How to Troubleshoot & Replace Sea AP6832671 / TB123B Washer Spanner Wrench Tool

After researching the problem on this site, I realized that the most likely cause was a bad bearing contained in the shaft & tube assembly. Essentially, the tub seal failed & allowed water to travel down the shaft & into the housing containing the bearing. I confirmed this by pulling the front cover off of the unit & noticed some brown water pooled directly under the shaft & tube assembly. I followed the disassembly instructions on this site & it wasn't too bad but did take some time as pretty much the entire machine has to be taken apart. This probably isn't for the beginner so take stock of your mechanical skills before attempting this repair! Once I removed the old shaft & tube assembly, I confirmed that this was in fact the culprit because it was making a grinding noise when turning the shaft. I replaced the tub bearing as well (it's actually a bushing), even though it probably wasn't necessary but I was in there already so what the heck. I also replaced the belt for the same reason. You should note that the shaft & tube assembly also includes a new tub seal (which isn't really made clear in the part description). This part is essential in preventing the water leak that caused the part failure in the first place. After replacing all parts, the machine was reassembled & tested. So far it's quiet during the spin cycle like new & no trace of water leaks. Thanks to this site & it's forums/videos as they were a huge help! The repair cost me $186.00 as opposed to $600 for a new machine so it was worth it. 

I had never worked on a washing machine before but after watching the online videos I felt like I could do the repair. I was almost positive it was the Mode Shifter and Shaft Assembly that was bad. I could hear the bearing making a grinding noise when I turned the tub by hand. I ordered the part I needed plus additional parts that could be an issue later such as a drive belt, tub bearing, tub seal, tub nut, split ring, etc; Preventive maintenance that would keep from having to tear it all apart again if another part failed. Took photos with my phone and kept the repair video handy while I took everything apart. The only difficulties I had were getting the tub nut off and tub bearing out. After spraying the tub nut with WD40 and letting it soak for approx.. 30 minutes I finally got it broken loose. I used a tub spanner wrench that I ordered with the parts. I would not have been able to get it off without it. Videos showed prying the tub bearing out with two screwdrivers which as hard as I tried I could not do. I turned the tub over and used a socket the same diameter as the tub bearing and had to knock it out with a hammer which worked. I replaced all the parts which went smoothly and put it all back together with the use of the video and photos I took. The final result was the washer worked like a charm and the roaring noise during the spin cycle was now gone. It was a somewhat time consuming project but the outcome made it worthwhile. I would like to say that ordering the parts from AppliancePartsPros was very easy. Just search by model number for parts. I ordered the parts on Tuesday morning and they shipped the same day and arrived Thursday at lunch time. Very quick service. Repair up and running by Friday afternoon. 

I ordered the tub seal and stem seal kits along with the much needed spanner wrench. After viewing the video online several times and taking notes along the way I was ready to tackle the repair. After taking everything apart, I cleaned all areas thoroughly then addressed the rusty areas and mineral deposits found in the tub. Soaking the tub in vinegar and baking soda overnight helped loosen the built up deposits enough so I could carefully scrape them off with a spatula. This was very time consuming. Next was to clean off the rust with a wire brush and 3M Scotch pad. Using Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator, I sprayed the treated areas, it acts as a rust inhibitor and top coat in one. Assembling the seals and associated parts was pretty straight forward but I had difficulty positioning the tubs top piece accurately since it was an older design utilizing the rubber seal with a metal band around it. Positioned too high, the top touches the lid, too low, it makes contact with the rotating inner tub. When doing the dry spin for 3 minutes to set the seals. There was a loud banging from the inner tub hitting the outer one. I took everything apart and found the outer tub to be out of round. After pressing and bending on all sides I finally got it as round as I could and reassembled everything. Now was the moment of truth. Now the washer functions as it should, no water leakage or banging noise. For me it was an ordeal as I never attempted this job before (and may never again). Just a word of caution handling the outer tub, be very careful not to bend it out of round otherwise you'll have a lot of anxiety with this job. Now it's martini time! 

