Whirlpool gearcase w11035747

[Aaronb11]

I have this sealed gear case with a bad bearing left over from replacing it in my washer (part w11035747).

I'm curious about the internal parts and have been unable to find anything online where it's been opened for any reason even to replace a bearing.

I can tell it's an involved process.  I'm curious if anyone can shed light on this at all.  As a starter question is it possible to open it and close it somehow?

[Budget Appliance Repair]

It is possible, I haven't seen one opened in person or videos but have read where someone was able to drill out the spot welds that hold the top of the transmission to lower housing and replaced the bearing.

There is a re-builder, CoreCentric Solutions, that takes them apart and rebuilds them.

Someone else in the forum here has tried to drill out the spot welds but didn't seem to be successful as they were asking about how to get it to come apart after drilling out the spot welds.

[Aaronb11]

On 9/9/2020 at 5:08 AM, Budget Appliance Repair said:

It is possible, I haven't seen one opened in person or videos but have read where someone was able to drill out the spot welds that hold the top of the transmission to lower housing and replaced the bearing.

There is a re-builder, CoreCentric Solutions, that takes them apart and rebuilds them.

Someone else in the forum here has tried to drill out the spot welds but didn't seem to be successful as they were asking about how to get it to come apart after drilling out the spot welds.

Okay well I'm going to open this old one up this weekend. Not sure how it's going to turn out though lol.  

From the looks of it once the one guy got the case open the bearings probably needed to be pulled and held the case in its position.

I'll videotape what I can but you know I'm not experienced at it so I wouldn't hope for much.  The better things turns out the more information I'll share! If it turns out poorly I'll just say it turned out poorly. It turns out great I maybe I'll share a video of it.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

@Aaronb11 Thanks, sounds good - if you are able to replaced the bearing you will have to use bolts and nuts to reattach the transmission top cover to the lower housing.  I don't know if there are any pegs or anything to make sure the top cover is in alignment with the lower housing or not.

[MichTech517]

I’ve opened one up and replaced the bearing in one in my shop. They are a pain in the butt to get apart after the weld spots are drilled out but I wanted to try it at least once. I had to cut the existing bearing off with a grinder and then hammer the new bearing down the shaft. Then you put the casing back together with bolts. It worked out but it’s a process.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

@MichTech517 probably a good learning experience but far from worth it - depending on which transmission it is, I've seen them for around $103 at CoreCentric Solutions which would kind of bring it into a repairable price range as long as the customer and servicer are agreeable to a rebuilt, (they also give a full 1 year warrant on the rebuilt transmission)

On that note though - I'm kind of down on CCS quality controls at this time, just purchased a rebuilt Whirlpool direct drive transmission from them and installed it and it was bad.  Only agitated in one direction - agitator shaft and gear obviously rounded over on one side and letting it slip in one direction.   They where really good about taking care of the problem though, shipped me another immediately and sent a prepaid ship label to send the bad one back, (still lots of wasted time taking the bad transmission back out and having to do the job again).

If you spend two hours repairing the transmission, that pretty much eats up any kind of profit or the job being economical.

[MichTech517]

@Budget Appliance Repair I completely agree it is far from worth it. That’s why I only did it once and I learned. This was about 5 years ago. It was also for a used unit in my shop that I was trying it out on rather than scrapping the unit. 

[Aaronb11]

To both,

Well let me say I'm not in the business, not sure if I mentioned it.  I'm tinkering around with machine as project during the stay at home.

 

I opened up this gear case period after drilling out the spot well I had to rig a small pulley remover to lengthen the arm.  It was a pain, that is agreed.

This gear case is bearing we're so rusted and the shaft is in such bad condition I wouldn't use it to rebuild if I knew how.  It's not even worth cutting the bearing off.

I would still love to rebuild it, I'm insane.That leave me with the few follow-up questions:

 

1) is there a part number for the internals on this gear case shaft? Or, if the shaft isn't available I'll find another gear case that's trash and try and salvage it.

2) there is some clear gear oil inside that I was able to salvage.  Is there anything special about this gear oil or is it essentially the same as the direct drive gear case oil?

