My washer started making a loud WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP when the brake is engaged (after each spin cycle). It does it the entire time the drum is slowing down and only while it is trying to brake.
I did some reading and some suggested changing the drive block. I bought the drive block and was thwarted in trying to get the original one off without the special tool - so I gave in and called a repair person. He played around a bit and ascertained that the issue was not the drive block, and instead was either the clutch or the brake.
He charged $80 and said it would be another trip and ton of money to fix it. He then said that he believed me to have the know how to change the brake/clutch myself.
I took it apart, expecting to see something physically broke and save having to change the whole thing. I took everything apart, and could not see ANYTHING physically broke with either the clutch or the brake. I next took the brake completely apart, and put it back together again. Hand testing, it appeared to work fine. I put the whole washer back together again, and viola the problem went away… for about four loads of laundry.
I once again have ripped it apart and it AGAIN looks fine. My first thought was brake shoes ($20). I have a hard time with this, as they look fine to me. The calipers, do not look bent or damaged and the pads do not look excessively work when compared to pictures on-line. Thus, I sincerely don’t believe the issue to be the shoes. I was toying with the idea of changing the entire brake ($80), which I don’t want to do if it is overkill - and I believe I have to remove the drive block to change the entire brake (again, I do not have that goofy tool, and banging it with a screwdriver does not work!).
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Brake shoes?
Entire brake?
If I need to change the entire brake, does the drive block need to be removed?
Thanks – this site is a godsend!!
[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#000000]-hj[/COLOR][/FONT]
The noise is very loud. Not something that sounds like WD-40 would fix. Also, when it makes the noise, the brakes do not seem to be working as they should - the drum takes longer than usual to slow down (about 7-10 seconds).
When the clutch is supposed to activate the brake, it looks like it is supposed to rotate the oblong metal block about a half turn, thus activate the brake. Could something be wrong in that it’s moving the oblong block into position but it isn’t locking in the brake position - and instead is rotating the block which would cause the brake to engaging and disengage, making the WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP noise?
Would this be a sign of transmission then instead of brake/clutch?
You’re going to need a new basket drive or spin tube is another term for it the new spin tube will come with the shoes for the clutch and istuctions what spring to use They never do show wear unless your eye is trained to see it …the bad thing you’ll still need the spanner wrench
I would buy the spanner wrench, remove the agitator and spin basket and inspect the tabs on the end of the spin tube. If worn, you need a new spin tube.
Gene - not diss’in you. I was offering more information that I may have neglected to mention. Wanted to see if you still believed WD-40 would fix it - no disrespect meant. My wife was hawking me to get it back together again, so I tried WD-40 while putting it back together. It unfortunately didn’t help.
I am going to see if I can get a wrench from someone to save me $35.
Thanks again for the advice all you guys! I will investigate the spin tube idea.
Man - dropping on a new washer after only 6 years would be miserable! I’ve fixed washers and dryers before, I can fix this. Proof… I know what a wig-wag is.
At this point I agree with Richappy and v2k04. The new spin tube with new brake shoes and probably the new drive block should solve the problem.
I could not guarantee WD-40 will fix it, but it was worth a try because it did work for me a few times with a similar problems and that’s why I did recommend it.
Put in the search box, “replacing direct drive brake shoes” and do the test in there.
If turning the coupler produces a rough spot, you may have a bad nylon gear in the tranny.
I finagled a spanner wrench to check the drive block. Rookie question - when I turn the spanner wrench it turns the entire basket. How do I lock the basket in place so I can really reef on the nut on the drive block to loosen it?
and…
richappy - I unfortunately believe you might be right about the transmission plastic. I entered “replacing direct drive brake shoes” in the search to see the post you are referring to, and it bring up several posts that really don’t sound related. Can you be more specific on the post?
After I get the nut off…
I’m going to change the drive block, since I already bought one before this expedition.
If that doesn’t fix it, and the spin tube teeth look okay, I am going to have to believe that you are correct.
