4GWTW5550YW0 Whirlpool Washer - Instructions

Well, first investigated and found loose nut on drive clutch. First take off the two screws with nut drive then cover off using a screwdriver blade to snap off the cover. Then socket ratchet to take off the nut on drive clutch. take off belt by slowly rotating the drive gear. two screws that hold the electronics to the upper drive clutch and put aside, so you can snap off the cover for drive clutch on upper part with screwdriver and off the parts come and install whole unit back as took it apart. Line up the new upper clutch so that is position as was before. (Using parts diagram helps a lot as www. partsselect.com has for you or Maytag.com.) Then put the electronic part board back on and the gear and nut. Make sure it is tight by several attempts to make sure it's snugged up good and then slowly roll belt back on the pulley and motor drive. Put your cover guard back on with two screws and done.

Replaced 1 of 4 of the suspension bushing. Works great.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

Easy, just followed the repair video. Recommend also ordering the drive belt. Bought one locally during my repair.

First, I checked the belt before ordering and then decided to order the belt, capacitor, and clutch assembly (if I needed to replace). I replaced the belt noticing the older belt came right off and new one was tighter going on. I replaced the capacitor since I had it handy and it can be known to cause this smell also. After setting washer back up and started a cycle I noticed the spin cycle would not start properly so I thought maybe the capacitor (new one) was faulty or just not the exact match even though it was said to be. I replaced my older capacitor back on and again ran cycle and it ran great. Thus I decided to send the parts which were not used. I would recommend this site as I have used them in the past before on other items. They ship fast and have a great return policy if parts not used.

This was a learning experience but it appears to have worked out in the end. Our 3 1/2 year old washer was not agitating much and I attributed that to a loose bolt. I would tighten the bolt and it would work ok for a load or two and then stop agitating. I would find that the bolt was loose again. I took a number of steps to try to get the bolt to stay on tight - threadlock, a new bolt, more threadlock, and applying progressively more force on the bolt, with no better results. Yet the repair guys on you tube were saying the bolt only needs to be snug, not super tight - something was amiss. I even went so far as to secure the basket with a rope so I could use two hands on the socket wrench (please don't do this). But when I tried the washer again there was no agitation at all! I observed the agitation output in manual test mode and the bolt was turning in lock step with the shaft but the agitator wasn't turning at all. That's when I suspected that the problem was actually a worn lower agitator. Trouble was that now I couldn't seem to get the bolt off. Turning the wrench caused the shaft itself to rotate so I couldn't loosen the bolt from the shaft. I thought I broke the washer. Then I considered that maybe the shaft was rotating because the washer was in an agitation mode when I turned it off. I went back into manual test mode, made the washer spin, then turned it off. Fortunately, this worked. The shaft was again stationary and, albeit with great difficulty, I got the bolt off.

I removed the agitator, and as a pro would have figured out long before, the ridges inside the top of the lower agitator were almost completely worn down. I realized then that the contact between these ridges and the splines on the shaft is what is supposed to cause the lower agitator to move with the shaft. The purpose of the bolt is just to keep the agitator in the correct position and from coming off the shaft. I had been trying to compensate for the worn agitator ridges by over-tightening the bolt, creating some contact at the top of the shaft. This would work for a little while, then the agitator would start slipping, and the slipping agitator was acting just like a wrench loosening the bolt (until my stupid rope trick, that is.)

So I ordered a new agitator (only the lower agitator was bad, but the price of an entire agitator isn't a lot more than just the lower part and I was reading that the upper agitator parts will wear over time) and another new bolt (because my repeated attempts to over-tighten the first one I ordered had split the rubber gasket apart and worn the bolt head).

The new agitator fit snugly on the splines of the shaft so I sensed no need to use excessive force on the bolt. Just an easy one-handed snug tightening with the socket wrench, using the other hand to hold the lower agitator. The washer is now working again.

slipped the new drain hose on and with locking plyers slipped the wire clap in place after three trys

Removed old striker ( 2 Phillips head screws ) replaced with new striker with the 2 screws and was done, easy fix...

Everything worked perfectly---thanks to the suggestion of your call center agent. She suggested that since the replacement door handles were no longer available, I should consider repainting them--it worked like a charm. Please tell her she was a life saver. We rent that house in Fl and my returning tenants had complained about the discoloring refer handles. Thank you

I had taken the time to watch videos of this repair so when the switch arrived I knew what I had to do. Removing the screws to get the back cover off was simple as was installing the switch. No tricks here just watch the videos and your all set to do the job

I watched a video on you tube before making the repair, there was only one bad rod support, location right rear, I recommend watching a video on you tube first, it is very simple to change, however the replacement of the part was not the solution to the unbalanced load during the spin cycle, so I guess I have some research to do.

The video you sent me was very helpful told me the exact tools I needed and how to do it.
Thank you

Nothing to it. Just remember to put the insert in the knob, NOT on the selector stem. Line up the flat part of the insert with the flat part of the stem and push the knob in place.

Don NOT ram it on the selector stem. When it's seated, don't push any more. That's all there is to it. It works. If the pointer on the knob indicates the selector is lined up correctly, but it isn't, the problem is the selector, not the knob.

Replaced the suspension rods.
Must be done on its side as the rods only pull down. There is no slot.

Tightened up the pulley as the video showed me that might be the issue.