7MLTG8234PQ1 Whirlpool Washer Dryer Combo - Instructions

This repair was a cinch. Pliers to pull out the metal piece and a screwdriver to pry out the 'catch' part in the door. Both replacement pieces went right in. I cannot believe how easy and CHEAP this fix was, and I'm so glad I found this site!! I figured I would have to call a repairman and pay big bucks, so I put it off, but the door was getting worse--slamming it so hard to keep it shut. Again, thanks for this great site.

I replaced the clutch and coupler. The clutch was well worn. My wife had washed three or four loads of heavy rugs and we think that was the cause of the premature wear. We now take the rugs to a commercial laundry. The coupler was OK but the new coupler has metal instead of plastic inserts so I decided to replace it while I had it torn apart. The machine is now running like it was new.

0.Disconnect supply hoses and electrical. Refer to the parts breakdown pictures on the PartSelect website. I refer to only the numbers so you may have to match the part to a particular diagram.
1. Remove the agitator by pulling up on the fabric softener dispenser #1. Clean out the excess liquid and "residual gunk". Grab one off the tabs of the plastic cap #23 and pull gently. The plastic cap (~ 3" in dia) is held in place by a rubber O-ring #24. The cap comes out easily exposing the bolt that holds the agitator to the drive shaft. Remove the bolt. and the agitator comes right out.
2. Turn the machine over on its front. You do not need to remove the back panel.
3. Get plenty of rags to soak up the water before you remove the hoses from the water pump #22 on the end of the motor. A quart or more remains in the pump and hoses. Remove the two hoses.
4. Disconnect the wiring harness from the motor#29. There is a small plastic "catch" on the bottom of the connector that must be lifted to remove the connector. It's kind of hard to see but it's there and it's part of the connector.
5. Remove the three bolts #10 that hold the gearcase #9 to the bottom of the tub assembly.
6. Remove the gearcase, the drive shaft, the motor, and the water pump as one unit. You will need to lift them a little to get clearance because the tub has settled down. Just lift the tub and all and pull the assembly out. Get them out to a spot where you have room to work on them. The water pump may still have bit of water.
7. Replacing the clutch. Remove the clutch parts from the bag and lay them out where you can see everything. Refer to the instructions in the bag to select the correct spring and to see how the keeper spring is installed. Remove the washer, keeper ring, and clutch assembly, and plastic clip#15 remembering the order and the orientation. Install the new clutch in reverse order.
8. You will have one plastic part #15 left over. It goes on the bottom of the tub after you remove a key ring.
9. Replacing the coupler. note the orientation of the water pump#22 and remove it by removing the two retainers #21. set it aside.
10. Remove the screws#23 and retainer clips#17. Separate the motor#20 from the gearcase#9 to expose the coupler. Replace the coupler, reattach the motor to the gearcase, and the water pump to the motor.
11. The reassembly is pretty much a reverse of the assembly.

I took the two screws for the control panel out and tilted it up and back. Then remove the two metal clips which held the outer panel to the back panel. After disconnecting the power and water I tipped the washer on its back. I had to remove two clips to take the water pump off of the motor, then removed the two screws and clips which held in the motor. After removing the motor, I found the coupler was bad. To remove the gearcase, I took out the softener dispenser and removed one bolt to take out the agitator. Under the agitator was a clip. Three bolts held the gearcase to the frame. After removing them, the gearcase pulled straight out the bottom. Replacement was just a reverse process, with the addition of a light coat of grease to the gearcase shaft.

Removed the gearbox from the drum and removed the direct drive motor from the gearbox. Disassembled gearbox and drained gear oil. Rebuilt the neutral drive assembly with the ordered parts. Cleaned sealing surfaces. Filled gearbox with new gear oil. Sealed and re-installed the top cover to the gearbox. Reattached motor and then reinstalled assembly to drum and clutch (installed new clutch lining at this time as well).