If I stop the spin cycle that is making the thump thump thump noises, I can manually turn the drum and feel/hear it “catch”, as you are referring to.
Someone tell me how to lock the tub and I’m on to the next step!!!
Thanks a million all of you! If you need a computer or arcade game fixed, let me know - I owe you!
Okie - dokie… the planets aligned, I bought beer, and a buddy came over and we got the nut off. The spin tube looked fine, and so did the drive block.
Since I had it apart, and I had previously bought a drive block, I went ahead and changed it - what the heck. Figured out to snap off the top ring, pull out the inner basket. It all went fairly easy.
I put if back together, and was nervous about the thing completely not working; so I sat and watched a full “light load” normal cycle. About as entertaining as watching a BJ and the Bear re-run, but I did it. The first spin it seemed to make a bit of noise and be a bit off, but it looked better after a couple of runs.
All seems well! The agitate cycles look normal, the spin is normal speed, etc. No odd smells of burnt motor, no fire, no smoke - yah!
Time will tell, as the thing always works for a few loads when I rip it apart. I will continue this post as time goes on.
Curiosity question - does the spin post or the drive block move up and down any time throughout a cycle, or do the two notches always stay together (i.e. the spin tube goes around and then to spin, it snaps into the drive block notches…)
Used the heck out of the washer, probably 15 loads, and it sounds great! The drive block has fixed it.
What torques me is that I was set to replace it, from previous internet advice, except that I didn’t have the spanner wrench.
My logic was to call the repair man for $80. Since the wrench would already cost me $30, and a repair man would have one. For $50, I could have a pro come and truly diagnose it as the drive block, and have him change it. That way, if he didn’t believe it to be the drive block, I would be ahead. So, the guy shows up, took off the outside of the washer, spun the drum manually a few times and stated that it wasn’t the drive block - it was the brake or clutch. He essentially threw a red herring at me, charged me $80, and left - jerk! He said it would be another $250 to come back with the right parts. He was fortunately nice enough to tell me how to change it myself, which led me down the path I took - finding out the guy was an idiot.
Upon his advice, I spent all kinds of time looking at the brake and clutch, and could see that there was nothing wrong with it!!
You guys steered me right. EVERYONE BUY YOUR PARTS HERE!!! What other site has breakdown information for your appliance for free, and the best advice in the world!! Support this site - I bought my drive block here!
[quote=mtreu;47673]I finagled a spanner wrench to check the drive block. Rookie question - when I turn the spanner wrench it turns the entire basket. How do I lock the basket in place so I can really reef on the nut on the drive block to loosen it?
and…
richappy - I unfortunately believe you might be right about the transmission plastic. I entered “replacing direct drive brake shoes” in the search to see the post you are referring to, and it bring up several posts that really don’t sound related. Can you be more specific on the post?
After I get the nut off…
I’m going to change the drive block, since I already bought one before this expedition.
If that doesn’t fix it, and the spin tube teeth look okay, I am going to have to believe that you are correct.
If I stop the spin cycle that is making the thump thump thump noises, I can manually turn the drum and feel/hear it “catch”, as you are referring to.
Someone tell me how to lock the tub and I’m on to the next step!!!
Thanks a million all of you! If you need a computer or arcade game fixed, let me know - I owe you![/quote]
Have you solved the brake lockup problem yet? I have the same issue on my Kenmore 2003 Elite washer. Use the spanner wrench and hit the arms with a hammer in a counter clockwise direction. The nut will come loose this way. It will act as an impact wrench like one does when taking off the lug nuts of a car wheel when the wheel is not on the ground to hold it from turning.
For Neill, the article is a sticky above “replacing direct drive WASHER brake shoes”
If you have a thumping sound while the basket is spinning, you have worn tabs on top of the spin tube, the item that goes in the drive block. One solution for this is to file the tabs to get rid of the ramp on each tab.