[richappy]

Seems like a bad tranny if you have intermittent problems. A jamming tranny will cause the motor bearings to fail.

[GaryK]

I was afraid of that. So, motor and tranny - about $300 in parts and then what else will go? It is 19 years old. Sounds like time for a new washer (Please feel free to disagree if you do and explain why).

So if I go the new route, what would you recommend in a new front loader (if you don't recommend front loaders, please share why - are they breakdown prone?). I was looking on line at the Kenmore 4757 and LG WM2016C which appear to be in the $700-800 range.

I would appreciate anything you could recommend or things I should look for or avoid.

[richappy]

I send customers to Home Depo or Lowes for appliances. In my service experience, I have seen little problems with Frigidaire front loaders and Whirlpool.
I like Frigidaire fro ease of repair and less electronics, Whirlpool for their reliability.

[GaryK]

Any thoughts regarding Bosch (they are a little more expensive - $900-1000)?

Also, should I be at all concerned about direct drive vs belt drive? The LG washers advertise they are direct drive and I know my current Whirlpool top loader was direct drive.

[richappy]

I understand Bosh washers are easy to work on, but a little difficult to get parts.
I would choose the Whirlpool HE front loader over Bosh.
The Whirlpool direct drive washers are very reliable and relatively easy to repair.

[GaryK]

Aren't the HE models top loaders? I thought the front loaders were the HT models and looking at the parts schematics on this website, are belt driven.