Door Strike

Disassembled the door panel(7screws).Replaced the outer door panel keeping the existing hinge bushings in proper alignment (requires two people because of the weight of the glass door bubble). You could remove the entire door by removing the metal hinge, however, these screws would not come out for me. Replaced the striker by removing two screws.

The striker is really easy to replace. Remove 2 #3 phillips screws, replace the striker part, and tighten the screws.

It got more complicated when too many striker tips broke off inside the latch assembly and prevented the tip of the new striker from going inside. To get at the latch assembly, I had to remove the big rubber gasket that connects the drum to the frame of the machine. I removed this at the drum end. Big mistake! It took two of us to get the gasket back onto the drum, and I had to take the frame end of the gasket off anyway. That end is a lot easier to put back on. Anyway, I finally got to the latch assembly, which attaches to the machine with two screws. It has 3 connectors and the housing is a grey plastic clamshell that latches in 3 places. It came apart and parts came out. Jamming the latches open and very gently prying the clamshell open may let you escape the small parts barrage. Once I got everything back together, it all worked.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. This machine has broken 4 strikers. They break during the wash cycle. Taking a cue from a previous DIY description on this site, I took the hinge apart. It looks like there is a part missing, because there isn't anything that keeps the door aligned with the rest of the machine. The door drops down as low as it can go on the hinge pin and the plastic of the door frame rides directly on the arm of the hinge part. I've shimmed it up about 3/16" temporarily, and it seems to work, but I can't escape the idea that I shouldn't have to do this...

Replaced the old striker with the new one in about 5 minutes. Just needed a phillips screwdriver. Unbelievable how hard it was to find the part at local store...much easier to order from partselect. If I break it again, I will be all set. Part cost $7 vs repairman visit at a cost of at least $200 - - was worth the effort.

The washer door wouldn't shut. I saw the top piece of the plastic catch appeared to have a broken section. I looked online at the replacement part needed (this was the most difficult part of the process). I unscrewed the old piece and replaced it. No problems. I suspect that this is an engineered flaw with the machine to encourage more unit sales (it could be metal for instance). So fix it and feel clean!

door not level son slammed shut and door strike broke

Unscrewed two screws, replaced door striker and screwed the same two screws back in! I was done in less than 3 minutes!

2 screws and about 48 seconds of work. very easy.