Inglis Washer won't spin, agitate or drain - faulty transmission

[lawdawg]

i broke my dad's 1988/89 Inglis washing machine by overloading with three pieces of carpet and was hoping you all may be able to help me diagnose further, what is wrong with the tranny?

i asked my dad to see if he can find the owners manual which may give some idea as to the model number. there is none visible on the washer.

i had a service man come out and paid him $40 for the 5 minutes diagnosis: the tranny is gone.

hope i can explain the events clearly or you can skip all this reading and tell me how to diagnose where the transmission failure occurred.

i loaded three pieces of carpet approx. 12 x 16 in the washer. i heard a bang sound. the machine had stopped no water inside but it did not finish the cycle. i changed the setting to delicate and started her up.

came back a few hours later and water was still inside.

1. i put the timer to all different setting but machine would not agitate/spin. i can hear the motor humming and the timer would go through its cycles but nothing else would happen.

2. since the water would not drain into the drain pipe, i pointed the spout to a bucket and the water ran out freely.
 
3. tried moving the timer to different cycles and at one point the machine did not make any noise. it tripped the breaker?

4. i pulled off the front cover to check the pump and motor coupler. there was nothing blocking the pump and the motor coupler looked fine. wondering if i should change it?

5. put back in the pump, motor and motor coupler. bypassed the lid switch. put the timer on spin. it started a slow spin but made a noise (metall sound?) so i stopped it right away. checked to see that the motor was snug. started her up again. this time no spin. just humming sound like before the motor was removed.

called a service tech. we tilted the machine back and started her up. he looked under neath while it was in the spin cycle and said the transmission is gone, i need a new washer.

i did not see any oil or burnt stuff on the floor.

what i would like to know is how to identify where in the tranny the failure is occurring? is it the the gear, the brake, clutch... that has gone bad?

thanks and sorry for the long write up.

my dad is willing to by a new washer but i will never hear the end of it.

[JWWebster]

If it was me I would buy a used tranny out of a boneyard. They cost 40 bucks here. Pretty easy to swap out. Remove the agitator then get the motor off and remove 3 bolts. the tranny slides right out the bottom.

[Repair-man]

Suppose some carpet scraps got into the pump and are causng the motor to jam up? Gives the outward appearance of a bad tranny or motor, but only a decent inspection of the pump and drive coupling would work in this case.  Drop the cabinet and remove the pump for inspection.

While you're down there, twirl the drive coupling a few times in both directions to assure the tranny is OK. If you can't turn it, neither can the motor. The Whirlpool direct drive manual on this website will help.

Replacing the tranny is also  good option,  is easy to do like the Sublime one suggested. Only forget about the boneyard thing...

[JWWebster]

You gotta get both ends out of the washer of that coupling and look for cracked end pieces.

[lawdawg]

thanks for the reply.

 
went and checked again for the model number: X043000 serial:CX2007980.

when i had the pump out i did not see anything inside but will check again.

when i had the motor out i also had the agiator off as well,  i was able to turn the tranny in both directions by turning the coupling but could not see inside the tub to verify that the spindle was turning too. when i turned the coupling by hand, every once in a while i could feel something rubbing but only in one spot, then it would turn freely again.

don't recall if the rubbing occurred when i turned it in both directions or just one. i think it was both - this would explain the sound i heard when i had it in spin cycle? why did it spin just once?

1. should i just change the coupling even though it looks good?
2. should the machine have pumped out the water even if the transmission failed?

thanks ... will check again to see if i am missing something.

[jayman73]

thanks for the reply.

 
went and checked again for the model number: X043000 serial:CX2007980.

when i had the pump out i did not see anything inside but will check again.

when i had the motor out i also had the agiator off as well,  i was able to turn the tranny in both directions by turning the coupling but could not see inside the tub to verify that the spindle was turning too. when i turned the coupling by hand, every once in a while i could feel something rubbing but only in one spot, then it would turn freely again.

don't recall if the rubbing occurred when i turned it in both directions or just one. i think it was both - this would explain the sound i heard when i had it in spin cycle? why did it spin just once?

1. should i just change the coupling even though it looks good?
2. should the machine have pumped out the water even if the transmission failed?

thanks ... will check again to see if i am missing something.

when you turn trans shaft one way should agitate the other way should spin  if motor is turning than its not that is coupling turning if so next would be trans if motor is not turning could be crap in pump just pull the pump away from motor and see if it turns the coupling could be cracked rounded out

[lawdawg]

Eh JW – I looked into the price of a new transmission. A rebuilt is $100 cdn. Plus you make it sound so easy to replace.

Repair – I checked the pump, nothing in side. I put one end of my socket extention in to the grove and it turned easily.

Next, I moved to the motor. I reached inside the motor and by turning the fins was able to turn the tub with the agitator still in. It was hard to turn but it did turn. Then I turned it in the other direction and the agitator moved.

Jay -  I took the motor out. I turned the coupling clock wise it moved freely then, got increasingly hard to turn. i removed the agitator, kept trying, then the tub turned. It was hard to do using three fingers. Then I turned it counter clockwise and the agitator spindle would swivel from one direction to the other.

I took the couplings off and examined closely. The rubber and both plastic pieces are in tact. there were no cracks or tears in the rubber.

also, from what I can see of the base of the transmission, it is very clean. Like new.

what should be the next test to confirm the transmission is bad?

i am not opposed to opening up the transmission to see if it's the gears that are bad. if i do this, will parts move out of postion easily?

thank you for your suggestions so far.

[whirlpooltech]

model number: X043000

Is this a direct drive washer?

If so you may want to have a look at these photos.

Direct Drive Gear Case - Transmission Photos

[lawdawg]

just thought i'd give an update...

whirlpooltech thanks for the pics but i didn't need them. i did drop the tranny and it looked good. put everything back together and still nothing.

so i left the washer as it was until a mechanic friend of mine had some free time.

he came by this weekend and i started her up for him. soon as he heard the humming sound he said it's the motor. it's bad.

he said the motor got out of sync and lost it's magnetization? and perhaps the teeth or something broke off the motor as well. i can see part of one the blade looks a little chipped. i couldn't find a hammer (don't know where to look since dad's on vacation) so he used my wrench and wacked it a bit. we shook the motor a bit but nothing fell out of it. put it back in and she started to spin.

well it's monday and i just put everything back together and running a test load now. it sounds a little noisier than normal (grinding sound) but it's working. and seems to be going through all the cycles. guess i'll eventually look into a new motor .

good thing i didn't buy that rebuilt tranny or pull the tranny apart.

thanks for all your help folks.

[jumptrout51]

Sometimes hammer whacks work.