I made a lid switch jumper cable so I could watch and record a video of the drivetrain as recommended in another thread:

http://forum.appliancepartspros...d-switch.html#post801262

Mine isn't exactly either of those situations. The hub is spinning, but towards the end of the video I made, you can see what is more obvious in person: the hub doesn't seem to be spinning constantly. It seems to start and stop, and I am wondering if the transmission isn't spinning it fast enough for the clutch to fully engage and drive the rest of the drive train. Take a look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzH9UdhrI1I

Considering that the clutch pads look fine, that could be it.

The only other thing I know to do is to check the temperature of the hub to see if a lot of friction is causing it to heat up as suggested in this video (which he says is indicative of a bad clutch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q942xn_2VXY

I did lick my finger and touch it several minutes after I recorded my video, and it was very hot. However, if the tranny is never fully engaging the clutch (thus friction).. that would make sense, and it might not be a clutch issue!! I really think this is the transmission. Can anyone confirm or shed additional light?

Edit: I found another post by fairbank56 where they provided a similar, but more detailed troubleshooting method, and it seems to further confirm my theory, because the brake spring is spinning with the clutch whenever it spins fast, and stopping when the clutch stops.

from here: http://forum.appliancepartspros...-install.html#post851026

One other thing to note, the legs in the back of this thing weren't extended, so I think it's never been level since I got it. I am thinking that could explain why the drive coupler broke a while back, due to extra stress from an off balance tub. The transmission should be more robust, but might have just broken due to old age and the extra stress might have brought it to its knees faster. Thoughts on that?

Regardless, assuming I'm right and it's the transmission, which is around $150 to replace, I'm wondering if I should just get a new washer instead. This thing was bought used and is kinda rusty and dirty. I prefer to "reduce, reuse, recycle" instead of buying new things all the time but I'm just not sure. How much could I get a decent simple washer for? New or used?

Oops. I made both my videos public. Sorry about that and thanks for letting me know.

Before I ordered the parts I wanted to see if that was it. Looks like it was. One half of the spin gear is stripped:





I drained the oil. Should I wash it out with a garden hose before I put the new oil in?



As for resealing the transmission, I already have some "GE Silicone II White Premium Waterproof Silicone Window/Door/Attic/Basement 3 Hr Rain Ready" silicone. I did just notice it says use by 03/13 with that said, will this work or do I need a more standard silicone?

Finally, I am concerned about what caused this (and perhaps my motor coupler failure a while back). I read in another thread it could be bad brake shoes or something stuck in between the tub and basket. The diagnostic provided to check the brake shoes was to removethe pump and motor and spin the coupler attached to the transmission, if it was hard, that indicated bad brake shoes. I never tried that though and obviously my transmission had other issues.

The other thing is I can't get my basket out. I can move it up and down about 1/4" but it stops almost like there is something else holding it in. I did remove the spanner nut, but it still won't budge. Apparently this is common and due to soap and dirt building up in the drive tube area. One person tried everything and didn't get it to budge until they poured boiling water into it (to melt the soap), which did the trick. I haven't tried that yet. Part of the the process that confuses me is that some say you just need to put a lot of force into it, but I can't because when I lift on the basket the whole transmission, motor and pump come with it.. Its all connected to the suspension which keeps it relatively fluid so lifting it is only as forceful as the gravity acting on those those three components and the speed at which I can jerk it.

Thanks, I also checked the parts list for the gear case for my washer and saw that it was Loctite 515. I couldn't get it locally so I ordered it, making sure I got the same size referenced, .20 FL OZ (6 mL), because this was cheaper than larger quantities. Now that I have it here in front of me I don't see how it's going to be enough to cover the case and cover like done in the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...=player_detailpage#t=466

Does this guy use more than necessary, or does the sealer in this little bottle spread out more than I can imagine?

If it's not going to be enough, I'm tempted to go buy a bigger bottle of this
Permatex Anaerobic Gasket Maker (1.69 oz) Part No. 51813, which I can get locally at auto parts stores.

Regarding the syl-glyde on the brake drum, I may try that if I can't get the tub out. My local auto parts store has that stuff too (American Grease Stick Co. LUBRICANT SIL-GLYDE).

As far as getting the tub out, it feels impossible but I've read it just needs a lot of force and/or time and patience to get it out. One person said they poured boiling water in the whole drive tube assembly to get it to loosen, with the theory that it was gunked up with soap, and that warm water would dissolve that. It worked for them but I wondered if that was unwise considering boiling water might remove grease/oil that needed to be in there. Any thoughts on that idea?

Regarding your idea of tapping on the drive block with a large drift pin and hammer while two people lift on the tub, I have a question on that. I have never used a drift pin, but I see some listed here:

Klein Tools - Barrel-Type Drift Pins from Seton.com, Stock items ship TODAY, Custom ships FAST!



Do you mean like that? And if so I imagine I would drop it vertically inside the drive block until it stopped and then hammer on the top of the pin, but there is another narrower diameter tube inside/below my drive block, so I don't see how I could do that. What do you mean or what am I missing?

Here is the top part of my drive assembly:





FWIW, while it's hard to tell in the pictures, the two tabs from the spin tube both seem to be intact when viewing it in person.

One other question. I read somewhere else that you shouldn't remove the tub while the transmission shaft is not in place (like in my current situation) because the "turbine oil" could get out. Did I remember that right or does that make sense?

In the mean time I am going to replace the spin gear and pinion which I am picking up from a store locally.

Again, thanks for all your help. Do you work for Appliance Parts Pros or do you do this in your free time?

Okay, well thank you for helping out. If you have an amazon wish list or something like that I may have to buy you something after this.

I have a new problem that frustrates me and makes me want to just buy a whole new transmission, or wish that I already did. The problem is that after putting in the new spin gear and mating pinion and gasket sealing the case, when I turn the input shaft clockwise a lot, after it eventually starts rotating the clutch, every few turns it will resist more and more until finally I can't turn it at all with my fingers. I noticed something similar when I turned it counter-clockwise, except it didn't seem to get worse and worse that I remember, it just eventually locked up.

To be honest, when I was testing this out with it still open on the vice with the new gears I noticed something similar, though I thought it was because it wasn't closed up: the gear that lays on top of the worm gear at the bottom would regularly push up and out of the threads of the worm gear. I thought that was because the top wasn't on, though, like I said, but now I'm thinking that was a problem in and of itself, which could be causing these other problems.

I looked closely at the worm gear and the gear that goes on top of it and both looked fine. Here are some pictures







There is obvious wear on this, which might be more reason to get a whole new gear case (because I can't see that you can even buy the bottom gear and worm gear separately, looks like you have to buy all this: Whirlpool 285515 Bottom and Pinion Gear Case - AppliancePartsPros.com and it's not even available now):





EDIT: I went ahead and called a local appliance parts shop about a new gear case. Before you correctly theorized that the spin gear was stripped I was planning on buying it from them. It's in their warehouse now but they're bringing it to the storefront tomorrow if I want to purchase it.

Let me know what you think of my gear case's current behavior, if it's caused by me putting it together wrong (when I first noticed the gear popping out I reviewed videos on the function of the gear case and took it apart and put it back together once but it still popped out), or if this is likely because of worn out parts.