I ordered what I thought were the necessary parts from appliancepartspro.com as my washing machine wouldn't spin. I should have watched there videos before I began as I took the whole cabinet off and everything and after receiving the parts and watching their video realized I didn't need to do so, at that point in time. When I put the pieces back together I found that the tub was really stuck, it would move but for the most part it was hard to move and creating a horrible noise. I knew I had put the thing back correctly. I then decided I needed to replace the basket drive. The standard shipping ended up coming in the same amount of time as the express two day shipping had come from the first order. I looked up on the web about removing the basket because it just would not budget. I beat it like crazy, poured various lubricants and things like liquid wrench in the area and still couldn't get it to move. I ended up heating really hot with a heat gun and then had my wife come down and help me pull it up. The tub along with the drive block came off. I then took a sledge hammer and just dropped it down on the drive block and it popped out. It was rust frozen to the tub. So they say to just keep working and it will somehow come apart and they are right. Beating it didn't help but the heat did. Others heat didn't help but beating it did. It will eventually dislodge. So I replaced the drive basket and my machine runs like new. What is awesome with this site is that they don't just send you the parts. They email you the videos to watch as to how to remove the old and install the new part. This was so super helpful that I totally rebuilt my washing machine and it runs perfectly. I do the wash and didn't want one of the new machines that doesn't get your clothes clean. Now I have a washer that will run for another 20 years. This site is AWESOME and will be my go to site for appliance repairs in the future! 

First went through the troubleshooting guide on the website and read the various stories and watched the repair videos for replacing the springs and suspension pads. Then before ordering any parts disassembled the machine only to the point of removing the cabinet to see if there were any obvious issues. The springs appeared OK but I couldn't tell of they were fatigued or not and all were in place but the tub suspension pads were definitely worn out. I then put the machine back together and went to the website and ordered new pads and springs. Received the parts in several days. I set my laptop beside the machine so I could follow the video step by step through the disassembly, repair and reassembly process. The video was a lifesaver. The worst thing about repairing anything is first trying to figure out how to take it apart. The video was spot on. I had no problems other than trying to put one of the three springs back on. Two of them popped right on but the third one that was under the water shield was a pain. I eventually figured out that if I pulled back and also rotated the spring about 45 degrees counter clockwise I could get the end of the spring in and pop it on the on the clip. Anyhow got the machine back together and it works great now. BTW I am pretty good at taking things apart but somewhat forgetful on how to reassemble them - in the correct order. The videos are great. They step you through the disassembly and reassembly. Other than the occasional fight with a spring reattachment of screw alignment they make the job relatively easy. After I placed the parts order I realized I would also need the tub wrench so I called Customer Service to see if I could add the wrench to the order. Unfortunately the ordering system wouldn't allow that so the CSR simply cancelled that order and opened a new one with the wrench added. The people there are great to work with. In the future as things break down this site will definitely be my go to site for parts and guidance. 

Didn't do enough research on Youtube and ordered a new clutch. Also ordered a drive coupling since mine was looking a bit beat up. I installed them and it didn't fix the situation. I was afraid it might be a transmission issue, but I did a lot more Youtube video watching and through some newly learned step by step trouble shooting steps I learned that the problem was the wash tub drive block. I ordered it and the special spanner wrench (you need that silly tool, I tried a hammer and screwdriver with no results). The nut came right off with the spanner. I had to wiggle the tub back and forth quite a bit to loosen it up. Eventually it slid right off the drive block. I replaced the old drive block with the new one tapping into place with a hammer & a piece of wood. I put the washer all back together and it's up and running fine. If I was to do it over again, I would have spent more time researching up front and then I would have known how easily the cabinet comes off and the washer comes apart (first time I did it, I removed the back panel and everything attached to it). I also would have known to go through all the trouble shooting steps (like testing the clutch) to find out what the real issue was. On a side note be careful not to drop tools into the tub, it will chip the enamel. In closing I'm glad I stuck with it and repaired it, instead of scraping it and buying a new one. The old washers are way better quality than the new ones and in the long run it only cost $100 to fix it vs. $500-$600 for a new one. Hopefully it will run for another 20 years :) 

