Should bottom agitator always spin freely?

Washer Repair
1

Hello,
Our washer, Whirlpool Estate Washer Model LSR7233BW, has just had several problems: The drive coupler and agitator dogs disintegrated. We replaced the coupler and dogs and cleaned the whole washer. Now we are afraid to try it because the bottom agitator cannot be moved by hand when the unit is turned off, like we used to be able to do.
My questions are:
[LIST=1]

  • Should the bottom agitator always move freely?
  • If so, could we damage anything if we turned the washer on to find out if it works?
  • What conditions would cause the bottom agitator to seize up?
  • How do we correct these problems?
    [/LIST]

Thank you for your help.

2

If the washer was stopped during agitation, you would not be able to move the lower agitator easily. If stopped in drain/spin, then yes, it should rotate freely. When you replaced the motor coupler, you may have rotated the gearcase input shaft in such a way as to place it in agitate mode in which case you would not be able to freely rotate the lower agitator.

Eric