I have this washer and dryer set. It's from the late 1980s. It's the old style washer and dryer that could care less about environmentalism... but it does have lots of different settings that allow you to size your wash load so you can save water.
I got them with my house in San Antonio that I bought back in 2017, and from what I can tell, they were probably purchased around 1988. When I got there, after restoring the whole house, I rebuilt both the washer and the dryer. For the dryer, I replaced the drum rollers, the lip gasket, the felt strips, the springs, and completely cleaned it out. For the washing machine, I changed out all the hoses, clamps, and lip gasket. I also changed the oil in the transfer case.
5 years later... the washer... one day, started making a grinding noise. It would only do the agitate cycle, but wouldn't do the spin cycle.
I took the entire thing apart, and determined that the damage is in the lower part of the transfer case... which is where the motor mounts to the transfer case. The top gears (which look exactly like timing gears for the 84 Fiero, incidentally) are fine, but I cannot get to the bottom gears, as it appears as though the entire thing is a unit which you would end up buying.
I'm debating whether or not I should buy a totally brand new washing machine and dryer combo, or if I should rebuild this one again. Would like your guys thoughts.
I'm really torn... the money isn't really the concern, it's just that I hate to throw away something that I can fix... but this is an old washer... thoughts?
Ugh... NVM... I ended up buying the parts. I just couldn't bring myself to throw out something that I can easily fix myself.
Ordered a new transmission, a new clutch, and also the interference gears between the motor and the transmission (basically rubber isolators). Total came to $374, and I get a new transmission and clutch.
While I have the thing apart, I'll probably repaint the frame, adjust the feet, and disinfect the parts of the drum that I normally can't get to unless I do a huge / full wash.
I don't know why I punish myself.
Anyway, you can't buy the individual parts for the transmission, you have to buy the whole transmission, so I'm secretly really happy about that, because that **** was messy. I opened the transfer case and there was a silver streak in the oil... so I could tell something had stripped, but I couldn't get to it. I changed out the oil... but since I didn't disassemble the bottom part, I couldn't see either way.
Anyway... washing machine will basically be like new now.
Your attitude about fixing or replacing is applicable to a lot of things we face in life.
Although, there will come a time when throwing out the old and finding an alternative is the best thing to do. I have a good friend that applies that logic to wives. I never ask for the details.
Shoulda thrown a 3800SC or at least a Tesla motor in there while you had it apart.
I know, right? I almost think I've heard of FSP before... who are the ones that make those transmissions. It's almost like I've seen them make parts for cars...
Your attitude about fixing or replacing is applicable to a lot of things we face in life.
Although, there will come a time when throwing out the old and finding an alternative is the best thing to do. I have a good friend that applies that logic to wives. I never ask for the details.
I’d rather have an older, solid workhorse than a newer fragile, poorly designed/made piece of garbage…
Last time my washing machine “died”, the fix was a 12 buck water pump. It sure feels better (especially in the wallet”) when you repair something yourself.
I don't know how old my washing machine is; it's just a basic Kenmore. We bought it used in San Angelo Tx around 2000 and we last lived there in 2006. It sometimes makes a strange noise from deep within the bowels of it's mechanical works. Sounds vaguely like Help me.. It has washed a LOT of muddy, dirty, greasy blue jeans tho.
I’d rather have an older, solid workhorse than a newer fragile, poorly designed/made piece of garbage…
The service tech who just fixed our 12-yr old refrigerator said that most of his calls now are for units that are only 2-3 yrs old, due to the OEM using poor-quality compressors. Sounds like a liberal application of a horse whip is needed in these greedy Executive Suites, wherever they may be.
The service tech who just fixed our 12-yr old refrigerator said that most of his calls now are for units that are only 2-3 yrs old, due to the OEM using poor-quality compressors. Sounds like a liberal application of a horse whip is needed in these greedy Executive Suites, wherever they may be.
YES!!!
My parents have a super-fancy house in The Villages, and my dad's full-height wine fridge is no longer cooling. It's absurdly nice... multiple racks with teak wood and multiple temperature zones, glass face with touch controls... came with the house when he bought the lot / home construction. My dad called someone to come fix it, and they said the compressor is fine, but it continues to leak freon... so he told the guy to replace it. It's sitting in my dad's garage, and he was going to have it hauled off to the recycler.
I'm going to redo my entire kitchen, and this thing is friggin' nice. I'm thinking of trying to fix it. If the only problem it has is a leak... then that's a simple soldering problem, no? Even if I have to replace the compressor, I should be able to just find another one... right? I have an MVAC license that I got about a decade ago from EPA Inc... so I can buy freon (though it uses the new stuff)... but it's been a long time since I even looked at any of that stuff. It's maybe... 7 years old?
