LA7800 Washer - Instructions

wife complained about washing machine making bad noise and she said it was not spinning. So being the good husband that I am, after she yelled at me 8-10 times I stopped what I was doing and sure enough she was right , the washing machine wasn't working correctly. Started testing the agitator by spinning it back and forth. it would only catch on the dogs every once in a while. the washer is only 3 years old, thought maybe one of the kids toys or lint was interferring with the dogs, pulled this dispenser off the top and then another plastic cap with a black o-ring off and found the agitator and dogs gears worn down and chipped. think it was a 3/8" socket I used, but you need a long extension to get to it. Part was labelled well and it was very easy to order. problem I had was when the new parts came in I had ordered the agitator repair kit ($16) and the thrust spacer ($5). Well it's not that $5 is alot of money but the spacer I had was worn and I was in there anyway so why not. The agitator repair kit comes with a thrust spacer but it was not shown on the otherwise very detailed pictures. So it would cost more for me to pay the shipping to return the unused part than not. the agitator repair kit description reads "This nine piece agitator repair kit comes with a two and a half inch cam, a thrust spacer, and four dogs (agitator dogs) but the thrust spacer is not shown. You could say I was 30% more into parts cost and make it sound worse. Had I been an actual repair man instead of a home do it yourself kind of person, probably would have known to call and speak with a rep vice going at it online solo. anyway, 5 minutes and the washer was back up, wife was happy, and I was able to continue with what i was originally doing.

I replaced the clutch and coupler. The clutch was well worn. My wife had washed three or four loads of heavy rugs and we think that was the cause of the premature wear. We now take the rugs to a commercial laundry. The coupler was OK but the new coupler has metal instead of plastic inserts so I decided to replace it while I had it torn apart. The machine is now running like it was new.

0.Disconnect supply hoses and electrical. Refer to the parts breakdown pictures on the PartSelect website. I refer to only the numbers so you may have to match the part to a particular diagram.
1. Remove the agitator by pulling up on the fabric softener dispenser #1. Clean out the excess liquid and "residual gunk". Grab one off the tabs of the plastic cap #23 and pull gently. The plastic cap (~ 3" in dia) is held in place by a rubber O-ring #24. The cap comes out easily exposing the bolt that holds the agitator to the drive shaft. Remove the bolt. and the agitator comes right out.
2. Turn the machine over on its front. You do not need to remove the back panel.
3. Get plenty of rags to soak up the water before you remove the hoses from the water pump #22 on the end of the motor. A quart or more remains in the pump and hoses. Remove the two hoses.
4. Disconnect the wiring harness from the motor#29. There is a small plastic "catch" on the bottom of the connector that must be lifted to remove the connector. It's kind of hard to see but it's there and it's part of the connector.
5. Remove the three bolts #10 that hold the gearcase #9 to the bottom of the tub assembly.
6. Remove the gearcase, the drive shaft, the motor, and the water pump as one unit. You will need to lift them a little to get clearance because the tub has settled down. Just lift the tub and all and pull the assembly out. Get them out to a spot where you have room to work on them. The water pump may still have bit of water.
7. Replacing the clutch. Remove the clutch parts from the bag and lay them out where you can see everything. Refer to the instructions in the bag to select the correct spring and to see how the keeper spring is installed. Remove the washer, keeper ring, and clutch assembly, and plastic clip#15 remembering the order and the orientation. Install the new clutch in reverse order.
8. You will have one plastic part #15 left over. It goes on the bottom of the tub after you remove a key ring.
9. Replacing the coupler. note the orientation of the water pump#22 and remove it by removing the two retainers #21. set it aside.
10. Remove the screws#23 and retainer clips#17. Separate the motor#20 from the gearcase#9 to expose the coupler. Replace the coupler, reattach the motor to the gearcase, and the water pump to the motor.
11. The reassembly is pretty much a reverse of the assembly.

I took the two screws for the control panel out and tilted it up and back. Then remove the two metal clips which held the outer panel to the back panel. After disconnecting the power and water I tipped the washer on its back. I had to remove two clips to take the water pump off of the motor, then removed the two screws and clips which held in the motor. After removing the motor, I found the coupler was bad. To remove the gearcase, I took out the softener dispenser and removed one bolt to take out the agitator. Under the agitator was a clip. Three bolts held the gearcase to the frame. After removing them, the gearcase pulled straight out the bottom. Replacement was just a reverse process, with the addition of a light coat of grease to the gearcase shaft.

