Where has Tuna been?

Now I reallize why Tuna is so skinny..Guy never stops moving.

SVreX wrote:

Basil Exposition wrote: What a nightmare! Hopefully you'll wake up soon. We hired an inspector for our new home construction. This after our builder hired the wrong crew to do the framing and they had to tear it all down and start over. That scared us enough that we realized that we couldn't trust the builder to do everything right because subcontracting. We hired a guy that was a trained construction engineer as well as a licensed inspector. He came highly recommended and even the builder was impressed that he "caught" stuff that was actually legitimate stuff. I think they see a lot of inspectors that give long lists of cosmetic bs, while ours was looking at foundation tie-downs, etc. At the end of the day the builder fixed pretty much everything the inspector found, but if we hadn't hired him, we would never have known.

That's good. Glad you got some good support. FWIW, subcontracting is part of life (in every business). It shouldn't mean bad things- it should mean professionals and specialists in every trade contribute to the final product, instead of generalists who are not as knowledgeable. I doubt there are very many houses in this country that are built without the use of subcontractors. I don't think I'd want to own any of them.

Yeah, I didn't mean to disparage subcontracting as a practice, just this builder's selection and supervision of subcontractors started out poorly. To their credit, they fired the framing subcontractor, but it was obvious even to us that he didn't know what he was doing. We pointed out several items to the builder-- like dimensions that didn't fit the plan, rooms without doors, etc., before he finally woke up, demolished most of their work and got a better team in.

NOHOME wrote: Now I reallize why Tuna is so skinny..Guy never stops moving.

Ha! yeah something like that. Movie night for dinner last night, which means I wolf four slices and then, while everyone else watches the move, I paint some stuff, cut some stuff, do the dishes, the laundry, clean a few floors, fix the washing machine leak, and play with the irrigation thing before starting kiddo bedtime.

I can't say I always make progress, but if a night goes by at home without me doing something, I get a little shakey.

I also played with the laptop last night trying to get data off of that dead HD, I forgot about that one.

tuna55 wrote: oh, and the washing machine, despite now not leaking, is making a truly frightening creaky-creaky-creaky noise when the drum is emptying.

Front loader? Top load? Brand?

In reply to FooBag:

I'll try and find it then, I did not realize that it was near the surface. The output of this backflow box goes across the front of the yard. I imagine that it turns back towards the house somewhere in there, perhaps the 90 degree turn happens at the solenoid box.

If I get some daylight I'll try and find it tonight.

Rufledt wrote:

tuna55 wrote: oh, and the washing machine, despite now not leaking, is making a truly frightening creaky-creaky-creaky noise when the drum is emptying.

Front loader? Top load? Brand?

Top loader, Roper, 10 years old. My purchase decision was like this:

"Hello Lowes? What's the cheapest washing machine you can get to my house tomorrow? Great, that's perfect, see you then."

I had been gifted a washing machine from a colleague who thought it would be very nice to send my wife and I off to our new state with something we could use.

It leaked water faster than we could pump it in. Hence, buying became a little more 'quick' than normal.

thars probably a good one. Can you describe the creak? Does it coincide with tub shaking back and fourth or does it sound like a gear grind? Do clothes get knotted up after spin?

Rufledt wrote: thars probably a good one. Can you describe the creak? Does it coincide with tub shaking back and fourth or does it sound like a gear grind? Do clothes get knotted up after spin?

CREAK..CREAK..CREAK at rotational speeds. I haven't checked but I am sure it corresponds to the imbalance of the drum. No grinding. It definitely got worse after the move.

The clothes are fine.

On that (it's an old whirlpool direct drive, most likely) A creak when spinning is usually one of two things, a spring/glides problem, or the transmission. Springs can creak when the one on the back of the tub is wearing through the hole on the frame. If it breaks off, it's not hard to fix. Drill a new hole, replace the spring. The tightwad method is to bend over a new end on the spring if the spring breaks. The glides are Teflon, there are 3 of them. if the move was violent and the spring was ready to go, it could've broken in transit. If it's broke, the tub will lean towards the front of the washer and probably bang on the inside when it spins. If the washer seems to be off balance a lot, check the agitator dogs. The agitator should spin freely clockwise, and catch counterclockwise, unless you have a fixed agitator. Also make sure to run the water level on max, as too little water makes it harder for the agitator to balance the load. Not enough water also wrecks e36m3 really fast. It's always cheaper to use extra water than replace parts.

If it's the transmission, it will be a really loud creak. Not sure if it corresponds as well to drum speed because there is a clutch between tranny and tub. There are 2 ways the trannies fail, one of them makes a loud creak because it tries agitating while spinning. Transmissions on those aren't too hard to change. If you can reengineer a truck suspension and rebuild an engine, that transmission swap would feel like a vacation.

I can't tell exactly by the sound description unless I hear it myself. Even a transmission is worth changing on those if the rest of the machine is ok.