[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 12-28-2021).]
Often, on refrigerators, the compressor is not the problem. It's a little capacitor/relay assembly that plugs in right at the compressor. On a Sears/Kenmore/Frigidaire unit t's a 2 part assembly, consisting of a start/run capacitor and a start/overload relay. They plug in to each other and a wiring harness plugs in to the relay. Looks like this tho some models are different. The 2 parts are usually sold together and at Sears run around $100, but elsewhere, less than $20, which is a lot cheaper than letting a repair guy replace a compressor needlessly.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 12-28-2021).]
I have a (Approx') 1970 washer...have used it for 25 years...the timer died so I bought a new timer and it has been working great for 3 years. My ex-GF had a really fancy washing machine with all sorts of different settings...It's main bearing at the bottom of the tub started making noises- $4-500 to replace the bearing! She finally bought a much cheaper (And simpler) washing machine. She only used one setting on the old one; Cold water, full load, regular cycle.
My washing machine is built like a tank- every part is obviously over-built so will last a long time (Of course, now that I said this it will exploded into a bunch of metal shards the next time I use it)
Often, on refrigerators, the compressor is not the problem. It's a little capacitor/relay assembly that plugs in right at the compressor. On a Sears/Kenmore/Frigidaire unit t's a 2 part assembly, consisting of a start/run capacitor and a start/overload relay. They plug in to each other and a wiring harness plugs in to the relay. Looks like this tho some models are different. The 2 parts are usually sold together and at Sears run around $100, but elsewhere, less than $20, which is a lot cheaper than letting a repair guy replace a compressor needlessly.
I had to replace this very same part on my Frigidaire in my South Florida home. I bought that fridge back in 2003 when I bought the home, and it's still in the house now. It just stopped getting cool completely back in 2016, and it turned out to be that part. The capacitor was still good, but the relay (white part) was totally fried. It looked burnt by the connectors, and broke apart in two pieces. I took the opportunity to completely vacuum out the underside of the coils, spray them down with degreaser, and replaced the part... I think it was like $30 bucks shipped from the same place I just bought the parts for my washer.
It's still working. The home is now a rental, and I haven't gotten any complaints about it... other than the ice machine. But I'm not living there, so had to pay someone to replace that.
Really seems like the newer stuff is total crap. We bought a brand new Samsung fridge when we bought the house in San Antonio... and the ice maker stopped working, and all the plastic shelves cracked. It was under warranty so they fixed it, but totally lame. This house we bought here in Tampa also had a Samsung fridge, and it spurts water out of the top of the fridge (just behind the hinge) maybe once a month. No rhyme or reason. Only lasts for like a minute or two, and then it's back to normal. Crappy new stuff, I swear...
Starts making a noise and is not obvious what is wrong. Looks up what a new replacement cost and read the reviews. Cuss and yell about how appliances are a scam. Pull the appliance out where I can work on it and take it apart so I can see where noise is coming from. Cuss because it looks expensive. Order the $30 part and put it back together.
Brag on the Fiero Forum that I fixed said appliance.
I was forced to repair mine last summer when the pandemic started and the apartment complex refused to fix it since it 'wasn't an emergency'. Replaced the transmission, after tearing the entire machine down to nothing. Once the apartment complex started doing housecalls again, I re-installed the old broken transmission and called them and said it stopped working again, and they replaced the entire machine with another one in better shape.
The older stuff is better anyway, and the parts are cheap. The new stuff is hot garbage, especially Samsung/LG.
Another vote for repairing the old stuff. We still have the original washer and dryer that we bought after we moved into our first house in 1997. In the washer, I have replaced the agitator dogs (little one-way clutch pieces) twice, and a three-fingered coupler affair (don't remember what it's called) once. In the dryer, I have replaced the thermal fuse at least once, and the rollers once or twice. It's also been disassembled and vacuumed out several times. (Lint and dog hair. Gotta love it.)
New stuff is (IMHO) designed to die in short order. Especially the Korean stuff. If I can avoid it, I won't buy anything with electronic controls. As rayb said, give me a clockwork timer any day.
FWIW... if you are buying American dryers, (Whirlpool, Kenmore, GE, Maytag) there are basically two designs. One with the filter in the top, and one with the filter under the door. Among dryers of the same design, all the bits and pieces are basically identical, across different brands.
Pretty much off-topic, but flat screen TVs are a whole different story. Our first flatscreen TV was a 720P Vizio, that was purchased when 1080P was the latest thing. (I never buy "bleeding edge" technology. Usually just last year's. ) It's still going strong. We gave it to a friend, after her (nearly identical) Vizio quit working.
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