[tealbingy]

I would like to know if there are any other symptoms of a bad gearcase besides oil sprayed in a ring inside of the washer cabinet. My washer will not spin in the "Normal" cycle, but will spin in the other cycles. All of the other functions are fine (Fill, agitate, pump). Lid switch and pressure switch are okay. Is there any possibility that the gearcase is bad? I ask because I have another machine that has the oil ring symptom but no other problems, and I was thinking of taking the gearcase out of this one to put in the other - this one has other problems, like a crumbling coupler, a funky smell, and a build-up of gunk. Plus the machine with the bad gearcase is five years newer.

Forgot to mention that on this machine, no ring of oil inside the washer cabinet.

Thanks for any help!

[sidfink43]

Check the parts by cross checking with model numbers on the parts page of this site, and if everything looks ok go ahead and switch them out.

The oil ring is just about proof positive of a transmission problem, it just aint supposed to be there.

[tealbingy]

Thanks for the response. I was wondering if the fact that the "donor" machine for the transmission will not spin in Normal cycle would be an indicator that THAT transmission has a problem too.

Is that likely at all?

[tealbingy]

Forgot to mention - I checked, and the parts are identical (transmission, coupler, clutch) for both machines.

[sidfink43]

The fact that it will not spin in Normal but will in other modes suggests the timer is the problem and that the transmission is ok, so go ahead, good luck.

[tealbingy]

That seemed like the logical conclusion to me, but I wanted someone who knew what they were talking about to confirm that. Thanks, I'll get on it this weekend (unless we get another 15" of snow to shovel :P )

[tealbingy]

Well, we did the gearcase transfer. The recipient machine only spun in low, or without any clothes in the tub. We knew that the brakes on the "donor" machine had been dragging, so we concluded that the clutch might need to be replaced. We had a new one on hand, and it looked far better than the one from the donor machine, so we put it on.

No improvement - machine either spins only when empty or with a light load, or not at all.

Our only conclusion is that THIS gearcase is no good, also - or both timers are bad. Care to hazard a guess yourself? FYI - We did not replace the spin tube on the recipient machine, which you may remember was the one with the gearcase that was throwing oil in a ring due to a tenant overloading the machine and getting water down the agitator shaft.

[sidfink43]

Well darn, hate it when a perfectly good repair that should work does not work.

I doubt very much if the problem is with the timer, particularly if the problem is with all the cycles.

When it is supposed to be spinning fast can you see the clutch spinning fast? And one other thing to check is the drive block, for which you will need the special spanner wrench to get off the weird nut on the shaft. It does not sound like the brakes are hanging up.

[tealbingy]

I will check both those things when I get a chance. I assume that the clutch SHOULD be spinning fast when the machine is on high spin, correct?

I've gotten some good info on how to get to/assess the drive block, and seeing that it's a cheap part, I'll look at that, too.