https://www.appliancepartspros.com/parts-for-whirlpool-lsc8245an0.html
The above link is for visual reference of the illustrated parts drawings.
What happened:
One day last week the machine was operating fine while in its first agitate cycle after the tub fill. I decided to stop the machine and start the agitate cycle over again to give the towels more time wash. The longest agitate cycle is only 14 minutes. Upon restarting the machine, the machine would not restart. All that was happening at that point was the drive motor was buzzing but not turning. The longer I let it buzz, the hotter it got and started giving off fumes.
These are the possibilities I suspected:
- seized up motor drive coupling
- seized up water pump impeller
- seized up transmission
- seized up basket drive
At that point it was time to pull the cabinet off so that I could rotate the drive coupling by hand; it rotated fine. I then suspected the water pump was seized up, so I removed it and turned it by hand with an extension. It didn’t turn as easy as I’d like it to, but it wasn’t seized up. I then oiled the water pump shaft a little bit. Next step was to pull the motor and transmission out because I suspected a seized up transmission. I pulled the motor and transmission out and then separated them. I turned them each by hand separately to see if they would rotate freely. I then coupled them together to see if they would rotate freely together. They rotated fine while being coupled together. The motor rotation in one direction will cause the transmission shaft to agitate and then the motor rotation in the reverse direction will cause the transmission shaft to spin.
At that point I proceeded to do some electrical checks as per instructed by the service manual:
- Lid Switch (for continuity)
- Motor Capacitor (for capacitance)
- Motor Start Switch (for continuity)
- Motor Leads (for ohms values)
They all passed their continuity and ohms tests.
As it sits now, the machine is completely disassembled. I have been thoroughly cleaning the machine as I go along. I will be replacing the tub gasket while I have the basket and tub out. I am now trying to decide whether I should replace the center post bearings and their accompanying seals while the machine is disassembled. About the only thing left that I can think of that would prevent the motor from turning is if the basket drive was seized to the center post bearings. My extensive research across the internet reveals no basket drives getting seized up. Just clutches wearing out which causes a slow spin. It seems as though I have a unique problem here.
What could possibly be keeping the drive motor from rotating while in the machine?