose connecting the soap dispenser to the rubber boot in front. This one was tricky to reinstall because the fastener for the hose is twisted steel wire that needs to be undone when reinstalling. It slid off easily enough but would not slide back on easily. There is a second small bellowed hose that connects the dispenser to the outer drum casing. This needs to be removed as well. It comes off easily and went back on easily. I used a one sided razor to cut the glue dots connecting the front boot to the washer door frame. After that I removed the belt from the motor and drum pulley by hand and then removed the motor mounting bolts using a ratchet and socket. This went smoothly. I now propped up the drum using 4x4 cutoff blocks to take the weight off the springs and shocks. I then removed to the lower upper plastic pins that hold the shock onto the plastic spin drum casing. I used a wooded block and a hammer to tap the pins out. Be sure to push in the lock on the tapered end of pin shaft. The second pin was a little more difficult to remove and required quite a bit of tapping to push it all the way through. I tried adjusting the weight on the shocks several times to make it easier to come out. The pin was slightly damaged by the time I got it out from hitting it. It went back in OK so I don't think the damage will cause any problems. Next I got someone to help lift the drum to release the weight on the springs and removed then from the top end. You need to remove the spring clamps that hold the spring down at the top end. I used a wrench to remove the bolt that holds the pullet on the drum shaft. The pulley was easy to pry off shaft by placing two flat screw drivers between the shaft and the bearing casing and twisting the screw drivers. Once the pulley was removed I turned the spin drum casing upside down and supported the outer casing with two stacks of 4x4 cutoff blocks. This would allow the stainless steel drum to be supported above the floor and drop freely as the shaft worked it way out of the bearing casing. Getting the drum shaft out of the outer housing bearing was the most difficult part of this whole process. The shaft was rusty and therefore did not easily slide through the two bearing casings. Before hitting the drum shaft to remove it from the bearing casing I put the washer and bolt back on the shaft to protect the shaft from hammer/mallet damage. I tried a mallet but it only moved the shaft part way and then it wouldn't slide further. I then used a 1/2" steel pipe cutoff as a punch seated around the pulley bolt to alloy me to use a hammer to beat the shaft out of the bearing casing. It required a tremendous amount of force to move the shaft. Once the shaft was removed from the old drum casing I spent some time cleaning the back of the stainless steel drum including using emery cloth to remove the rust from the shaft and polish it the best I could. Be sure not to damage the brass bushing that the rubber bearing seal rides on to prevent water leakage. Once the drum and shaft were cleaned up the reassembly process when smoothly I simply reassembled the washer in the reverse order or the disassembly. The shaft went into the new bearings snugly which I was pleased to see since the snug fit meant that the water would be sealed in and the drum would spin true. The hardest part was reattaching the large bellowed hose onto the soap dispenser because it require undoing the twisted steel wire clamp and getting it back together in a very tight space. I use a combination of a flat screw driving and a needle nose pliers to wrestle it back together. The finished job resulted in a very quiet smoothly operating washer which we expect will give us another 5 years of service.

It took a few minutes on inspection to figure out I needed some bent-nose pliers to grip the inner black plastic knob and unscrew it from the threaded spindle.

Once that was done, it was s simple matter of spinning on the new on.

I must say, the brittle litle plastic fingers that hold this knob together have to be the most poorly designed piece of crap I've ever seen. Who ever designed and then approved this design should be sent flogged. It's a lousy as a PEZ dispenser.

I released the door gasket and unscrewed the unit .Labeled the connections. then reconnected reattached, then put gasket back on. Worked like a charm!

First I turned off the water. Since the pump is at the front of the machine,it was easy to get too. I then removed the hoses by squeezing the hose clamps with pliers. I removed the electrical plug and then removed the 3 screws holding the pump to the base. I changed orientation of the outlets per instructions,which was very easy. Installation of the new pump was performed in reverse. I had difficulty getting one of the hose clamps back on and changed it to a screw clamp. I turned the water on,ran the machine and checked for leaks. Partselect saved me several hundred dollars in repair costs.

Removed entire tub assembly, replaced bearings and seal in rear outer tub assembly, had spider arms welded by aluminum welder. alot of work ,saved 150.00 on parts by replacing bearings, savings untold hundreds by doing it myself instead of replare man.. BIG JOB. But just plug away and it goes rather smoothly.