Tilted washer onto its back and removed the "cardboard" bottom sound absorption cover (2 sheet metal screws). This provides access to the pump that is located on top of the motor. Slid off each of the 2 clamps that secure the two drain hoses using slip joint pliers. Then popped loose the 2 metal holddown bracket clamps that secure the pump housing to the motor.
The next step gave me a real fit... the pump housing is supposed to just lift off the motor shaft with little effort but mine was a bear. No matter how much I pulled and tugged, it didn't want to budge. Because the motor assembly is mounted on a semi-moveable suspension, when I grabbed the pump and pulled, the whole motor assembly tended to move too. I eventually had to resort to using 2 large flat blade screwdrivers to pry the pump off ... CAUTION!!! Be careful not to put too much force because you can dent the motor shaft grease housing (which I did). Fortunately, I didn't dent it enough to poke a hole in it but it was deformed...
And the reason it didn't want to come off easily was - the shaft had been getting wet which caused some rusting/pitting of the shaft. Although the pump housing is all plastic, the shaft was rusted tight on it. It did come off after much tugging and prying. Otherwise this would be a very easy repair.
Put the new pump in place but it wouldn't go on the shaft until I took some sandpaper and removed as much of the rust as I could. I put a little grease (vaseline) on the motor shaft and pump housing connection to make it easier to slip on. Aligned the motor shaft and pump housing - it is keyed (meaning it only goes on one way due to the shape of the motor shaft). Once keyed on properly, it slid down easily. Reattached the 2 metal holdown brackets and reattached the 2 drain hoses. Replaced the bottom cover.
I did not encounter very much water in the hoses but be advised there can be enough water to get things wet (motor, floor) so you may want to have a small container to get as much water out of the hoses. Also having towels to catch any water remaining in the pump housing so it doesn't end up spilling onto the motor (a bad thing). Of course one has to UNPLUG the electrical cord BEFORE beginning this repair! Also you will most certainly need to shut off the incoming water lines and disconnect the hoses to allow you to move the washer to a position that makes it easy to get to bottom.
That's all I can think of... a simple repair that should go quick if the motor shaft isn't rusted on!
Good Luck...

P.S. I figured the drain pump was leaking AFTER I removed the bottom cover and looked for water evidence here and there. Suspected the pump but couldn't be sure until I set the washer back up normally and ran a cycle. Using a mirror I checked to see where the drips were coming from.

I removed the two screws holding the front panel to expose the lower works and verified the heating cycle failure. After a check of the vent system, checking the sensors for continuity and coils for resistance, I retired to the 'net for support. Accepting the general consensus that the most frequent, common and likely failure to be the coils, I rechecked them with the meter and found the two pronged coil to have significantly more resistance than the three prong coil. That was enough evidence to point to the coils. While I waited for the part to arrive, I replace the vent ducting. When the parts arrived I removed the two Phillips screws holding the coils, removed the old ones, installed the new ones, replaced the bracket, put the front cover back on and in less then ten minutes clothes where drying.

First, I removed two screws holding the bottom fiberboard panel in place, and the panel, to gain access to the motor, transmission, and pump. Unfortunately, I had the machine tilted to the front, and didn't have room to release the pump. I had to set the machine back up, and get manuvered around so I could lay it on it's back (I was working in the confines of a small laundry room). Once on it's back, I released the two clips holding the pump with a flat head screwdriver, lifted it up and out of the way without having to disconnect any of the piping, then I released the two clips holding the motor, again with a flathead screwdriver, disconnected the wiring plugs, and capacitor wires, then lifted the motor up and out of the machine. I then removed the two bolts holding the motor mounting plate to the transmission. Then, again using a large flat head screwdriver, I pried the transmission coupling half off the transmission shaft, I had to work it up, while turning the shaft, and then the same for the motor half. I then wiped off both shafts, and gently tapped both coupling halves back onto the shafts,
( this is easier using a socket that is just large enough to go over the shafts). Then I reinstalled the motor mounting plate, slipped the rubber coupling onto the transmission coupling half, lifted the motor into place, and rotated from the pump end to line up with the remaining holes on the rubber coupling. I then reinstalled the clips used to hold the motor in place, reinstallation only took thumb pressure to snap back into place, then, I reinstalled the pump, using the same method, and reconnected the wiring plugs and copacitor leads. Lastly, I reinstalled the fiberboard panel into the bottom, and set the machine upright, slid back into place, and reconnected the hoses and electrical, and tested the machine. Worked perfectly.
In actually took longer to disconnect the machine, and get it out and back in, than it did to replace the coupling.

