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Speed switch bad and Initially thought new part was wrong!
At first thought part was incorrect as the electrical connection tabs on the circuit board were not inline as the existing part. However, upon closer examination I realized that the same quantity of tabs existed on the new part and although not inline, were clearly marked the same as the original part. Unit was easily replaced and is operating just like new.
I stripped a couple of gears due with a batch of very hard dough
Taking apart the machine is really easy. I was worried the grease would have spilled all over the places, but when the machine is cool, the grease is solid, so no spill. Replace the parts is quite straightforward, and there are plenty of tutorials on line. The only tip is that the grease used by KitchenAid is dark, and it is not easy to see all the small parts when you take the gearbox apart, so pay attention at what you do and at what you throw away... when I got to put it back together I missed a special concave washer which must have been trapped in the grease. Other than that... it has been an easy repair, the mixer is back up and running and I saved a ton on $$$
I went to YouTube and there are several Mixer repair videos that go through step by step. Four ounces of food sate grease is also required as the grease must be changed. This appears to be a a common problem. One issue that I discovered is that the old planetary had an Oring in the shaft The replacement parts do not. They must have changed the design so please make sure that food safe grease is used.
2nd speed on mixer would not come on at times without jiggling switch
Removed top cover of mixer which was very easy. Then marked the 4 wires so they could be plugged back to new switch correctly. Removed 2 attaching screws to remove switch and one squeeze connector. Installed new switch after plugging on 4 wires. Snapped squeeze connector in place. Reinstalled top cover.
The white enamel coating was breaking off the mixer beater. There was a scrapimg noise when the beater was in motion.
I simply inserted the new beater into the mixer to see if it scraped the sides of the bowl. It fit perfectly and didn't scrape the bowl like the old one did.
The stand mixer would not rotate at low speed. Upon disassembly found one of the two alignment pins of the upper gear case broken.
1. Removed the decorative band then the upper motor cover. 2. Removed the upper gear case cover. Found one of the two alignment pins broken. 3. Inspected gears. 4. Cleaned out old grease. 5. Repacked with new food grade grease. 6. Reassembled.
Unscrew the top and remove it , 4 more screws to remove the top of gear box , wipe out the old grease , lift the gears , but to remove the center gear you need a special narrow tip plier to remove the snap ring . Changed the center gear , apply new food grade grease and with reverse order putting back all remaining parts . Worked fine .
Board fails, causing motor runs at high speed only
3d time in 20 years, but the mixer itself is built like they did 20 yrs ago PartSelect had the part in my mail box in *20 hours* from online order! See https://www.ereplacementparts.com/kitchenaid-4kp26m1xmc4-professional-stand-mixer-parts-c-114958_114959_115101.html for instructions. BUT - they changed the design so a power switch previously separate from (to the left of) the circuit board is now a microswitch integrated on the board, leaving you with ONE LESS WIRE. Attached is the fix diagram & directions for the new design.
removed top housing, removed gear housing cover, removed all gears, cleaned out all grease, obtained gears and new housing cover, fit all gears in housing, filled with grease and put on housing cover. Reassembled mixer.
Really no help from Kitchen Aid sources; but phone call to PartSelect solved the problem. Kitchen Aid repair line didn't even know the part #! Thanks to Part/Select, Christmas cookies are being made.