[tresor]

hi Gene, We do not have a spanner wrench and were a bit cautious and concerned about trying to use the hammer. The wrench is on order and will arrive in a few days. We did try to spin the agitator by hand, and it turns freely enough. I am assuming that is the same as what was stated in the thread you sent, "If you find the spin basket is tight on the spin tube, then you probably have a failed clutch, just check"

Is that correct?
thank you again for your time & assistance. maria

[Gene]

Hi Maria,

No, it's not the same. The agitator is seating on the transmission shaft and is not attached to the spin tube in any way.

Gene.

[tresor]

hi Gene, We do not have a spanner wrench, already have it on order. We'll check the drive block once it arrives.

[fairbank56]

You don't really need to remove the tub nut to inspect the drive block. Just remove the agitator, thoroughly clean the top of the drive block and agitator shaft so you can see well, and just make sure the tabs on the drive tube are engaged into the slots on the drive block. If the drive block is bad, the inner circumference of it will be worn down so that the slots are no longer there or worn enough that they don't solidly engage the drive tube tabs.

Eric

[tresor]

hi Eric,
Thank you for your response, it is exactly the type of info we were looking for.

Can you also tell me what to look for on the clutch when we check it? We are planning to do this work on Wednesday and would just like to be armed with as much good information as possible.
Your help is so appreciated.
maria

[fairbank56]

The best way is to observe the clutch hub while the machine is in spin mode. On the typical Whirlpool machine, we remove the cabinet and jump out the lid switch to do this. Iv'e not serviced your particular model and while it's a Whirlpool direct drive design, there are some differences so I'm not sure about removing panels to get to the internals of your machine. Anyway, if your able to gain access and view the clutch hub while it's operating, if you can see that the clutch hub is spinning but the basket is not or is spinning slower than the hub seems to be, then the clutch band which is inside the hub is likely slipping. If the hub is spinning slowly and in synch with the basket, then you have other issues.

Eric

[tresor]

thank you, Eric, this is extremely helpful!

[tresor]

We are installing the new clutch. The old clutch has 6 black pads all around and the new one has only 3 whit pads. Is this ok? Seems like the new pads don't slip, but just seems odd. Any info is welcome. The old drive block looked fine.

[fairbank56]

Well that's interesting. Those are usually just used in very large capacity washers and yours is a compact one. The 6 pad clutch band is available but I wouldn't worry about it, the 3 pad one is used almost exclusively.

Eric

[tresor]

We seem to have successfully installed the new clutch BUT now we reassembled all and did a test run with clothes in the machine. When it filled with water, it seemed normal, then when it began to agitate and when it spins there is a loud constant humming buzz that never happened before. Your thoughts? Thank you!