BEARING,BALL

Special attention and "hardest" part of the job is pushing the bearings out without damaging the housing

Great video on how to repair........I removed the machine to the garage and began work.

Time to Repair - 4+ Hours

Number of times to get the repair right: 3

What I did right: Had all the tools and supplies mise en place. I also decided to replace the Spider and not just the bearings since I would have it all apart....this was a brilliant call. Plus I replaced the gaskets and seals, especially the bearing seal gasket.

What I did wrong: Thinking I was the Maytag repairman who came out of retirement and saved the day

How did it go: Well, lets just say that if you asked me what was more difficult and stressful: Being married 25 years, OR, fixing the wash machine....the later would take the cake. First off moving the thing to the garage to work on it was my biggest mistake (read why later). The overall disassembly is easy and just like the video. Nothing can prepare you, however, for the sight of a spider assembly that has been in the trenches with four teenage boys for the last 6 years. Like I gave this thing a full military send off with flyovers and everything when it went in the trash. Can you image the nastiness that it went through? Well, little pieces of history were stuck to this thing to the point some C4 was considered to put it out of its misery. Un Pro Tip: If you can get a jet propulsion pressure washer it still wouldn't work. Anyway.....Replace the spider assembly. Also enlist one of said teenage boys to pressure wash and scrub the inner and outer tub cause its going to look like the undercarriage of a hearse driving through a flooded cemetery. That part is a walk in the park to change compared to removing the bearings.

Bearings are very happy where they are currently installed. Like they ain't coming out for no reason. Its kinda like trying to remove a sheep carcass from a pack of hungry wolves...someone is gonna get hurt. So if you want to buy a whole new tub assembly for the bearings that would be Un Pro Tip #2: that I missed. Reseating the bearings is not too bad if you are good with having intellectual discussions with drunk people or teenage boys. And after that reassembly is a snap.

Un Pro Tip #3: There is a small, seemingly harmless tube at the bottom of the tub in back. It just pushes on. Push harder. Lube that thing up with dish soap and shove it on there like your life depended on it. Cause its gonna come back to bite you.

Un Pro Tip #4: Don't open the washer door because you are frustrated there is water leaking out the bottom (from previous Tip #3), you have unplugged said machine, and the tub is full of water. You will get a life like recreation of what the Egyptians felt like when Moses walked out of the Red Sea. You might just need to dry your shoes out. Or the basement.

Un Pro Tip #5: When you are overly frustrated from Un Pro Tip#4 DO NOT do anything until your shoes have dried out. Like try to drag the washer by yourself back to the garage. This will create other problems that lengthen the repair time to DAYS because you thought the Maury Povich show had some brilliant ideas on self management when frustrated.

Fixing the leak because you didn't push the small little drain tube onto its shaft with enough force is a reason to fell a little better, until you realized you took half the washer apart to find out you only needed to remove the back panel. This might be an Un Pro Tip, I don't know.

Un Pro Tip#6. Remain calm when after you install everything for the second time it still leaks like Russian atomic submarine. This is caused because you punctured the drain tube from violently trying to understand that little hole that didn't get enough shoving. BTW....drain tubes are inexpensive and ship within 3 days, so teenage boys only have to wear their skivies twice before washing. This is not unusual.

Replacing the drain tube is fairly easy after you have taken the machine apart 5 times now, so one hour and you are done.

The stress from sitting here typing this while drowning in a Old Fashioned and hearing the washing machine process britches that have not been washed in a week is more stressful than watching Joe Biden walk up the steps to an airplane. Like this thing could blow at any minute.

Un Pro Tip #7: Don't read emails that ask for your repair opinion 3 days after screwing it up several times and then consulting Jack Daniels for advice. You might just be honest.

Good luck.