First I removed the fabric softener container and set it aside. Below that, there is a plastic cover with a rubber gasket that distributes the fabric softener. I also just pulled that out and set it aside. Below that was an 11mm bolt that attached the upper and lower agitator to the drive mechanisim. The lower agitator is attached directly to the shaft and that was working properly so I knew it was't a motor or drive issue. Until it broke, the top half of the agitator sat still for a second, then it turned clockwise with the lower agitator. This helped push the clothes down to the lower part to be circulated throughout the wash cycle. Well, now the upper agitator just sat there, like it wasn't attached to anything at all. Below the aforementioned plastic cover with the rubber gasket, I found a part that had 4 plastic "teeth" that moved in and out, releasing and grabbing the inside of the upper agitator, respectively. Over time, these teeth wore down and stopped "grabbing" the ridges on the inner part of the upper agitator, causing it to stop turning with the lower agitator. I removed the 11mm bolt and tried to seperate the upper agitator from the lower agitator to replace the teeth. This part was kind of tough to get out because the plastic clips that held it in were deformed. I just had to pull hard and eventually it came apart. In the process, I broke two of the clips. I wasn't really concerned because the 11mm bolt holds everything in place anyway. After that I just swapped out the worn teeth with the new ones. I put it back together in the opposide order I took it apart and viola....good as new. And it only cost me $15 bucks.

I have to admit that before attempting to replace the clutch, I had no clue how to do it. With the help of the diagram of the parts, I was able to access from the internet at PartSelect.com. I felt comfortable enough to attempt the repair because the diagram was easy to read and accurate.

Everything had to be accessed from the bottom of the machine. I tipped the machine backwards enough get under it. To replace the clutch, I had to remove the motor drive. To do so, I disconnected the electrial to the drive motor by simply unconnecting the quick connect harness. I then removed two screws from the two retainer brackets located one on top and one on the bottom. Once this was done the motor drive simply dropped down. I then removed the three bolts holding the gear case to the tub. I had to remove one bolt from inside the tub underneath the fabric softner dispenser. Once this was done the gear case slid out. The clutch sit on top of the gear case. I then simply removed the old clutch and installed the new clutch by reversing the process. The only real difficulty that I had was with the retainer ring. Once done, I reinstalled the gear case and motor drive. I would suggest replacing the direct-drive coupling at this time. I had earlier replaced the coupling hoping to solve the problem. The coupling was redesigned and is more likely to last longer than the orginal coupling.

I did NOT have to repair the latch on the actual door, just the small metal piece that it hooks on (on the dryer itself) and it took about 10 seconds to.....do it myself. Just used needle nose pliers so squeeze the piece together and fit it in. thanks

Step 1) Take off top cap with a flat head screw driver.

2) unscrew bolt (may need extension as it may be deep in the agitator.)

3) Take upper agitator off.

4) remove clog retainer and clogs.

5) insert new clogs and re-assemble.

total time 10 to 15 min.

1 Unplug power.
2. Remove the front of the unit by removing the two screws at the bottom of the front panel. Front dryer panel will swing out from the bottom and then the clips will release the top of the panel, careful not to disconnect the dryer door switch. ( can be unplugged to remove the front panel out of the way.)
3. Looking inside the unit on the right side you will see the gas value. On top of the gas unit you will see two small coils the coil closest to the burner has two leads on it. Remove the two screws to get to the coils, remove the medal plate, remove the connector then lift off the secondary coil. Replace and test. You can test unit with the front panel off. (be careful). If no heat, check that the Flat Style igniter is glowing. (ohm out both coils) before ordering parts. Intermittent heat problems. I replaced the secondary coil, it did ohm out o:k but it had swollen and was very tight on the shaft.

Remove the washing machine cabinet. Use a large flat head screwdriver to pry/wedge the tub suspension apart and gain access to the pad locations one at a time. My old pads were completely gone, so there was no need to remove them. Clip the new pads into place and re-install the cabinet.

This completely solved the violent chaking problem. There was no need to replace springs.

First I removed back and top of dryer, then the support braces holding the drum, after that I took the drum out and the blower covers and cleaned the whole dryer of lint and other debris. Installed the new belt and then reassembled the dryer.

I removed the top cover and then the back cover, released the belt tensioner and removed the drive belt. Then slid the tub out of the unit and onto the back dack. Sanded the remnents of the old seal off. Wiped the tub lip with laquer thinner and applied the "fast" drying glue supplied with the kit. Installed the seal and re-assembled the unit...works fine