11022956100 Kenmore Washer - Instructions

While taking apart my washing machine to clean the plastic basket I discovered the 3 main seals down the agitator were completely disintegrated and water was leaking onto the motor and onto the floor. The seals are a tight fit but slide into place easily with lubrication. When putting everything back together a bit of lubrication will be necessary as well. The leak is gone and my nearly 30 year old washer is working as well as the day it came off of the assembly line.

Washer was leaking -- in part from hoses that had loosened over time due to unbalanced loads and age, and partly from a worn pump -- and not agitating/spinning properly. Fixed hoses, replaced pump and clutch. Unfortunately, when I pulled apart direct drive to replace clutch, the drive shaft started leaking because old seals worn and compromised on disassembly. Have to give credit where due -- YouTube invaluable here -- pulled and disassembled drive shaft, removed old seals, replaced and reassembled. Time consuming, but if you keep track of where things go, not too bad. 3 things I wish I knew in advance: (1) for an old washer you definitely need a spanner nut wrench (like 15-25 bucks online) to remove the spanner nut so you can pull the basket and get to the seals -- no wrench/pliers/vise substitute will do the trick; (2) the shaft seals have metal washers inside the rubber/plastic -- when you're removing the old seals, you might need to chisel (hammer and small flat head screwdriver) the old seals out instead of just pulling out the corroded rubber which will leave the old metal behind; (3) if your time is valuable, try to diagnose all the likely sources of your problem and buy the parts to repair at once rather than doing piecemeal like me. Took me 2 weeks and two complete tear downs to finish a repair that should have taken me an afternoon. I love my local Appliance Parts guy -- he's knowledgeable and usu. has what I need or can get it fast and I like supporting local brick and mortar -- but if time is important to you, taking advantage of online companies that allow you to return what you don't use may save you time.

Removed screws on top of machine to remove the control unit out of the way. Then used large regular screw driver to pry out the two clips that hold the back of the washer tight to the top frame. This allows the back to come away from the machine enough to get the water inlet valve free. Didn't have to remove the bolts at the bottom of the back of the machine (they were pretty rusty) Just removed the single screw holding the water inlet valve in place, slid it down and away from the back cover and could fish it out to the side and disconnect the hose (with plyers) and slide off electrical clips (make a note of which clip goes to which valve.) I removed the part first so I could make sure I was ordering the right one. When the part came (very promptly by the way) it went back together easy. Only question was regarding reinstalling the wires since I didn't mark which way they went. I knew which one went on the Hot and Cold but didn't know if it mattered which clips went on each terminal. Figuring it was AC guessed it didn't matter so put it together the way the connectors seemed to want to lie naturally. Put it together making sure no hoses or wires where pinched or rubbing against sharp edges. Replaced the rubber washers in the hoses and made sure the hose connectors turned freely (they had been rusted a bit and didn't turn on the hose freely and I think this was the start of the cross threading problem) This time the hoses went back on very easily, screwed them hand tight not forcing anything at any time (DIDN"T USE PLIERS!). Tried water and no more leaks. Washer filled faster also, think this was because the screens on the water valve were plugged. I'll have to remember to take the hoses off and make sure the screens are clear every couple years or so. If you are having slow fills, suggest you check this first before tearing in to the machine.

placed washer on side and installed new pads
and returned washer upright

The repair is very easy with the part found at PartSelect.com. Take the following steps to replace the water level switch:
1. Remove the front panel by unscrewing two screws on the back side
2. Pull off the dial knob from the front
3. Twist the water level switch in either way to remove the switch from the panel
4. Disconnect the connector of control wires and water hose from the broken switch
5. Reconnect the control connector and water hose
6. Push and twist the switch to put back on the front panel
7. secure the front panel by tighten up two screws on the back side of panel

Unplugged the appliance. turned off inlet water and removed hoses. popped the cap off hiding the bolt that keeps the agitator in place and pulled the agitator off. tipped the washer on its front . disconnected the Wire harness. removed the 3 bolts that hold the pump, motor,clutch, (drive assembly in other words). pulled the Drive assembly out of its resting spot removed the bad clutch and replaced it with the new one. then reassembled in reverse order.

