Do-It-Yourself Story

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!