I had planned to replace the 20+ year old Whirlpool when my wife suggested I try to repair it myself. A web search turned up the APP web site and videos and I saw how easy it was to repair it myself. I ordered the tub suspension parts, the direct drive motor coupling parts, and the spanner wrench from APP. The tub suspension pads looked ok, but I replace them anyway. One half of the drive coupling was broken. Following the steps in the video, I had everything repaired in less than an hour. Unfortunately, I still had the squeak-squeak, but the agitator was moving again but very little, and very oddly. I pulled the agitator and found all four of the dogs were broken off the cam. It was late Friday night and I wanted to get the washer back online as soon as possible, so the next morning, I went to the parts department of the nationwide "buy everything for a high price in-store or from catalogs" store for the cam repair kit. Of course I paid more than APP shipped, but I was desperate. Less than 15 minutes and the agitator cam was repaired and reinstalled. Well, the agitator was spinning again, but it was spinning with a wobble instead of a vertical spin, and I still had the squeak-squeek. Conclusion: transmission is shot. A call to "the store" revealed a price of $210 and change, plus tax and (outrageous) shipping, AND it had to be special ordered-they didn't stock transmissions. All the local appliance parts were closed. Since I would have to wait until Monday anyway, I ordered from APP for $175 and change, shipped to my house. The first parts were ordered on Sunday and arrived on the following Tuesday. The transmission was ordered on a Saturday and arrived on the following Wednesday. It took a couple of extra days than buying locally, but I saved around $50 with APP. Following the instructional video by Matt, I had the washer back up and working in less than 30 minutes. BTW, I checked out another web site's repair video for the transmission repair. They had you pulling the housing off and removing the agitator and parts all the way down thru the spanner nut. That would add another 20 minutes total to the repair time. I got a better price and better instruction with APP. Thanks, APP!! 

This washer gave great service for 27 years - I'd only had to replace the Lid Switch - but it started leaking water, dripping from the right-rear corner. The Inlet Valve and hoses were dry, so was the Washer Pump, and it's in the front, anyway... So, I kept the cover off, and started the machine on a low cycle - as soon as it started filling I could see the water dripping from under the center of the outer tub and running down the rear tub support leg to the rear frame. (THIS WAS A STUPID THING TO DO - DON'T RUN THE MACHINE WITH THE COVER OFF - THE EXPOSED MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL PARTS CAN HURT OR KILL YOU) It was pretty clear the problem was the outer tub Gasket (W10814296). So, I ordered that and the Tub Wrench (AP6832671), and got them the next day, which was amazing. The repair video was very clear, and the job isn't really hard, but as others have noted, it does have a few challenges. Here are my notes: 1. Breaking the Spanner Nut loose and then removing the Basket can be difficult on an old machine. A lot of penetrating oil ("Liquid Wrench"), patience, and a 5-pound hammer eventually convinced the nut to come off, but the Basket and Drive Block had corroded firmly together. I ended-up reinstalling the Spanner Nut, and using a two-jaw automotive gear puller (with the jaws grabbing the nut and the screw bearing on the top of the agitator drive shaft) to remove the Basket and Drive Block from the shaft as a unit. Then I carefully drove the Drive Block out of the basket tube with a pipe drift and a hammer. 2. The Drive Block and Spanner Nut both cleaned up nicely using a fine wire brush wheel on a bench-top grinder. You have to be careful with the block, because it's aluminum. There was some pitting from the corrosion, but that didn't interfere with the blocks clamping function and the notches which mate with the tabs on the Basket Drive Shaft were undamaged, so I was able to reuse it. The inside and base of the basket tube were also badly rusted, so I cleaned them up with various scrapers and a small wire wheel on a shaft extension in an electric drill. Then I gave the bare metal a few coats of appliance paint, to at least slow down the progress of the rust. 2. The original "self-cleaning" lint filter (which is a large, complex plastic fitting on the bottom of the Basket) was a foul mess on my machine, encrusted with 25 years of hard water deposits, lint and dirt. It's held to the Basket by four plastic buttons which snap into holes in the basket tube. These were encrusted into the holes, but I removed the filter by using four flat screwdrivers to depress the buttons and hold them pressed-in. You can replace this whole fitting with the Washer Filter Plug Kit (AP3094570). This consists of four round filter plugs which snap into the drain holes on the bottom of the Basket, but I hadn't ordered these, so I painfully scrubbed the original filter and snapped it back in place (after the wire-brushing and painting of the basket). 3. The vertical tube on the Tub Support (around the Basket Drive Shaft and Agitator Drive Shaft) had rust "bumps" all around where the tub gasket seats, so I had to carefully file those off, then sand the tube smooth, and give it a few coats of appliance paint to slow down the progress of further rust and gave the gasket a smooth surface to seal against. The video says that you might need to use a scrubbing pad and some WD-40 to clean this part - it was a lot more work than that. After it was all cleaned and painted, I used some soap and water solution to lubricate it so the new tub gasket would slide easily when I reinstalled the outer tub. 4. Generally, on a machine this old, the cleaning will take more time than any other part of the repair. Just scrubbing the hard water deposits and dirt from the outside of the Basket, the inside of the Outer Tub, and the Tub Ring took a while, in addition to the rust removal, wire-brushing, and painting I've already described. I also used my air compressor to blow all the dust out of the motor and off the frame and everything else I could reach. I suppose you could just put everything back together dirty, but if you're not paying yourself by the hour, why not do the best job you can? The leak repair was successful, and now I know the inside of the machine pretty well, so if anything else fails, it should be a pretty quick . Getting the parts from ApplianceParts Pros couldn't be easier and their instructional videos tell you everything you need to get started (although some improvisation may be necessary, particularly with an old machine.) 

