Hi: I believe I’ve got a bad clutch on my Whirlpool LA5558XSW0. I’m trying to take the agitator out, as described in the videos.
However, the upper agitator piece came out, but the agitator base is stuck. I’ve yanked, pulled, and sworn at it, but it won’t budge.
Ideas?
I’m thinking that I might be able to loosen the motor assembly from underneath and pull it out, but I thought I should check here first.
Thank you!
Take a look at this diagram.
https://www.appliancepartspros.com/04-agitator-basket-parts-for-whirlpool-la5558xsw0.html
Part #4 is a bolt that holds the agitator in. Once its out the clothes mover, agitator dogs and other parts can be removed. The lower part of the agitator should pull straight up.
Yes, I removed that 7/16 bolt. After doing so, the top part of the agitator pulled off, but the bottom part won’t pull out.
Sometimes they can be really hard to remove. It does pull straight up. I used to be pretty strong and I had a hard time with a few of them. They used to make this rubber thing shaped like a tire only very thin and with one side open. You would slide it under the agitator and then inflate and it would push the agitator up and off. I never had one, but I thought about it.
That sounds like a cool tool. I could use one now. I bought this washer in 1989, so the shaft has had plenty of time to ‘weld’ itself to the plastic.
I’m going to tip the unit and loosen the bolts on the tranny, and see if I can’t yank it out that way since I’ll have more leverage.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Good idea!
I wasn’t able to pull out the shaft from the bottom, so I’m off to find a board.
Thanks.
That worked! Damn, you’re good.
Thank you.
Moving this to a new thread, as the issue in the Subject has been solved.
But my next problem is that the transmission/motor assembly will only drop about 2 inches, which is about how far the shaft is sticking out above the spanner nut.
Everything is so corroded, it’s hard to tell if I need to remove other parts to drop the motor/trans.
Ideas?
I can’t find a way to post a photo here, but mine looks just like the image at the 2:00 mark in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uvnjLif5o&t=121s
Thanks.
[quote=ThatGuy;920755]https://www.fixya.com/uploads/images/wash-machine-agitator-washing-machine-3gtroy05deocb4x2c1cgsv5x-3-5.jpg
This might work just protect the top of the washer.
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Thanks! I’ve had the agitator off multiple times before over three decades (I use a syringe and needle to oil the top bushing when it starts to squeal), but I have just put the machine screw back in an tapped it with a hammer (risking brinneling a bearing in the xmission, I suspect). It didn’t work this time and my back is getting old, but an adaptation of the trick you illustrated did the job. I had the steel cable from an old garage door opener and with a piece of 2x3, after putting the cable under the agitator and wrapping each end around the wood a couple of times and holding both with a clamp, out it popped with almost no effort!
I feel your pain. I had trouble getting the agitator off, and I’m having the exact problem with the shaft hanging up - not allowing me to get it out. In the videos, they slide out smoothly and easily. So should I get a bigger hammer? Wondering how you solved it.
