Whirlpool direct drive transmission disassembly.

[mrfixiter]

Hi

My 22 year old direct drive Whirlpool washer, model number GSQ9300EQ0, will not enter the neutral drain mode. It jumps directly from agitate to spin. I disassembled the transmission with the guidance of this video:

[Vance R]

Don't see the video. Did you use kit number 388253a?

[mrfixiter]

Hi Vance,

I accidentally hit the Ctrl-Enter keys thinking it was a line break (the Shift-Enter key is for a line break) when in fact it was shortcut key to immediately post the topic. I won't do that again. Let me begin again.

My 22 year old direct drive Whirlpool washer, model number GSQ9300EQ0, will never enter the neutral drain mode. It jumps directly from agitate to spin and then sometimes it won't spin at all. First I replaced the clutch with the three-pad version. After two washes, it stopped spinning again. Then I bought and installed the six-pad version and though it spins most of the time, there are still occasions when the basket just sits there. I figured it was time to have a look inside the transmission with the guidance of this video:

I removed the top cover and noticed that the oil looked like it needed to be changed 10 years ago. I couldn't tell if it was contaminated with water or it was just the result of thousands of uses. I drained all the old oil and began the rest of the disassembly.

I removed the spin gear (5:03 in the video), and noticed that the plastic lever with the spring (5:23 in the video), had become dislodged just enough from its normal position that it wasn't pivoting at all. I looked carefully for any damage to this lever but couldn't find any.  I reinstalled the lever and it seems stable and functional. I mean, pushing on it with my finger isn't exactly and real test but it did look OK.

I had no trouble disassembling the rest of the mechanism until I reached what's described in the video as the clutch mounting gear (6:12 in the video). I was able to move it up a few inches and then I could feel it just hit something, perhaps a clip or a seal? Though I know this probably has nothing to do with the spin or neutral drain problem, I am very curious as to why this clutch mounting gear does slide off the agitator shaft.

In summary, I haven't seen any visual evidence of wear. Other than the dislodged lever and being unable to remove the clutch mounting gear, I was wondering if I should just reassemble it, add new oil (is 90W gear oil OK to use or should I use the OEM Whirlpool oil?), screw the lid back on, and install it back into the machine.

I've uploaded a copy of the parts blowup in case you need to use the reference numbers within your reply.

Thanks for your assistance.

mrfixiter

[Vance R]

Have never rebuilt one of these transmissions. Wonder why the spring became dislodged ? Is there a way to secure the spring so it doesn't get out of place? Watched the video from about  5 min to 6 min 30 sec, if the clutch mounting gear stops it maybe a burr or rough spot. From what heard in the past 90w oil is the oil used by Whirlpool. Nothing to lose from cleaning, correcting the spring mounting and refilling with fresh oil but, time. Have watched this video and another on YT a few years ago. Had a conversation with a friend about rebuilding these transmission. He had rebuilt a few and said it was easy.

[mrfixiter]

18 minutes ago, Vance R said:

Is there a way to secure the spring so it doesn't get out of place?

Excellent question. Considering that this spring lever is located underneath the spin cam, it would be very difficult to add anything in the way of reinforcement without seeing if it would interfere with its operation. Now that I think about it, maybe when I lifted off the spin cam, which may not have been in a neutral position to begin with, that alone could have caused the lever to become dislodged. If that is the case, then the mystery of why the neutral drain did not function is still unsolved.

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[mrfixiter]

I performed a thorough degreasing of the transmission and it looks much better now. As I was inspecting the cam side of the spin gear, I noticed that there is a spring mounted, toothed gear that is wrapped around the hub.

I also noticed while cleaning the spring mounted part, that it is not permanently attached and it can be easily pushed around.

Is it supposed to be able to rotate around the hub like this? If that is the case, I imagine that the placement of this gear during reassembly is not critical as there are no timing marks that I can find.

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[Vance R]

Believe that inner piece is designed to move to match 1 of the outer notches as needed.

[mrfixiter]

1 hour ago, Vance R said:

Believe that inner piece is designed to move to match 1 of the outer notches as needed.

Thanks That made my life a little easier for now. The most difficult part of this job for me was putting on the gasket maker. I figured out after I had applied it to the top half of the case that it would have been much easier to put it on the bottom half. That way, you're not trying to avoid touching the wet bead as you are lowering it onto the transmission. It should be all cured by tomorrow afternoon and then I can see if it still works (at least as well as it did before the overhaul).

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[DADoESTX]

That piece above that fits on the hub of the gear is part of the neutral drain and spin function.

[mrfixiter]

I find it very ingenious that with just a few small levers and a cam gear that someone was able to engineer the neutral drain system. On the other hand,  I have not been able to find any explanation as to how these parts interact to make it all work!

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[mrfixiter]

Hi

I was finally able to reassemble everything and give it a test. With a small load running in the Normal cycle and the lid switch bypassed so I could peek inside to see the big events, everything ran as it should. The neutral drain finally worked and the spin cycle came on when it when it was supposed to. I ran a second load of clothes with heavier items and it too ran though every cycle successfully. Overall, it was quite satisfying to fix the transmission even though I didn't change any parts or have any idea what it was that made it all work again. Maybe it was the old, decrepit oil.