Tilt machine on its side,snap off the two retaining straps and remove the pump and sanded the shaft on the electric drive motor to remove rust ,Install new pump and retaining straps and unit now running great.

Took the agitator out and gearbox off unhook wires from motor and take off water pump, replaced the parts and put back together. Pretty easy to fix. However, I still haven't got my problem fixed. Originally the washer wouldn't spin after the rinse. I put on a new coupler and it worked for a few loads, then something smelled hot and started stinkin the house up so I opened the washer lid and smoke rolled out. Turned it off. Took the moter off and checked it and it would barely turn at all. Replaced the motor with a new one. Still wouldn't spin. Put on a new clutch assembly. Still wouldn't spin. Bought a new capacitor thinking that would do it. Still don't SPIN!!! (The ring and washer I replaced was just a casualty, not any of the problem).

3 online people recommended tilting the machine on the side and replacing the 3 suspension springs. Someone else recommended changing the tub pads. That is the wrong approach. It is actually easier to remove the case than turn the machine on the side. Once you do it once or twice it takes less than 2 minutes and it doesn't distort the suspension. You don't even have to disconnect the hoses. When I originally examined the machine lying on it's side I saw that the tub balance spring was still attached to the tub but the other end had detached. I looked for the place to reattach it. I found a place on the glide plate. Unfortunately this was the wrong place and the machine continued to bang away. When I realized that the spring had to be attached to the lower frame rather than the glide plate (one week of looking). I even wrote to the Repair guru. Once I found my mistake the repair took 5 minutes and no tools other than the phillips screwdriver to take out the 2 screws for the case. I replaced the tub balancing spring for good measure. The machine works great.

Once I finally found the part I needed, the repair was very simple and took only a few minutes. Thanks to the very helpful operator to walk me through the diagram to find the corresponding number for the part. I really appreciate your help!

Removed four screws that hold the top control panel to the base and hung over the back panel in order to remove the main wrap-around body of the machine. Took off top plastic ring fastened to side of tub then removed old Balance ring. Installed new balance ring. Unfortunately, this did NOT fix the problem. This was a suggestion from Justanswer.com and failed miserably. Does anybody know how to fix this problem? And it's not the springs or the little plastic shims around the base OR the cross coupling to the motor...

The repair was fairly simple and while it made the spin operation quieter and and a bit more stable, it still gets out of balance. Disconnected power, shutoff supply lines and disconnected them from the unit.

Laid washer on its front and replaced the two more visible springs fairly easily from underneath using a little leverage with a 2 x 4 to take any residual tension off the springs.

Then I turned the washer over on its back (gently and with a little support (board or old thick towel) so the weight of the unit didn't rest entirely on the water intake connectors

Again, lifted the tub with 2 x 4 and disconnected the power and control connector to the motor to make a little more room to get to the spring.

If you do this, be sure to re-connect that connector before you put the washer back and test, otherwise it will fill and then sit.... I had to siphon the tank out, disconnect everything, flip it over and re-connect that power connector!! After that the unit ran better than before, especially on the spin cycle. Over all this washer is 15 years old and worn a bit so we are still careful not to overload it and balance the loading as much as possible. Large bedspreads and king size sheets or mattress covers will always spin out of balance but for 90% of regular washing it was an improvement.

After removing the 2 phillips screws at the base of the control panel, I flipped the panel toward the back. Using a screwdriver, I popped off the spring clips, releasing the cabinet. I removed the 1/4" hex head screw on the spring mount and removed the old spring and replaced with the new. I repeated this with the other 2 springs. The spring bracket in the rear also holds the tub balancing spring. It is easily replaced while replacing the suspension spring.
If this didn't fix the problem, we were going shopping for a new washer. After this repair, it operates like new!

Remove the washer case/enclosure to expose all the internal parts. Lie on the floor and with pliers and a strong arm. Remove and replace each spring one at a time. Pretty straightforward.

First, I read the previous repair stories, so I knew what step to do first. So, first I took the hose off of the drain, then I removed it from the washer. And as the previous repair story stated, some water came out and I had a towel ready to catch the water that was in the hose. I threaded the clamp onto the new hose, pushed the new hose onto the washer, used the pliers to open the clamp to better clamp the hose onto the washer. Then, placed the drain hose into the drain pipe and it was done! Thanks for such a great site!