I'll check the washing machine soon, thanks for the tips!

Can't find the solenoid box. The threads are sealed but it's still leaking somewhere. Called the number and it is not the same guy, and his company went out of business 16 years ago.

The Delrin looks fine. The springs look fine. I can hear a squeak just pushing it around, though it may or may not be the entire squeak.

The agitator spins freely in both directions. What does that mean?

Oh and pretty much every load has been extra large with cold water.

If the top of the agitator spins freely relative to the bottom half of the agitator in both directions, it means you agitator dogs are stripped. This thing 10 years is about right for the life of dogs with fairly heavy use. You have kids, so even doing everything right with water level, it's getting fairly heavy use.

Those being stripped means the agitator doesn't work, so nothing gets balanced, so it jumps around a lot while spinning. This could cause the creaking noise as it's spinning on worn out glides These

Alternately, the creaking could be the transmission failing. There is an oblong gear that gets a crack in it, and it tries to agitate while spinning. Judging by your description, I don't think this is it, but just in case: This is what i'm talking about If you have the cheap version of the washer, the transmission is easily the most expensive part, followed by the motor and timer. What i'm getting at is that your machine is inexpensive to fix, and a new transmission (if yours is bad) along with the parts above, and maybe this one, too, should give you more life left in your washer than any new one would have in it except for an $800 speed queen. My washer is a super holy crap edition of the same basic design, but it has the same transmission, washer tub pads, and dogs. You got a cheap version, which just means you got fewer speed and cycle options, but the same exact mechanical components except for the motor. The coupling i linked is solid plastic, not one with a metal insert. The metal inserts can screw up the motor shaft, ruining your motor. We put metal ones on the transmissions (they come with a metal one), and a plastic one on the motor. That way a few bucks worth of couple dies instead of a super expensive motor. For the record, the thing that kills couplers, transmissions, and dogs, is heavy use. Dogs kinda wear out over time, though.

Again disclaimer, i haven't seen the machine in person so i can't be 100% sure what is wrong. I WOULD say that even if ALL of the above parts are broken, i would rather fix it than buy something new, especially if you can do the work yourself.

The dogs for the agitator are inside the transmission then?

Sounds like a done deal. I'll buy one soon.

Thanks!!

Nope, the dogs are in the agitator between the two parts. Simple job usually.

So all I have evidence for is the dogs?

I guess time to figure out which ones to buy and how to replace them.

Yeah if the top part spins freely relative to the bottom of the agitator in both directions, your dogs are definitely stripped. That's the only definite you have, but stripped dogs means it can't balance a load so it shakes more when spinning. You may still have another problem, but stripped dogs are easy and cheap to fix as a starting point.

Just look up whirlpool agitator dogs, there is only one kind. They changed materials over the 30 year run slightly, same goes for drive couplings, but they are all interchangeable.

Can't find them. I thought they were under the agitator but they don't seem to be there.

http://www.appliancepartspros.com/brake-clutch-gearcase-parts-for-roper-rax4232rq4.html

How do I get to them?

my agitator is one piece and has no dog setup like I am seeing in all of these videos.

So you have a fixed agitator then? Not a 2 piece? That image you linked doesn't include the agitator or dogs (if there are any). That shows parts under the tub, the agitator is inside the tub (goes on top). I'm on mobile right now, when I'll get home I'll post more info

Rufledt wrote: So you have a fixed agitator then? Not a 2 piece? That image you linked doesn't include the agitator or dogs (if there are any). That shows parts under the tub, the agitator is inside the tub (goes on top). I'm on mobile right now, when I'll get home I'll post more info

After pulling the agitator I see the nut and the shaft comes through and has splines.

I keep expecting to see a drum with the dogs in it, but the splines go right into the agitator.

I can't find any dogs on their website on the blown up diagram. I am chatting with them now.

I think we are wrong. I am running a load now, when running the agitator spins back and forth like it ought to. Also if I lift the lid during the cycle, the agitator is clearly not spinning freely anymore.

They must have a different design than what you're thinking, and have locked it somehow only during the cycle.

It's during the spin cycle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wt-fDL71jk

OH video is a good idea!

That just sounds like those teflon tub pads worn out. Maybe that spring i talked about in the back. That web site says this is the teflon pad part: http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-tub-suspension-pads-285744-ap3094518.html

They also show a video of what is easily the hardest and most time consuming way imaginable to change the pads. We can do it in 3 minutes without removing all that e36m3. They also suggest changing these other pads: http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-suspension-pad-kit-285219-ap3094373.html which i would suggest is a pointless way to make the job much harder on you, and increase profit for them.

A good rule of thumb i've learned from watching appliance pros and repair clinic videos, the guys doing the stuff show the hardest way, and skip over any actual difficult steps. Some are hilariously bad.

Golly that does sound like a lot.

How do you do it then?

How can I inspect them in situ to make sure they are the problem?