This repair was performed on a Whirlpool Cabrio clothes washer Model # WTW5640XW0 which has the digital electronic controls rather than the older style timer, electro/mechanical controls. This washer was made in 2010. Simply having the diagnostic programs on this machine is wonderful and they work remarkably well and led me to the shifter/rpm sensor component straight away. It was a simple replacement by tipping the washer onto its front and accessing through the bottom. The machine was put back into service having passed all diagnostics and re-calibration. It worked for about a month. I had noticed on the removed part that the translucent window on the rpm sensor had gotten dirty and I cleaned it up thinking that was perhaps the only problem. I saved the part in case it might be needed in the future and was functional with the cleaning. On the subsequent failure, diagnostics led me to the same part and I discovered that the rpm window was as dirty as the part that I had replaced when it was removed and it was only a month old rather than 7 years old. I suspected a bad stationary tub seal was allowing some leakage into the transmission and the spinning parts were distributing it all over the inside of the transmission where the sensor is, and it was just enough that it would seep, get thrown all over, and dry. The scum on the rpm sensor lens was a dried brown crust and hard to remove. Therefore, I resolved to completely disassemble the washer, replace the seal, and refurbish anything in need. I found the spin basket, agitator, concentric drive shafts, and hub parts badly corroded and practically welded together. I thought it was never going to come apart and I'd have to replace the spin basket and transmission, so we went shopping for a new washer. However, with much pounding with larger hammers and liberal amounts of penetrating oil, everything separated. The only parts needed were the seal and the three hub parts that secure the basket and agitator to the transmission shafts. All back together, the first diagnostic pass failed at the spin cycle AGAIN! Time to resurrect the older shifter/rpm sensor module and VOILA! Success! The newer shifter/rpm module had in fact failed beyond the suspected lens cleanings, but the older one was still viable. It is not often that a DIYer like myself gets totally familiar with an appliance that fails and I always wonder if the effort is worth expending. But, for the adventuresome...duty calls. 

Originally thought, based on reading and reviews, the banging was coming from a bad dampening strap. After a quick replacement, the noise was better but not completely fixed. Two loads later, the noise became ten times worse. Further investigation led to seeing the bearing on the Mode Shifter and Shaft Assembly was blown out. As another reviewer said, I think ultimately this is a result of a miniscule leak in the tub seal over time, rusting out the bearing and eventually causing it to go. Since the replacement is practically a 100% dismantle, I also ordered and replaced most things along the way – washers, seal, hub nuts, split rings, etc. After reading other reviews, I went ahead and also ordered the spanner wrench. Like most, some WD-40 and some cleaning up eventually let it come loose. The main struggle I had was that the spanner wrench on the site seemed to be about 1/11 too big. It wasn’t a direct fit, but ultimately did the job. From there, pretty simple and basic to disassemble/reassemble. I did add a bit of RTV sealant to the tub seal for added protection. The seal, although fit snuggly, wasn’t a perfect fit with years of use/wear on the tub assembly. About 20 loads in and no visible issues to date. All said and done, probably about a 2hr fix if you aren’t rushing through it. I spent the time to clean a bunch of the old parts that I was still using while they were available. All parts were easily identifiable and shipped quickly. The only issue I had, not related to AppliancePartsPros, was the new coupling pulsator had a manufacturing defect. About three of the grooves on the inside were misaligned, so it would not fit on the Mode Shifter Shaft Assembly. Ended up putting the old one back on. The part was $4 and not worth the cost to ship back and return.