LA7800 Washer - Instructions

Disconnected the bracket screws that held the suspension springs in place - fed new springs into bracket and reattached. Local repairman told me that springs dont wear out, they break - wrong, they do lose their tension and thereby lose the ability to counterbalance the spinning load. Washing machine now spins like new - no wobble or shake.

My washer stopped spinning, even though I could hear the motor running. I did some research and found out there was two belts, opened mine up and it was broken. I replaced the belt in five minutes, start to finish. Now it's running like new.

Occasional noted leak became worse and I had a repair service out. Incorrect detection of outer tub seal made so cancelled them and read comments about raising the top. Did so just at start of a rinse cycle to see soapy water shoot from top of syphon break then continue to dribble out through tub empty process--this is what had cause the water to flow down the interior drain hose and out through the side and bottom near the pump.

Ordered all the parts shown here and they arrived just in time for planned work. Did not need or use the clamp and gasket purchased as the gasket was included in the break package and I really like the old-style clamps much better.

Replaced the break and the elbow and put it back together. Things went south on a rinse as water shot out the back hose at the new elbow. I had not realized the size of the new elbow was smaller than the original. Went back to the old elbow but it bothered me that it would still move when the 4 assembly bolt-screws were completely tight.

So far this seems to have worked. There does not seem to be any leaking at all. For those who read this, the job could be done in about and hour for less than I spent if you observe and diagnose properly. It appears that the washer at the end of the Syphon Break wore out and that is what caused the leak.

Thanks much to PartSelect for being in business and to all the posters on this site for helping everyone to get these things done right!

The hot water worked fine on the washer. The cold water would sometimes work/fill the tub, but would only produce a trickle of water at other times.

There were 2 screws to remove at the top back of the washer (attaching the console) two nut screws at the bottom left and right and another bottom center. There were also two screws on front of the console attaching it to the top of the washer. All of those are easy to remove.

The water dispenser (this is the opaque plastic part that fills the tub) has two rigid/hard plastic tabs that hold it to the back of the washer. They were difficult to move/push into the slots to release. It is probably a better idea to push the water dispenser down a bit and jiggle it off the top of the tub then to try and slide those plastic attachments over and down out of the slots on the back of the washer. I spent the most time doing that than anything else.

Also do not forget to detach the rigid steel clips that hold the console on top of the washer, a standard screwdriver or pliers work fine.

Unscrewed (with socket wrench) the mounting plate for the water inlet valve and pulled off the electrical connectors. Had a bit of trouble holding the hose clamp and pulling out the nozzle, but got it. I used pliers for this, but think in retrospect a vice grip would have been easier.

Put the new part in (it came with an installation sheet, very easy to follow) and remounted/hooked everything back up again. Reattached the back of the washer, screwed everything back in and put the console back on the top and screwed that in. Remember to put the steel clips back in that you remove in the beginning, otherwise the console will be loose.

Attached the Hot water hose, then the cold, turned on the water connections from the house and plugged the washer back in.

After pushing it back into position, I turned it on using the cold setting. A big glob of gray sediment shot out and the cold water was gushing in a lot stronger than it ever did before. Hot water came in faster too.

It fixed the problem. Working great now.

Loosened the hose clamp, removed the injector valve and injector nozzle assembly, replaced both and tightened with new hose clamp. Fixed the problem for less than $20!! Washing machine is 20 years old and this was the first problem--hopefully it is now good for another 20 years!

Placed a towel on top of the washer.

Using a flat screwdriver, carefully removed black plastic cap from inside the dial. Gently lifted and slid out the small gizmo that held the timer knob onto the front of the washer. Laid the black cap, timer knob, and small gizmo on the towel.

Using a phillips screwdriver, unscrewed the 4 screws holding the front panel. Set the screws on the towel. Placed the front panel face down on the towel.

Removed the old timer by sliding out the three flat pieces that were part of the black coated wires that were attached to the old timer(two top and one underneath). They were hard to detach. Unscrewed the two screws that held the old timer in place. Set the old timer aside.

Replaced the new timer in the same manner as the old one came off. Slid on the three flat pieces, then screwed the timer on. Lifted the front panel and screwed it tightly. Put the timer knob back on and clipped the gizmo to hold it in place. Replaced the black plastic cap.

Discarded the old timer and kept the instructions for future replacements.

Before ordering part, took the old valve out to make sure it looks similar to the one described online by Partselect. After ordering online, put things back together since I expected delivery would take 5-7 days. That night the water stopped dripping and has been OK ever since. I suspected that there was some rust in the electrical connections. By disconnecting and reconnecting the terminal, the electrical connection is better and water stopped dripping. Still keep the new part just in case (which came overnight after I ordered it).

Followed your directions and it went very easy.
Only took maybe 30 mins.
I was impressed with your trouble shooting and inst!!!!

Thanks

wayne

First I removed the screws that held the side panels on at the bottom, then I removed the screws that held the front panel on and removed the panel. I removed the agitator, loosened the retaining nut with a hammer and a punch, removed the bolts holding the tub springs, removed the bolts for the top panel and flipped it out of the way. Then I removed the clamp for the inner tub and pulled it out, then I pulled the outer tub out. Then I removed the seal and scrubbed the rust off the seal mating area, then installed the new seal and re-assembled the washer. It works perfectly now and no longer leaks and it is over 20 years old. This is the first bit of problem we have had out of this machine, the lonely Maytag repairman commercials are true.

