20860 - Instructions

Frist I disconnected the water lines and power cord. Then I leaned the washer back against the wall. Removed the 2 pump retainers and then the pump. Next removed the 2 screws from the motor retainers and pulled off the retainers and motor. Then removed the 3 bolts from the Gear case. Then removed the cap from the top of the agitator with ... Read more a flat screw driver. Then removed the bolt from the top of the gear shaft. and removed the auger and agitator assembly. Then removed the gear case from the washer. Next removed the slip ring and then the clutch from the top of the gear case. Next removed the 1/4" screws from cover of gear case and removed the cover. Found the top gear bad. Ordered the new gear and pinion kit. Couldn't find any part #'s to match what PartSelect had. Ordered the gear that they should that fit most washers. The pics they had up looked the same as the one that was bad. Had the new gear in 3 days put it back together and it still wouldn't work right. Took it apart again and looked at it and found a small clip on the bottom side of the gear was upside down. Fliped it over put the gear back in and ran the washer with the gear case out and it worked. Put it back together again. And learned a good lesson always watch how you take things apart for when it's time to put it back together!

The tub was out of alignment and water fell behind it and onto the floor. My brother-in-law suggested my problem could be the tub balancing spring and when I moved my washing machine, there it was on the ground.
The schematic does not show where it hooks up. So after I did what I thought looked right, the machine still did not wo ... Read more rk properly. Then I replaced the three suspension springs and that didn't solve the problem.
I found a whirlpool "do-it-yourself" repair book at the library and was prepared to tear into the machine. However, I did not have the tub balancing spring in the correct spot at one end. It hooks up from one of the outer bracket to the back of the housing unit along between the legs. There is a hole that had rusted through. I simply drilled a new hole nearby and low and behold it works!
Easy fix - the frustration was with the poor schematic.

I had to take the motor and transmission out. They are one piece. Removed the clutch, take off trans. cover, remove a snap ring, take the striped gear off, and put the new one on. Then put put everything back on the way it came off.

3 online people recommended tilting the machine on the side and replacing the 3 suspension springs. Someone else recommended changing the tub pads. That is the wrong approach. It is actually easier to remove the case than turn the machine on the side. Once you do it once or twice it takes less than 2 minutes and it doesn't distort the ... Read more suspension. You don't even have to disconnect the hoses. When I originally examined the machine lying on it's side I saw that the tub balance spring was still attached to the tub but the other end had detached. I looked for the place to reattach it. I found a place on the glide plate. Unfortunately this was the wrong place and the machine continued to bang away. When I realized that the spring had to be attached to the lower frame rather than the glide plate (one week of looking). I even wrote to the Repair guru. Once I found my mistake the repair took 5 minutes and no tools other than the phillips screwdriver to take out the 2 screws for the case. I replaced the tub balancing spring for good measure. The machine works great.

The tough part was replacing the front cabinet.
I did consult the video for help on replacing the clutch spring.
Thank you for that bit.

I admit to taking too much apart, most of the cabinet back can be left alone.
Some of the plastic wire keepers/routers suffered, as well as the console hinges.

The ne ... Read more wly reassembled washer works without a hitch, and truely it took me about 4 hours over several days to dissamble and reassemble.
It is louder in the audible range than before, but very serviceale for another 20 years, saints willing.

the tube when spinning the tub would shake so bad the washer would walk away from the wall but it will not happen anymore since I put the new spring on it runs great and this is not my first rodeo. Removed the outer part to timer controls then removed two screws then shell in front came off the body

After reading everyone elses stories, I purchased all new springs(5), new spring brackets(one of mine was rusted really badly)and all new wear pads(two sets of 3pcs each). The rusted spring bracket was the most time consuming as the screw was rusted into the bracked so I had to drill it out. Other than that, the actual spring replacemen ... Read more t was easy. Took maybe 10 minutes. The wear pads were another story. I'm a pretty good mechanic and I had a bit of a struggle getting the old pads out. I used a long, flat head screwdriver to pry them out. Once they were out the new ones weren't too tough to get back in. Took about 20 minutes all together. I stongly recommend watching the video on removing the washer cabinet first. It will save you some time. Acutally, watch the videos on all of the parts to simplify the process. Oh and by the way, all of my washer problems are gone. Well worth my time and $70 in parts. Good web site!

Disconnected electrical and then water inputs on the rear of the cabinet. Tipped the machine onto its front. Found that a spring was unhooked and dangling from a bracket. I searched for the location to secure the spring and found a hole on the rear base of the cabinet rusted through. I drilled another mounting hole nearby, Since the origi ... Read more nal spring had also broke, I replaced it with a new one from PartSelect, securing it between its bracket and the new retaining hole. Returned the machine to its upright position, reconnected water input lines, then its electrical. The machine works fine once again.

There are youtube vids on how to get the thing open. I just wish I'd known the following: 1.remove agitator BEFORE opening the unit up and leaning it back (much easier to work inside the tube with it upright). 2. be aware that a free-floating part known as the skate plate can dislodge while the unit is on it's side/back. It is a generally ... Read more triangular piece of flat-ish metal between the base of the tub and the top of the drive-train chassis. If it doesn't line up properly after you replace the parts you're going to get a noisy, clanking spin cycle the next time you run the thing (as I discovered).

It was actually much easier than I expected. The worst part was dealing with the gear oil as I drained it to clean out the plastic pieces that came off the gear. To see how to fix things like this, I went to Google, enter my model and what the problem was and watched a repairman do it. It seemed easy and it was.