Washing machine repair saga


--- In April 2025 it failed again see update at bottom of this page. ---




Jan. 2024: This is a rewrite of the saga of fixing our washing machine now that it is finally fixed. The integration of images
and text is done in a rather crude way with preformatted text and line spacing... I'd be interested in hearing if this does
/ not work with your browser. It looks ok with Firefox on my desktop computer. I have not looked at it with a cell phone...
Note to those browsing with a smart phone

Fred fholson [at] cohousing.org 612-588-9532

In mid November 2023 we noticed that the agitator of our 1985 vintage Whirlpool washing machine (Model LA5580XM ) was
barely moving. It may have been this way for some time - who watches the washing machine while it's running?

At first I expected it to be an easy fix. There are numerous Youtube videos on fixing the problem by replacing the
"Agitator Directional Cogs" in the top of the agitator.  But the procedure did not apply to our 1985 machine.  For
starters our agitator is assembled differently. The basic problem was that the agitator (the plastic part) turned fairly
freely in either direction relative to the steel drive shaft that should drive it.

Older machines are reputedly more durable and trouble free. And it seemed like a fairly simple problem -- to get the
steel shaft to turn the plastic agitator. I made numerous attempts here in North Minneapolis -- trying various
approches, consulting others, taking the problem with pictures (but not the machine...) to a fixit clinic, getting a
repair manual that did not address our specific problem. All failed to solve the problem. I became obsesssed with fixing
it.

We did look at new machines and found used Speed Queen machines that have a great reputation. We washed clothes at
friend's.

I finally came up with a unique approach and got it working in early March 2024. It only took about 4 months to fix
it...

What follows is a chronlogical description modtly keyed to images I took along the way of various attempts to fix it,
ending with a description the fix that worked.

 

 Our agitator appeared to be held on by a nut on a 3/8 inch
 threaded rod (3/8") presumably coming from the top of the
 drive shaft. But since the drive shaft turned relative
 to the plastic agitator there was no way to hold the shaft
 from turning to unscrew the nut. I looked under the tub for
 a way to hold the shaft but found none.



























 

 I cut half way thru a another 3/8" nut and threaded it onto the threaded rod at
 the top of the agitator, leaving a gap between the "cut nut" and the nut holding
 the agitator. Using a vice grip to clamp the "cut nut" very tightly around the
 threads (and protect them) to hold the shaft and a box end wrench on the other
 nut I tried to loosen the latter. This failed to allow unscrewing the "nut".

 After closer examination of the agitator "nut", I concluded that this "nut" was
 an integral part of the threaded rod. If true, this implied that it was a stud;
 that is it had threads on both ends, This stud is special having a head in the
 middle. I later learned it has different threads on each end. One end of the
 stud is screwed into the top of the drive shaft. But getting it loose still
 required holding the drive shaft still.

 I tried bolting a box end wrench on the head of the stud and hitting it with a
 big hammer (I do not have an impact wrench.)  Still no luck.


 

 About this time I pursued getting a 1985 vintage
 repair manual by interlibrary loan. Thanks to
 Natalie Hart of Sumner Library. It took several
 weeks and two attempts to get one from Indiana.
 Tho it did not correspond to our machine's
 agitator assembly exactly, it is very close. This
 image from the manual showed the stud screwed into
 the top of the drive shaft. Note that unlike our
 machine, the stud is under the plastic agitator
 which is held on by a plastic cap above the
 agitator that screws onto the stud. On ours, the
 stud head is on top of the plastic agitator and
 holds it on.
















 This image from the manual showed that the plastic
 agitator engaged the drive shaft with grooves.
 Apparently the grooves in our agitator or shaft
 were stripped. But since I could not get the
 agitator off I could not be sure.






















   


 I had started pondering drilling thru the plastic to try and grip the shaft
 somehow. I drilled 3 (5/32") holes spaced around the agitator thru the
 plastic agitator but my drill bit did not seem sharp enough to drill into the
 shaft much.

 I cut off nails to go in the holes.

 Note this image is actually from later but looks very similar to the nails
 version; it has hex head bolts instead of nails. The stud is not shown in
 this later image.
