I thought I would find broken springs but everything looked good. Comments and video very helpful.I figured springs must be stretched or worn out ,so for the money I figured worth a try. Insallation went well, washingmachine runs like a new machine. Much better than spending money on a new one. Thanks

Removed the gearbox from the drum and removed the direct drive motor from the gearbox. Disassembled gearbox and drained gear oil. Rebuilt the neutral drive assembly with the ordered parts. Cleaned sealing surfaces. Filled gearbox with new gear oil. Sealed and re-installed the top cover to the gearbox. Reattached motor and then reinstalled assembly to drum and clutch (installed new clutch lining at this time as well).

Laid the washer on its back and found leak in water pump. Found out it was caused by vibration from motor with bad bearing. Removed pump and motor which were held on by clips. Both were removed and replaced without removing cabinet from machine.

I suspected the lid switch right away. Where I went wrong was in thinking that I had to get to it from below. After going to all the trouble of removing the front panel and detaching the top panel, I discovered that it was located inside the control section at the top of the appliance. It only took a few minutes to remove four screws and gain access to the old switch assembly and swap it out with the new one. One thing to note; the new switch assembly has to be set in exactly the right place along a slotted channel in order for both contacts to be activated properly. It's not difficult to find the right spot, but you have to do it consciously.

First, I removed two screws holding the bottom fiberboard panel in place, and the panel, to gain access to the motor, transmission, and pump. Unfortunately, I had the machine tilted to the front, and didn't have room to release the pump. I had to set the machine back up, and get manuvered around so I could lay it on it's back (I was working in the confines of a small laundry room). Once on it's back, I released the two clips holding the pump with a flat head screwdriver, lifted it up and out of the way without having to disconnect any of the piping, then I released the two clips holding the motor, again with a flathead screwdriver, disconnected the wiring plugs, and capacitor wires, then lifted the motor up and out of the machine. I then removed the two bolts holding the motor mounting plate to the transmission. Then, again using a large flat head screwdriver, I pried the transmission coupling half off the transmission shaft, I had to work it up, while turning the shaft, and then the same for the motor half. I then wiped off both shafts, and gently tapped both coupling halves back onto the shafts,
( this is easier using a socket that is just large enough to go over the shafts). Then I reinstalled the motor mounting plate, slipped the rubber coupling onto the transmission coupling half, lifted the motor into place, and rotated from the pump end to line up with the remaining holes on the rubber coupling. I then reinstalled the clips used to hold the motor in place, reinstallation only took thumb pressure to snap back into place, then, I reinstalled the pump, using the same method, and reconnected the wiring plugs and copacitor leads. Lastly, I reinstalled the fiberboard panel into the bottom, and set the machine upright, slid back into place, and reconnected the hoses and electrical, and tested the machine. Worked perfectly.
In actually took longer to disconnect the machine, and get it out and back in, than it did to replace the coupling.

I have to admit that before attempting to replace the clutch, I had no clue how to do it. With the help of the diagram of the parts, I was able to access from the internet at PartSelect.com. I felt comfortable enough to attempt the repair because the diagram was easy to read and accurate.

Everything had to be accessed from the bottom of the machine. I tipped the machine backwards enough get under it. To replace the clutch, I had to remove the motor drive. To do so, I disconnected the electrial to the drive motor by simply unconnecting the quick connect harness. I then removed two screws from the two retainer brackets located one on top and one on the bottom. Once this was done the motor drive simply dropped down. I then removed the three bolts holding the gear case to the tub. I had to remove one bolt from inside the tub underneath the fabric softner dispenser. Once this was done the gear case slid out. The clutch sit on top of the gear case. I then simply removed the old clutch and installed the new clutch by reversing the process. The only real difficulty that I had was with the retainer ring. Once done, I reinstalled the gear case and motor drive. I would suggest replacing the direct-drive coupling at this time. I had earlier replaced the coupling hoping to solve the problem. The coupling was redesigned and is more likely to last longer than the orginal coupling.

Step 1) Take off top cap with a flat head screw driver.

2) unscrew bolt (may need extension as it may be deep in the agitator.)

3) Take upper agitator off.

4) remove clog retainer and clogs.

5) insert new clogs and re-assemble.

total time 10 to 15 min.

I thought I had only a water valve problem - both the noise and leak seemed to come from the water valve assembly - but I had two. After replaced the water valve (a job which was easy to do as the assembly was easily accessed from the rear of the machine) the moaning stopped but I was surprised to discover that I had a stream of water pouring from under the machine.

I pulled the front panel (two phillips head screws needed to be removed) and raised opened the top assembly after removing two hex screws. (The diagram on PartSelect.com was helpful in understanding what I had to deal with).

