4KSB5ER4 KitchenAid Blender - Instructions

KitchenAid Blender: The directions said to use a screw driver to pry off the old drive coupling, and then clean out any remaining broken pieces. The drive coupling screws on so that did not make sense to me. I called KitchenAid and they gave me a number of the closest KitchenAid dealer. I was told that I needed to be careful not to bend the drive shaft; I would need to find some way to secure the drive shaft from turning while unscrewing (a reverse screw) the drive coupling. Find the appropriate size thin ignition wrench. Remove the old coupling and screw on the new coupling.

Turned the mixer on its side and slid the part into the bottom of the base.

I removed the bottom part of the blender and added the seal to the blade area, screwed it back on and voila! I appreciate that it was so easy.

The first thing I did--and the first thing you should do--is to read the other repair stories. There are some that recommend prying the coupling off, and some that recommend bicycle wrenches, and some that advocate the use of pliers. Use the strategy that fits the tools you have at hand; the person who actually ground down a wrench is way more dedicated and hard-core handy than I had time to be. Also, prying round things with a flathead? Surefire way to have the screwdriver slip off the drive shaft and go right through your hand. Ouch.

I didn't have a thin enough tool to grip the drive shaft just below the coupling, but I did have a flathead screwdriver narrow enough in diameter to put it through the vent and the fan blades at the bottom of the base--and long enough to fit all the way up through the blades to the motor, to prevent it from turning (6"). I had to insert and re-insert the screwdriver through the bottom a couple of times, until I got an angle that actually prevented the motor from turning (pretty close to straight in, straight up).

Motor secure, I turned the broken coupling CLOCKWISE to unscrew it (thanks for the heads up, fellow repairpeople!). The first turn need an assist from a big pair of pliers, but after that I unscrewed the old and screwed on the new coupling by hand. Easy!

Kitchenaid has a site for self repair videos. I watched the video and did what they suggested. You have to pry the drive coupler off its drive motor. It is screwed on and you can't unscrew it. So you are actually stripping the drive from the motor shaft. It seems destructive at first but just work it gently and keep the housing surface protected from the screwdriver shaft so as not to scratch it.

Continue to pry the coupler loose evenly by gradual turns and prying until it comes off. It will take about 5 minutes or so to do it firmly and evenly as you spin the shaft 30 degrees at a time.

Then you just clean off the shaft screw of any old metal shavings remaining from the old coupler and gently screw on the new one (counter clockwise)so as not to strip it.

Good as new. I love the Blender and the cool blade for making smoothies.

Happy repairs!

a special wrench should have been provided, due to the small space available under the coupling. I had to cut the existing damaged part off in order to grasp the shaft, to remove the old part.

you should provede a wrench and instructions with future sales. the average person would have returned the part for credit, and bought a new blender. i repaired it. L. Clauss, ME.

Popped off old drive with a screw driver. About 30 seconds after receiving it from FedEx I screwed it on and it was ready to go!

I followed the instructions as provided and as seen on your video. If I had not seen your video repair clip I would have had the blender all apart. Thanks. I saved an expensive appliance.

This was quite simple and easy to replace.

A 5/16" thin wrench fits the shaft beneath the coupling. The shaft has a flat side on it. The coupling comes of easily turning clock-wise for the reverse threads..

This is my favorite blender and I wasn't willing to buy a new one without trying to repair it. I have replaced other components of the motor but the grooves finally wore out and needed replacement so that the blades would rotate. I really didn't need the dome assembly but thought the new blades would be sharper so, might as well change it too. A flat head screwdriver was recommended for removal of the drive coupling. I found that it was digging grooves into the metal ring in the base - which would not have damaged the operation - so I took an old pair of (very dull) steel calipers, covered the ends and it popped right off. I had it up and running in less than five minutes.

I tried turning defective coupler off after inserting a narrow screw driver into the motor fan bladed. That did not work. I then used a wide bladed flat-head screw driver to pry the defective coupler disc off the motor shaft. After prying each side over and over, the old coupler base broke free. I cleaned the remnants of the base from the threaded shaft and then screwed the new coupler on only finger tight. It went on easily. For less than $15.00 (including shipping) we now have a working blender that hopefully will last another 10 years.

As per instructions provided plus other internet advice, we used a large (10 in) flat blade screw driver to pry and remove the existing damaged coupling. There was a small amount of aluminum thread residue left from the old coupling on the motor shaft. We removed this debris, 'lefty tighty'd' the new one and we were blending again! Really simple. We thought about making a 7MM wrench, then we went to our bicycle repair tools, but we the smallest Shimano we had was 10MM. All is well, we have used the blender 3 times with ice and thick stuff with no problems.

Per directions, I pried the drive off the screw. I was surprised that the drive came off the screw by just a prying action, but that's how it's done. The metal base to the drive is softer than the screw so there was no stripping of the screw threads. Then I just threaded the new drive onto the screw and done.

The longest time spent was in getting the part out of the package and reading the directions. All told it took less than 5 minutes.

The rubber part of the drive appears to be very brittle as it chipped off the drive gears. But it was easy to repair and they do last about 5 years.

followed on line instructions. Real easy to do. Now I have my blender back.