I loosened three screws to relieve the belt tension and removed the belt from the pump drive pulley. After removing the water from the wash tub I removed the intake and output hoses from the pump. I next removed the mounting screws and removed the pump. I attached the new pump loosely and re-attached the belt. I moved the pump to tighten the belt tension and tightened the mounting screws. I re-attached the hoses, filled with water, checked for leaks and replaced the front panel.

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 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!

We received the part we needed in a timely manner. First we took the back off the washer and found out later we didn't have to, because you can access the pump from the bottom of the Whirlpool washer and when we turned it on it's back a brass colored pin about 2" long fell out and we have no idea where it goes.Looking around the bottom frame we saw another pin in a plastic little cup mounted to the frame and another empty cup .So we changed the pump easy,put the pin in the empty cup and the washer runs great! That's our story.Still don't know what the pin is for,it's not on the parts schematic.

I'm not the one who actually did the repair, so I can't give you a blow-by-blow description. But my friend did the actual repair (I found and ordered the parts from your web site).

There was one almost insurmountable problem, however. The three-pin cog that connects the new gear case to the rest of the washing machine was changed.......the cross-section of each of the cogs was not round.....but teardrop shaped. I ordered the correct gear case, based upon the model number of the machine, but apparently somewhere down the years Whilrlpool must have changed the cog profile design.

So, the man who did the repair simply got out a metal mill file and filed down each of the cogs so that they were round. It wasn't perfect, but it worked.

This was a pretty simple repair. In this case, the part purchased here was not the actual problem, but had to be disturbed to fix another problem. After many years, corrosion and exhaustion of grease caused the bushing on the agitator shaft to seize, and the belts to slip. In this model machine, the bushing is accessed by first removing the agitator, which is held on by a single 1/4 inch set screw, and then removing the agitator seal, which is held in by a little spring clip on top of a washer. It's soft rubber, and you will probably need a small screwdriver or pocket knife to pry it out. In this case, the bushing was not too bad, so I was able to clean the hardened grease out and free it up with a little oil, using vise grips to rotate the agitator shaft, until the oil worked in enough.

Since seals don't like to be disturbed and reinstalled, and this one requires some prying to get out, I bought a new seal, even though the old one did not leak when I temporarily reinstalled it. There is a spring inside the seal, and it is packed with grease. The new seal comes with the spring and the grease already in it, so all that is needed is to slip it over the shaft (the top has some print embossed on it, making it easy to remember which is the top), press the washer down on top of it, and replace the spring clip.Slip the agitator back on its shaft and retighten the set screw, and you're back in business.

Run the machine, and check the area where the transmission enters the bottom of the tub. There's a little weep hole there, and if the seal leaks, you'll see water coming out there.

1. Read many other repair stories for similar symptoms. PartSelect Forum was an excellent resource.

2. Posted my problem on PartSelect Forum and awaited reply. Read replies, and followed provided link to step-by-step guide for the procedure. PartSelect forum moderators were excellent advisors!

3. Performed the first half of the procedure to get to the diagnosed root cause. In some of the stories I had read, people had turned the washer on its back or tilted it up to get at the area from underneath. I am so glad I followed the conventional instructions, and left the washer standing and simply removed the cabinet. It was surprisingly easy. There's a reason why it was designed that way. I am also glad that I chose to remove the pump from the motor. While it is true that you don't *have* to remove the pump from the motor to get at the coupling...it hardly seems to make sense to remove the hoses instead. Removing the pump was incredibly easy, and by doing so, I never had to break any "wet" connections, and not one drop of water spilled over the course of the entire repair. (Even though I forgot to shut the water supply valves before I got started. Ooops! At least I remembered to unplug the power cord.)

4. But despite the open valves, the galoshes came into play not for their ability to repel water, but for their value as an electric insulator. I wrapped the galoshes around the handle of a long screwdriver when I discharged the motor's capacitor. :)

5. Ordered parts. Washed clothes in sink. Waited. Washed more clothes in sink. Waited some more. Washed more clothes in sink. Waited still more. Came very close to stopping payment to PartSelect because the very simple, commonly-requested part I ordered, which was supposedly in stock on the day I ordered it, didn't ship until the day it was supposed to arrive--even though I paid extra for expedited shipping. And I was never sent an e-mail to warn me that the parts were going to be delayed. And then to top it all off, rather than make up for some of the lost time caused by their own error, and ship it overnight, PartSelect chose to ship it 2nd day. All that good will generated by the excellent website completely evaporated by the failure to correctly complete the simple tasks that the business has needed to be good at since before computers were even invented. I will never use PartSelect again.

6. Prying the old coupler halves off of the motor and the washer took some effort, but was not overly difficult. I wound up removing the motor mounting plate in order to get better access to the half that was stuck on / needed to be attached to the drive train of the washing machine. Mounting plate was a breeze to remove and attach with a socket driver. I used one of those stubby flat-head screwdrivers to pry the old parts off. This was the one time where I thought it might have been easier to have the washing machine tilted up or on its back...but I muddled on through without even removing the bottom panel, and it wasn't too awkward. I used a large socket and a full-size hammer to not-so-gently tap the new parts into place. Putting all of the parts back together took a bit longer than it took to break them down, but it was easy. The instructions for putting the electronic control panel into test mode had been rolled up and taped to the cabinet inside the top panel. After I put the cabinet back on, I used those instructions to test all the cycles before fastening the top panel and testing the machine with an actual load. So far, so good...