I observed the fill action, and found that the water was leaking from the slots in the fill nozzle sleeve, in the water injector hose line. (The new inlet water valves had increased the pressure at the fill nozzle and increased the leak from that point which I had not suspected to be the source of the leaking water).

The basic problem was that the rubber valve sleeve had shrunk in length and was no longer flexible, allowing water to come out of the sleeve slots. I ordered an injector nozzle and valve and installed them in the original sleeve bracket in just a few minutes (two clamps had to be loosened, and the hose sections pulled back to insert the valve and nozzle assembly). (I had also ordered a replacement bracket just in case the old one might break, but it was not the correct part and the old one was fine.)

I checked for leaks and closed up the machine. Problems solved! It is now both quiet and leak-free.

(Moral, open the machine and check the nozzle for leaks - even if you suspect only the water valve assembly. The nozzle valve is located above the water valve and its leaks drop onto the water valve, making it look like the water valve assembly is the source of the leak.)

Firstly, remove ac power from washer!
After removing the front panel of the washer (two philips screws), I loosened and removed the plastic motor cover and removed three hex head screws holding the motor. Have someone help you tilt the washer so you can remove the belts by "rolling" them off of the pullies (pump pully and motor pully). What I did was use a chemical degreaser to clean the motor base metal channel where the nylon sliders reside. After doing that and letting it dry, I removed the two old
springs. I ended up reinstalling the old springs because they were not stretched and I installed a new spring (total three) on the right side of the mount. A stiff metal rod with a hook on the end will help you install the springs. Squirt some of the included silicone lubricant on both sides of the motor mount channel and exercise the lube. Reinstall the motor and plastic cover over top of motor. Clean hands and clean belts while you have them out, reinstall belts and front cover and you're finished. My wife said it never ran better!

Remove the washing machine cabinet. Use a large flat head screwdriver to pry/wedge the tub suspension apart and gain access to the pad locations one at a time. My old pads were completely gone, so there was no need to remove them. Clip the new pads into place and re-install the cabinet.

This completely solved the violent chaking problem. There was no need to replace springs.

The repair was so easy. The part came quickly and with easy to follow directions. I am a woman and a single parent; needless to say, I don't have time or money to waste. This repair cost me under $30 and under 30 minutes to fix. Thank you again!

I first watched the youTube vidio on yhe PartSelect web site. After getting a visual of the repair, I decided to tackle the job with a better understanding and knew the repair was easy to purform. First I took the two screws out of the contrl panel on top of the washer, rolled the panel back to expose the clips that hold the metal cabinet to the back panel of the washer. After removing the cabinet I was ready to lay the washer on it's back and had a clear view of the pump, motor and clutch... I was able to easly identify these parts because I took time to watch the video. Using a flat head screwdriver I removed the clips that hold the pump to the motor... Without disconnecting the hoses connected to the pump I pushed the pump to the side and out of the way. This further exposed the motor. Using the flat head screwdriver, I removed the clips holding the motor to the transmission (they just snap off like they did on the pump). The motor was now ready to be removed from the transmission ( it just lifts off) before removing it I disconnected the power suply wire from the motor... Now the motor can be completely removed. I identified the drive couupler 1/2 was on the motor shaft the other 1/2 was on the transmission shaft.. On both halfs the splines were broken. I removed the old broken drive coupler. Since I already had the machine so far apart i figured i would replace the clutch also. Using a deep socket ratchet wit an extention I removed the agator... I then unbolted the transmission (only three bolts) I gentely pulled the transmission and shaft out of the bottom of the washer. This exposed the clutc assembly, I removed the clutc ( which wasn't bad or wore by the way) and replaced it.... I figured I had it and I was this far into the repair why not. After relpasingvthe clutch, I slid the shaft and transmission back into place tightened the bolts and that was done. I then slid/replaced the drive coupler... Placing one half on the motor shaft the other on the transmission shaft, placed the rubber bushing on the oneside of the plastic drive coupler. And mounted the motor back on the transmission utilizing the clips I took off earlier. Once the motor was in place I installed the waterpump fastened by the clips. Flipped yhe washer up, replaced the cabinet... Tightened down the the control panel and was ready to do some wash..: the washer runs perfect now and I saved myself about $700.00. It was allot easier than I thought it would be... Watching the youTube video is the secret to success. The washer is running like the day I bought it new... All for only 53.00. Hats off to everyone at PartsSelect for going above and beyond. Regards, ~ Michael