How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP6013690 / WP9703680 Retaining Ring (Drive Shaft)

Replaced all the gears due to stripped worm gear and metal contamination in the grease, repair was easy, mixer works just like new again, it lasted 12 years 

Had to remove housing and gear casing to access gears. Had to remove all the grease since the pieces of the old gear were mixed with the grease. Got new parts and new grease put everything together and slathered the grease into the casing and put it all back together. 

This is my 2nd time replacing gears, so I stopped the mixer at the 1st sign of grinding. Thankfully, I only had to replace the worm follower gear this time. I replaced the retaining clip for good measure. The clip in the planetary probably should have been replaced as well. I was overzealous with the grease, and the gear cover wouldn't close until I removed some of it. I am a 53-year-old female who bakes a lot of whole grain breads. My 6-quart Architect is about 7 years old. A commercial mixer is not in the budget, but that's what I should be using. 

Opened up housing to fix several teeth of gears missing. Due to previous repair on older model, I ordered parts after downloadibg & printing internal components diagram. Also watched repair videos. 

Change new gear ! 

Disconnected the power, then Opened up the kitchenAid pro HD motor assembly. Found the gear assembly , and removed it's housing. Disconnected the motor drive, and hand spun the gear assy. Found that the worm gear had worn down in one spot. Went to appliancepartspros.com on Tuesday, ordered new beveled and worm gears a gasket and new clips. Parts arrived on the same Thursday. My wife was amazed at the speed of the turn around. Thank you so much 

Repairs to the gearbox in these mixers is relatively easy. Simply remove the trim band, remove the four screws holding the cover, exposing the motor and gearbox. There are another four screws holding the cover of the gearbox on, removing those exposes all of the gears. Find the broken or stripped gear, use the diagram on this site to determine the part to order. I also recommend getting an extra snapring (see the diagram) because, even though you might usually reuse the one that is there, and even though this one appears to only be driving the power takeoff bevel gear. That gear in turn holds the worm-driven gear in place, and if the clip loses tension and pops up, the main drive will stop, and you might strip additional gears. Putting a new clip in is cheap insurance. 

The problem was easy to see visually. I found the manufacturer's part numbers on their (KitchenAid) website. The parts were easy to find on Appliancepartspros.com - and I was able to verify (from the KitchenAid information) that the part numbers were the correct ones for our mixer. It was a great experience. I had the parts in hand 48 hours after placing the order with Appliancepartspros.com. Appliancepartspro is a great resource! 

Was able to buy parts on line and fix for $35. Would have costed over $100 otherwise. Very easy to do. 

Replaced gears and bushings