A few more questions: During my troubleshooting I was trying to decipher the timer sequencing chart that is pasted onto the inside of the back panel.

This is a closeup view of the Normal cycle.

• Is this just a general diagram of what is going on or does this chart account for every second of the wash cycle? If so, why is there no entry for the pause mode between the wash/agitate and drain cycle?
• What is the difference between Fill-Agitate Hi and Fill & Wash?
• As far as the Super Wash goes, why is the entire column blocked out with Heavy?

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[Budget Appliance Repair]

1) accounts for each 2 minutes of the cycle, each step is 2 minutes

  A) The PAUSE is shown on the the other portion of the chart you have cut off to the left - the part that shows which contacts are closed during each step of the cycle, (usually the PAUSE is represented by a black diamond shape on the chart).

2) Same thing just different parts of the cycle

3) If you look at your timer settings you should see the SUPER WASH before HEAVY - just 2 minutes of extra wash time.

[mrfixiter]

Thanks Willie for your explanation. I'm going to have another look at the entire chart and see if it makes more sense this time.

mrfixiter

[mrfixiter]

Hi

I'm still not making much sense of the timer sequence chart but I have a more pressing problem now. Yesterday I started a full load on the Normal cycle with the fill knob set to Super Plus. When the wash and drain cycle completed, I could hear the machine clunking quite loudly as it began to spin up to speed. I ran over and pushed in the timer button to stop it. The arrow on the timer was pointing at the Rinse cycle but since there's a little bit of play in the indicator dial, the arrow may have been off by a degree or two. The items being washed were some small blankets, towels, and pet beds. They were not easily distributed around the tub so I wasn't that surprised that the spin cycle was having trouble. After I flattened out the load a bit, I restarted the machine however it didn't go back into spin mode. The water started filling the tub again. (I was careful not to move the dial after the timer was stopped.) From there, I tried to advance the dial to the point where the spin cycle would resume but I could not find it so I just let the water fill. When it was done, it started to drain again and then it when into the final spin. All this being said, the machine had been operating perfectly when the cycle didn't need to be interrupted to rebalance the load. My questions are:

If the first spin cycle is interrupted, is it normal for the machine to not resume exactly where it left off when it's restarted?

When I open the lid during the wash/agitation cycle, the agitation continues. Is the lid switch bypassed when it's agitating? When I open the lid in the spin cycle, the motor stops.

Thanks for your help.

mrfixiter

[DADoESTX]

"Cycle" can refer to the complete washing/rinsing/spinning operation of a load of clothes from starting the machine until it shuts itself Off at the end.  Or it can refer to a specific phase of the complete washing/rinsing/spinning, such as the wash cycle or the rinse cycle (which comprises several sequential functions) or the spin cycle (which usually is the final spin per how the timer dial is labeled).

Personally, I view the entire operation from start to finish as a cycle ... and refer to the various functions that occur by their mechanical action of fill, agitate, drain, or spin.  Thus, the rinse phase of the cycle involves draining, spinning, filling, agitating, and draining.  The last drain could also be considered part of the final spin phase.

The machine should resume whatever it was doing when the timer is stopped/started during the Rinse phase (or any other point of the cycle) ... with the understanding that it will begin spinning (for the rest of the drain increment) upon restart if neutral drain is interrupted.

The lid switch typically doesn't come into play until the motor goes into reverse direction for drain and/or spin.  Some timers engage the lid switch on the last increment of wash agitation, thus the machine will stop agitating if the lid is opened then (and continue when closed).  Some later models have the lid switch in the motor circuit at all times and will stop whenever the lid is opened (except maybe not when filling with water).

[mrfixiter]

Thanks for explaining how you define cycle and phases. I think the main thing is that we communicate clearly where in the sequence of events the issue is occurring. Your reply indicates to me that you understood what I was trying to say.

I am in agreement with your statement:

5 hours ago, DADoESTX said:

The machine should resume whatever it was doing when the timer is stopped/started during the Rinse phase (or any other point of the cycle) ... with the understanding that it will begin spinning (for the rest of the drain increment) upon restart if neutral drain is interrupted.

And if it's not resuming correctly, would that indicate that the timer is defective?

Here is one other piece of information that may be helpful. A few weeks ago I timed each phase of the Normal cycle to get an overall picture of how the machine was operating. The agitate function during the rinse phase lasted only 2 minutes, 52 seconds. That seemed to be a very brief rinse. Is that normal?

Thanks for your help.

mrfixiter

[DADoESTX]

Length of rinse agitation depends on the specific timer.  Many timers have one increment of rinse agitation, so depends on the increment time.  It was two mins for years.  Some may be 3-min increments or have two increments of rinse agitation.  Later timers that can be turned both CW and CCW for setting and that advance continuously instead of by increments by have slight longer rinse agitation.

Your timer sequence chart pictured above says "180 seconds" (partially cut off) which is 3 mins.  So 2 mins 52 secs is reasonable when considering the motor pause after agitation to initiate neutral drain.