My washing machine has slowly been acting up and no longer spins the clothes as dry as it used to. Yeah, it’s crowding 15 years old but my question is do they use a belt to spin the tub? Could the belt just be worn or glazed? I hate to throw away a washing machine because it needs a $5 belt. Any experience with this?

Mine is about a 15 year old whirlpool. It has a coupling from motor to transmission. It's nylon and made to strip/break. Sort of a pain to change. I'd pay $100 to have it fixed again. New stuff is junk.

Sounds more like a water pump problem which is a pretty easy fix.

I guess I hadn’t considered that but it does make sense.

MY front loader was doing that. there was a trap that was full of coins, etc. that was clogging the whole works up. I cleaned all that stuff out now it works fine.

The little nylon piece is called the clutch. It is very easy to replace and cheap. It is also the most likely source of your problem. We have replaced them twice. I think they were around $6.00. There's an awesome store in Springfield, Ohio, Mr. Handy, that sells cheap parts for appliances. They give you diagrams and will show you how to replace the part too. They have saved me hundreds of dollars.

Keith

The reason I say that 160 is a few years back I had the same issue, and another one simultaneously, which was it was out of balance with every load. Mine is old too and I think the same way as you, why buy new if I can fix it cheaper. Anyway, I tore it apart and the water pump was missing some teeth and the buffer ring was bad causing it to be unbalanced. So I ordered the parts and put them on, been working like a champ so far. You might get lucky when you look at the pump, could just be an obstruction of sorts.

Jeff, I think what you are referring to as the buffer ring is the clutch.

Keith

I guess I have a few different possibilities to look at.

Keith, I just realized I called it by the wrong name. It is the snubber ring, thank you for calling me out on that. The snubber ring is like a Frisbee with a hole that goes where the tub meets the base. It's all held together by springs. On mine you could see plastic filings where it had worn down. After replacing it it kept perfect balance. I do suspect 160's problem to be of a water pump issue and hope he can fix it.

160, go to repairclinic.com. Have the make and serial number of the washer (under the lid I think) ready to enter in appropriate spaces. There are many videos on there showing how to repair these things. I have serviced both my washer and dryer (both 15 yrs old) by searching this website. You can also order the parts you might need right on the website. Good luck. You can save quite a bit of money by repairing yourself.

just get a new rock.

Record the make and model number then pay a visit to You Tube describing the problem. Our 15 year old Maytag will display the same symptom every 2-3 years. In our case it's a simple fix. As a matter of fact I did this repair/replacement last Sunday. All I had to replace was the C-ring. It will break after a few years. Who knows where they're made. We keep a few on hand now. Here's the Ytube vid i followed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE3K3mqlqss

Record the make and model number then pay a visit to You Tube describing the problem. Our 15 year old Maytag will display the same symptom every 2-3 years. In our case it's a simple fix. As a matter of fact I did this repair/replacement last Sunday. All I had to replace was the C-ring. It will break after a few years. Who knows where they're made. We keep a few on hand now. Here's the Ytube vid i followed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE3K3mqlqss

I have done this twice as well. The shipping will be eight bucks. Go ahead and order two sets, you will need them later. There is a youtube video on how to change them.

Check the filter screen on the pump. Ours gets plugged and won't dry the clothes. Every couple years I have to clean it. I usually make about $2 removing the change from it. Now that I think about it, I should clean it.

They are pretty easy to replace parts on and not too expensive unless the control itself goes bad. Then it is cheaper to replace the washer. I spent 8 years writing repair manuals for Kenmore and Whirlpool and drawing all of the exploded views that show all of the parts. I also did Kenmore lawnmowers and electric ranges, It was a fun until they went out of business in my town, because of union strikes..

Garry-