WH38X10002 GE Washer Transmission for GE WPSE4200A0WW top load washer

[Pogoattaq]

Howdy,
      I am looking for some information about this transmission, specifically what type of oil is in the transmission case and where can I find a replacement for the upper oil seal?
      I have a GE WPSE4200A0WW top load washer.  The was leaking water through the tub seal which lead to an unhappy transmission bearing.  I came across this website that let me know that it was possible to work on this non-serviceable transmission: http://www.appliance-repair-it.com/GE-washer-is-leaking.html.  I had a bear of a time getting the hub nut off and the basket off of the transmission.  I got everything apart and the transmission out of the platform.  I set it on its side and when I looked back at it, it was leaking oil out the top.  The oil seal was not making a good seal around the splined shaft that drives the agitator.  I can read the part number off of the oil seal as: MTP 4735, but I can not find much information about this seal.  I measure the shaft to be 0.628"(though I imagine it is 0.625" unless its metric) and the bore to be 1" on the nose.  The little I have learned by looking into oil seals shows how much I don't know about them!
      I lost most of the oil to the newspaper the transmission was laying on.  Does anyone know the type and weight of the oil in this transmission?  I found the plastic fill plug located on the top of the case.  It would be great to not have to open the can of worms.
      Does anyone know if there is an oil seal on the bottom of the transmission?

Thanks so much in advance for your time and help!

There is also a lot of great information about working on this transmission on this site: http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=12091.0.  Unfortunately fairbank56's pictures no longer load, as the other older posts say they were very helpful pics!
 

[Hiroshi]

Well kudos to you for locking horns with this problem, I haven't performed the repair you are in the middle of, but most products labeled "Gear Lube" have suitable properties for use in washer transmissions- usually 60 weight if memory serves.

[Pogoattaq]

Thanks for responding, Hiroshi.  Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.  The lowest viscosity gear oil that I can seem to find is a multi-grade 75W-90.  The only 60 weights I can find are motorcycle or racing, but they are motor oils, not gear oils,  Do you think conventional or synthetic matters?  I came across this chart in one of my searches: http://www.teamrip.com/viscosity_chart.html.  It has SAE 60 motor oil as a similar viscosity to SAE 90 gear oil.  Any chance you might have mixed them up?  In looking around for info, I think I had seen Maytag washer transmissions were looking for an SAE 90 gear oil.

[Hiroshi]

The 60 weight is probably wrong, I just recall being told gear lube will work in absence of the OEM fluid. Motor oils are generally too thin and lead to leaks

 

[Pogoattaq]

Thanks again, Hiroshi, for the help.  I ended up going with Valvoline SAE 80W-90 Gear Oil, limited slip.  It has been working well for the last 6 months.  I am certain that I have vastly overfilled it with oil.  I filled it until it came up to the bottom of the fill hole.  I think it was somewhere between 16-20oz.  Only later did I read in the technician's manual that this transmission came with only 4oz of oil!  Again it seems to be running well, to my untrained ear. 

To share some answers I found to my own questions:

For the oil seal at the top of the transmission I found a TCM 06102TC-BX from Dichtomatik to do the trick.  I had orderd it from MSC Industrial -  5/8 Inch Inside Diameter, 1/4 Inch Thick, TC, Automotive Shaft Seal.   I filled the inside of the oil seal with grease for installation.

A note about the tub seal.  I had installed a new tub seal for reassembly.  The mating surface of the plastic tub looked good.  The seal leaked!  Luckily I came across someone who recommended Indian Head Shellac.  It worked like a charm and the tub seal has not leaked since.

 

 

[rbmappltech]

Wow my hat is off to you. That is a lot of work to do. I was looking at the link for rebuilding the transmission/gearbox. Me I would just put in a new tyranny in the washer.  However there are some good tips for the tub seal and removing the tub bearing.

[Pogoattaq]

If I were doing the job for pay, it may not be worth the time to change the bearing in the transmission, instead of just replacing the transmission with a new unit.  But it might not be for the reason you would expect.  Taking apart the transmission to replace the transmission was actually pretty easy and straight forward.  It was a couple of hours at most, including the cleaning of the brake.  What sucked up all the time was removing the hub nut.  It was jammed up with what I suspect was liquid fabric softener.  I wasted several days of spraying with WD-40 and giving the wrench whacks with a 3lb drilling hammer.  It would not budge until I scraped the crud out from between the flat portions of the transmission shaft and the hub nut.  I did not want to chisel off the hub nut, because I was afraid of damaging the threads on the transmission shaft, since I wanted to reuse the transmission after installing a new bearing.

[Hiroshi]

That wasn't fabric softener... It was liquid detergent residue... after all that work, I would definitely protect the investment by using ONLY powdered detergent!

[kevin2]

I'm having the same problem with my GE washer, the upper seal is completely gone. Were you able to solve this?

Will oil get into the basin when washing?

Will water get past the seal and into the transmission?