Kenmore washer agitator spins when washer is in spin mode w/awful clunking sound

[snowell]

My 8 year old Kenmore Elite washing machine 110.20992991 makes an awful clunking/grinding noise when it is the spin cycle prior to the rinse cycle and also the final spin cycle. It fills and agitates fine and is nice and quiet.

Here's the sequence of what I did based on trying to trouble shoot the problem myself by reading some of the blogs posted on this website and reading the Sears repair manual.
1) I bought the Sears manual and found some Whirlpool education manuals for technicians.
2) Found 4 destroyed agitator dogs in the top of the agitator and replaced
3) Removed the motor coupler which while the rubber holes were a little elongated was still serviceable. I replaced it anyway with a new one.
4) I found no other pieces or grindings or powder under the machine
5)Restarted machine & still same clunking/grinding noise. Noticed the agitator is still operating when in the spin cycle and seems to go in overdrive as it is spinning faster than any of the agitation speed settings on the washer.

Decided to tear the machine totally apart down to the bare bones.

6)Found no obvious damaged parts example plastic tub block, clutch and brake assembly including the white plastic brake cam driver looks good.
7) Next dismantled the transmission and examined the spin pawl trip lever and latch pieces. I found the end of the spin pawl to be mashed down some. From a prior blog on someone elses machine they said to replace the spin pawl in a case like that so I bought a rack retainer rebuild kit with all of the parts the spin cam, cam lever and latch and replaced all of these pieces.

Note: When I took the transmission apart and replaced the parts described in 7) I did not take apart the end of the agitator shaft that goes into the transmission so I do not know if there is anything wrong in the area of the agitate gear, cam follower or agitate cam. I also really did not stare at the shift actuator but did not see anything unusual.

Everything else inside the transmission appeared fine so I reassembled it and you guessed it same thing happened same clunking/grinding noise when in the spin cycle with the agitator spinning like crazy. When operating the washer with the cabinet off the noise sounds like it may still be in the transmission or around the clutch brake area. If I push down on the top of the agitator while it is spinning in the spin cycle the sound gets dampened somewhat but is still there.

I have not checked any electrical items when doing the above diagnostics.

Anyway I would appreciate some guidance on what to do or check next I took the day off and would like to get this fixed today if possible.

Thanks,

Model 110.20992991

[Repair-man]

I took the day off and would like to get this fixed today if possible

Replace the gearcase.

[JWWebster]

What about the agitate cam(located inside the transmission) did you replace it?

[snowell]

Thanks for getting back to me.

At least it sounds like a concensus that it should be a transmission problem and I should stay focused on that.

It looks like I ran out of time to fix it today but will take the gearcase entirely apart tonight and check all the remaining transmission parts including the agitate cam and gear.

I did not replace the agitate cam.  I just looked at it while it was on the agitator shaft and assumed it was OK. I was so focused on thinking it was a spin problem and replaced the spin pawl and other parts under the spin gear and did not focus on the agitate components which was an error on my part jumping the gun on what I thought was a solution to my problem.

Do I put in 12 oz or 16 oz of 90 weight gear oil in the transmission?

I'll let you know what I find.

Thanks again.

[snowell]

I removed the transmission case and took it apart and found the following:

1) The plastic agitator cam and follower cam look to be in overall good shape. The best as I can tell with my 4 power magnifying glass and fingernail  there is slight wear on the cam ramps. Without having new parts in my hand I can't tell how much the cam portion of the parts wore down over the last 8 years of use. When the two pieces are fully closed the overall height of the 2 pieces is approx. 0.760" tall and with the 2 pieces rotated so the cam opens to the maximum height the overall height of the two pieces is approx.0.900" tall. (Measured with calipers)

2) All other parts look to be good except for the ends of the splines of the agitate gear and the agitator shaft were worn like they were skipping off each other as the shaft rotated. 

So it looks like the noise (clunking/grinding) is coming from the agitate gear skipping/bouncing over the last 1/8th inch or so of splines on the agitator shaft when they should be entirely disengaged during the spin cycle. Maybe that's why the old gear oil had a grey color to it  due to fine metal particles.

The metal agitate gear and the agitator shaft look like they still should be able to be reused if I can figure out how to keep the splines from grinding on each other. 

I believe that this is definitely the symptom of my problem.  The agitator still wants to agitate because these gears were not completely disengaged during the spin cycle.  This is also why when I pushed down on the agitator when the tub was spinning the loudness of the clunking/grinding noise dropped by 1/2 to 1/3rd even though the agitator still wants to spin.

Can you tell me what the fully extended height of the 2 plastic agitator cam pieces are? Do you feel that the slight wear seen on the plastic agitator cam and follower cam would prevent the splines of the agitate gear and the agitator shaft from completely disengaging? Do you know if these 2 plastic parts are available for purchase? Do you have any other suggestions on what other parts if any I should inspect from inside the transmission that might prevent the agitate gear and agitator shaft from disengaging?

Thanks

[JWWebster]

I beleive what that cam does is raise that agitator spline gear where it engages with the main drive gear or disengages I cant remember.

[snowell]

You folks are top notch.  I wish I had started asking for advise on this website 5 days ago when I started this project. I would have been done diagnosing and repairing the washer and able to move on to my many other projects days ago.

Today I decided to bite the bullet and just buy a new transmission to get this repair job done. While replacing the remaining plastic parts in the transmission may have solved the problem I just wanted to move on and be back in the good graces of my wife with an operating washer in the house.

Anyway the washer now purrs like a kitten in all cycles and I should be able to keep from having to buy a new washer and dryer set for several years. 

Thanks again.