 

 I put a stainless steel screw clamp around the nails to hold them in.

 Again this image is from later but similar to this stage of the saga.

 This improved the connection between the shaft and the agitator but when I
 tried using the machine (with water and clothes) it agitated about 30 degrees
 back and forth while the stud rotated about 180 degrees.



















I thought maybe if I could hold the nails tighter to the shaft than the screw clamp allowed it would work better. I
considered a short section of steel pipe around nails and wedges driven between the nails and pipe to get more grip
between shaft and agitator.

I went to my local hardware store to get a better drill bit. I discussed possible fixes in depth with John Guion at
North End Hardware and got some ideas about possible approaches. Suitable pipe would be availble there but not suitable
wedges. I did not know how long the pipe piece should be on that trip.  I got neither at that time. John suggested
drilling and tapping holes in the pipe for set screws. This is a great idea but getting the drilled holes to line up
with the existing holes in the plastic agitator seemed like a big challenge and I did not want to drill more holes in
the plastic.

John also suggested bolting a very large washer onto the stud to hold the pipe, wedges or screw clamp in place.

  


 I drilled holes in the shaft and made better set screws to go in them. Using the very
 hard cobalt 5/32" drill bit, I easily made holes in the shaft about 3/16".
 Unfortunately the tub prevented the drill from being at right angles. It was maybe
 75-80 degrees. (see "offset" below") I carefully measured the depth of the hole and
used oil and  drilled slowly as John suggested.

 I ground down 1/4" fine threaded, hardened bolts to serve as set screws. Image
 shows 2 bolts -- before and after grinding.


















  


 I enlarged the holes in the plastic to 1/4 inch. The set screws threaded into
 the plastic.  When screwed in completely the end of the set screw goes into the
 hole in the shaft.  This greatly increases the connection between the agitator
 and the shaft. In this image one set screw is not screwed in far to show itself.






















 


 But since the plastic is not strong enough to hold the set screws very well, I
 used the screw clamp to hold them into the holes. The set screws now went into
 the shaft.























  


 Once the agitator gripped the shaft I got the stud out!

























  


 With the stud out I removed the agitator. The drive shaft surface where it
 engaged the agitator is very corroded and there is almost no sign of grooves.
























  

 This image of the shaft is a bit blurry but does show one of the
 drilled holes into it.
 These holes and the set screws (ground down bolts) that go in them are what
 really make the connection between the shaft and the plastic agitator.
















  


 This image is the inside of the plastic agitator from the bottom. The grooves
 that should engage the shaft are so far in it is hard to observe their condition.
























Getting the agitator off did allow me to refine holes in the shaft that the set screws engage. I measured the depth of
the holes in the shaft better. Note that much more depth would encounter the thread where the stud screws into.

  


 So here is how the assembled repair looks.

 Note the large washers bolted to the stud to hold the clamp in place.






















  



 Note that where 3 set screws go thru the plastic are exposed to all the forces.
 If they wear the plastic this fix could fail.  An alternative would be to put
 more holes and set screws below the existing ones. This would require an offset
 drill like this to drill holes at a right angle. North End Hardware rents them.






























April 2025 update.
After about a year my fix failed and the agitator is not turning much.
That is the plastic agitator does not turn with the drive shaft - not much at least.
I am again having trouble removing the "stud" that holds the agitator on.
I am thinking of drilling a 1/4" hole all the way thru the shaft below
where the stud screws in and putting a stainless steel bolt all the
way thru.  This will require renting an offset drill (above)


  

A few days after writing the above... I did rent a drill at my local hardware store but the chuck
was not a full 90 degrees from the handle.

I bought a cobalt 1/4" bit. There was not space to start the bit at 90 degrees tho close.
I drilled thru the plastic agitator at this angle and then got to 90 degrees from the the shaft.
I was careful to be aligned properly to go thru the center the shaft as well a possible.
It was not too difficult to drill the hole and it came out about the right place on the far side.
I rented the drill for the 2 hour minimum but it only took about an hour including returning the
drill by bicycle. So far this fix looks great. I have not gotten the "stud" out again but decided I
do not really need to.

This page is maintained by Fred H Olson . Fred's Link page