 

Also, I did attempt to videotape the process so that I can share but the process was trash.  I have a pretty good idea how to get inside of them and how to replace the bearings.  Still, depending on if this rebuild is successful I'll do another one and videotape that.

At this point I'm inclined to agree every trashed gear case is going to need bearings and a shaft,. and unless those are readily available on the market somewhere rebuilding them doesn't seem efficient.

[Aaronb11]

On 9/11/2020 at 6:41 AM, Budget Appliance Repair said:

@Aaronb11 Thanks, sounds good - if you are able to replaced the bearing you will have to use bolts and nuts to reattach the transmission top cover to the lower housing.  I don't know if there are any pegs or anything to make sure the top cover is in alignment with the lower housing or not.

There seems to be some things on the two halvea that can be used.  I went ahead and made my own alignment marks.  As I mentioned I haven't put it back together yet, I want to see if I can find the shaft part to replace too.

 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

@Aaronb11 It's going to be next to impossible to find any parts for the transmission except the bearing as it would probably match some common size bearing.

Whirlpool doesn't supply any part numbers or parts breakdowns for the transmission since it is meant to be replaced as a complete assembly.

The only possible way to get any kind of individual part numbers for internal transmission parts is if you know someone at Whirlpool that could get you a internal/pirated parts breakdown - then there is going to be no where to order any of the parts.

 

[MichTech517]

@Aaronb11 I agree it’s going to be very difficult to find the internals other than the bearing.

[Aaronb11]

Okay so I have successfully done five of these transmissions, utterly destroying my first one. I haven't recorded a video with good enough quality to share so I apologize for that.

1. Bearing #6006 2rs, 
2. Tub seal#w10324647
3. There is a third seal part number is unknown.  It goes in between the internal agitator shaft and the external spin shaft.  I have not encountered one and so bad condition it needs replacing.

Opening these turned out to be quite simple.  In general these are the steps I use:

1. Remove seal to expose upper bearing.  
2. Using a pick hook remove bearing cover.
3. Using a pick hook & needle nose pliers remove metal ribbon cage for bearings.
4.  drill to remove spot welds.
5. Slide all bearings to one side of shaft.
6. Push shaft toward empty side of bearing to better expose bearings.
7. Press bearings out into the gear casing.

After the bearings are removed from the bearing races the gear case comes apart easily.  I haven't had to remove the lower bearing since it is always in excellent condition.

I use an old flathead screwdriver to pop out the outer race from the gear casing . I use a cut-off wheel to remove the inner bearing race from the shaft.

 

There is another metal ring, difficult to describe, its function is not obvious but it is situated just above the upper bearing and can be seen when the seal is removed. It has to come off in order for the new bearing to be installed. I use a bearing remover after cleaning the shaft with wire brush, oil and rag.

The tool for installing bearings on the rotor/stator direct drive washers is what I use to press the new bearing into the gear case top half.  The correct position of the bearing is obvious on the gear case metal but I always make a mark anyway.

That seemingly unnecessary ring gets tapped back onto the shaft until it makes snug contact with the bearing.  I use an old metal pipe & tap it gently. (if the shaft is cleaned well it will go on easily but this is the part where I destroyed the first internal gearbox)

I use pop rivets and a small dab of 3M 8115 panel Bond, only around the drilled out spot wheels in case the bearings need to be serviced again.  (Nuts and bolts with loctite could be used, I suppose, but I don't want to grind out underneath the tub to make room for bolt heads)

I did one last night in just under an hour from removal to installation without removing any components except the motor (two spot welds are beneath motor).

I agree this is not something professional text would consider doing.  Not counting the 3M panel Bond which I had anyway, I think this repair cost about $25.  For me this is a new hobby so doing this is worthwhile.

I know I left out sizes and some other specifics that I'll share if anyone's interested. This is not meant as a tutorial God knows I'm not qualified for that.  I just wanted to follow up and give some feedback on what I've done possibly it could help someone else.

 

Lastly any feedback, suggestions or criticisms about this procedure is certainly welcome

 

 

[Al G]

Are these gear cases oil filled?