It started out with the tub not draining. No problem, has happened before. Remove bottom panel, take boot off of extractor motor, clear out book & check impeller for obstructions. Noticed belot was off. Got new belt. Belt would not stay on, bearings shot. Bearings are pressed into rear outer tub shell. Must remove pulley to get tubs apart. Good luck! Pulley was corroded onto shaft of inner tub. Used various tools, finally ended up grabbing hammer and beating it. Screwed up threads, broke pulley, but got it apart. Re-tapped threads, ordered new pulley. Finally got everything together. Worked intermittantly. Thought it was motor going out. Ordered new motor. It was door switch. Done spending money, bypassed door sensor. Whew! We have clean clothes! Ended up costing about half the price of a new unit, but it basically IS a new unit! Plus I have a spare motor for when that finally goes out!

From the front of the washer, I removed two sheet metal screws at the bottom of the access panel. The panel pulled off with a just a little effort due to the nylon inserts installed on either side of the panel that keep it in place. The tub-to-pump hose is located on the right hand side and easy to access. The hose includes a screw clamp and two tension retainer (?) clamps that need to be removed.Make sure to save them for the new hose! I used a phillips head screwdriver for the screw clamp and a pair of channel locks to remove the tension retainer clamps. The tension retainer clamps were easy to remove but tricky to put back on. There must be another tool used for them that I'm not familiar with. With just a little patience though, it's an easy enough repair for anyone to do.

Remove the front lower panel. Remove the 4 plastic pins mounting the shocks using 1/2 inch short socket to hold the detent down as per included instructions. All plastic pins were stuck in place so used needle nose pliers to pull or push out. Lube the pins with grease before reinstall to help them go through the new shocks. Use the included lock nuts to lock the four legs in place as low as possible. Start the washer and level each leg while running so you can tell if the vibration is going away. Tedious method but worked.

Very easy - veins are held in with one screw, when removed just slide to front of the washer and lift out. Pump assembly is a remote unit complete with drive motor. Take 2 screws out of the water shield, then unplug power to the pump motor and the green ground wire. Slide a cloth under the machine at the area of the pump to catch the water when the hoses are removed. Remove the hose clamp from the rear of the pump and the clamp on the discharge hose. You may be able th remove the hoses now, but if not remove the two bolts that hold the pump to the washer base & then remove the hoses. When you have the pump out you have to change the mounting base to the new pump. Also you may have to rotate the new pump discharge side with the motor (instructions are included with the new pump) - mount new pump, attach hoses, clamps,wires and water cover. Install front door that was removed at the start - pump in in the front right corner after removing the access door in front.

Apparently the faulty switch was causing the washer to think that the door was open which would pause the wash cycle. The temporary fix was to disconnect/reconnect the door lock/switch assembly, thereby resetting the switch. Eventually though, the switch had to be replaced. The repair was simple. Unplug washer from power. Remove the metal band and spring from around the perimeter of the door seal. (I had to use needle-nose pliers for this step). Loosen the rubber seal near the door latch area only. Remove old latch by unscrewing the two screws, and disconnect all wired connections. Reconnect wired connectors using the new part and screw back on to the washer using the two screws. Reseat the rubber door seal and hold in place using the metal ring and spring you removed in the first step. Plug washer back in to power. That's it.

After the new replacement part arrived, I took off the complete back panel (after unplugging the electrical and shutting off the hot & cold water supply). I disconnected both hot & cold water hoses, unscrewed the 2 screws holding the water valve, unplugged the 2 electrical wires for the water valve sending unit, unclamped the outlet water hose. Then I reversed order with new water valve. Put everthing back together in about 20 minutes overall. I did also replace the hot & cold water supply hoses with a better quality hose. Works like new! Thank you very much.

removed the two 'lock down flanges' from the back of the machine, lifted the top from the front and slid it forward to access the valve. Removed the two electrical connections then the compression ring from the hose on the output side. Removed two screws holding the valve in place, then reversed the process.

I wish this valve was made of metal rather than plastic. I had to replace it because the threads were stripped. Here's the heads up. Make sure the fittings on your supply hoses are 'clean' or you'll mess up the plastic threads and not get a good seal.

S/O Water , Removed front panel, removed screws from side panel water valve accessible. Removed screws that hold water valve, installed new valve reassembled washing machine.