53398117 General Electric Washer - Overview

Used the spatula to release the front panel (push flat spatula under top about 2 inches from either side to release the two sprng clips holding the front panel on) to expose the tub and motor assembly. Inspected the belt and it seemed worn and a lot of rubber particles were in base of machine. Ordered the belt from partselect - received i ... Read more t two days later. Loosened 4 motor mount nuts. Removed old belt and replaced. Tightened belt and tightened nuts on motor. Only tricky part is you will need extensions for socket drive because belt is in the way for two of the motor mount nuts. I used a 1/4" small socket wrench, with an extension. No expertise needed on this one.

My washer was making noise but not agitating or spinning on any of the cycles that I turned the dial to. Didn't know if it was the transmission or something simple. I did some research and discovered it may be the belt, even though the belt looked new, I changed it anyway by just removing the front of the washer and cutting the belt off a ... Read more nd putting the new belt on by just turning the pulleys until it fed on. No need to tip it over to do the repair...and it WORKED!! Then I did the happy dance around the house...see woman can repair 2!

## WHAT I WISH I'D KNOWN BEFORE I STARTED ##
1. Remove the four hoses first.
2. remove the three screws holding the pump to the structure above BEFORE loosening the flex clamp.
3. with the pump free of the hoses and rest of the washer, then remove the flex coupling clamp from the pump end only; do not remove the flex coupli ... Read more ng from the motor.
4. remove the old pump.
5. attach the new pump to the top of the flex coupling BEFORE attaching the pump to the upper part of the washer. This is the most difficult step, to get the flex coupling on the pump in a secure fashion using the clamp. It's much easier to do if the pump is not yet connected to the rest of the washer.
6. attach the pump to the washer with the three mounting screws.
7. re-attach the hoses.
8. run the washer and check for leaks.

I made the mistake of taking the flex coupling off the motor then tried to put the flex coupling on the motor and the pump when the pump was already attached to the washer. Major grief :>(

Good luck, it's well worth the effort.