6-Rib Drive Belt

To diagnose, first I unhooked the washer: power, water supply, and drain pipe. I then slid the washer out, laying it on its front. With nutdriver, I unscrewed two screws that held the other end of the drain tube and removed it completely. Then, again with the nutdriver removed 4 screws from the back near the legs, two in between the legs in the middle, and approx. 4 to 6 on the bottom. This let me pull the bottom off partially to access the motor area. (I did did not take the bottom completely off, only about 2/3 off and let it bend over, as it was flexible tin) The belt was broken. After receiving the new belt, I positioned it between the pulley and the motor and between the drum and the big pulley. Then I rotated the big pulley, pulling the belt onto it as I rotated. At the same time, as I rotated, I pulled the other end of the belt on to the little pulley. Once it was on, I would put pressure on it as I turned the pulley, to jump the belt to the appropriate grooves on the little pulley. Note: the replacement belt had been modified, so it had one less groove than the pulley. I would have known this if I had read the insert that came with the belt first! Anyway, this was not a problem, only a design change. Also it was important to start the belt on the inside, so if it slipped, you didnt loose your bite. Total diagnostic, repair, and reassembly time: 30 minutes plus or minus. I had read other online forums that said you had to loosen the motor, etc. And I do know some type of a belt installation tool was offered on line, but I got along fine with my installation method. An extra set of hands would have been helpful, but not necessary.

Used 1" puddy knife to depress spring loaded retainer tabs. Front panel is removed by prying the top of the front panel away from the machine. Lift front panel to release bottom from machine. Set panel aside. New belt is installed by placing it on the drive pulley and then rolling belt onto the motor pulley. Rotate the motor by hand while moving belt so it is properly seated on pulley.

I used a butter knife to pop plastic clips that hold the front panel to the top panel, one clip on each side of front cover. I never thought the new belt was going to fit, it barely fit on the big pulley, much less around the small pulley too. It needs to be stretched a lot to get it on.. but it will fit :)

took two people to get this belt on

After confirming what I thought was the problem and reading other posts it was fairly easy to replace the belt. After taking the bottom cover loose to gain access to the large and small pulley I found out that the belt was very tight to get on as a previous customer had mentioned. I also used visegrips to hold the belt in place on the large pulley while guideing the belt on the small motor pulley with one hand and turning the drum pulley with the other hand. It helped that I had read the other post first. Next time will be a snap.

Removed bottom washer plate. Placed belt on small, grooved pulley. Started belt on larger pulley. Clamped lock pliers to larger pulley to prevent belt from slipping off. Turned belt onto larger pulley by turning and pressing the belt close to the smaller pulley. Adjusted belt and replaced bottom plate.

When disassembling I could not remove the 1 3/4" tub nut with in house tools and had to order the spanner wrench. Almost mandatory unless you have a socket wrench.

I removed the front cover and the top cover. Then I unplugged all the,wires and removed the hangers. Then removed tub and drum together out the front. After beating on the tub nut for 2 hours and drenching it in liquid wrench I realized that the,tub nut was not going to release. Yes I was turning it clockwise. I bring out my chisel and hammer. After removing the,center shaft I chisel the,tube inward till I could get to the nut. Then I chisel the,tub nut into 3 pieces. It then appeared why it wasn't coming loose,earlier the powders,had gotten below the nut and had it cemenred on. So those youtube videos,are helpful to an extent.

The first attempt to fix the problem did not turn out so well. I replaced the tub bearing, split ring, tub bearing washer and the hub washer. After reassembly and testing, the loud airplane noise was still present during the spin cycle
Then I ordered and replaced the mode shifter shaft assembly and, since I was going to disassemble again, also ordered a new 6-rib belt. Once reassembled and tested, it was quieter than when it was when brand new, according to my wife.
Parts came in very quickly and the tutorials/youtubes were spot on.

The "service kit belt tool" was difficult to install, but I oonsider it a necessity. We tried installing the belt without the tool, and the belt kept snapping off the motor drive pulley. Using a cable tie to hold the belt to the drum pulley did not work. I used a length of heavy duty duct tape instead, and that worked OK. Unfortunately, the whining noise is still present with the new belt, so a GE service technician visit has been scheduled. Our belt replacement effort has not been totally wasted, unless the washer can't be repaired economically, since the old belt was fraying.