Do-It-Yourself Story

The washer was on, and I heard a faint humming sound in the laundry room. I went in and opened the washer and it was full of soapy water in the middle of its cycle and was not agitating. I also smelled a faint burning smell. At this point I figured the problem was a bad motor, as the washer is more than 20 years old. I have fixed it twice before, because the first time, the repairman said I should keep this washer going as long as possible. It was made to last with a metal drum, unlike newer models that have a plastic drum that gets ruined when the bearing heats up, so you end up having to get a whole new washer. Additionally, newer models have expensive and fragile computer controls that add features you don't need. I looked up the symptoms, and eliminated the other possibilities, such as the door switch, which was easy to figure out. I just opened and closed the door during the cycle and listened for the buzzing sound. Additionally, I found in some posts that some washers have separate water pump motors and drive motors, but, after viewing repair videos for this model, I could see that one motor drives both. At this point it was clearly a drive motor problem. Since the washer is old, and we have heard the belts squeaking recently, I decided to change the belts too. I also replaced the motor mount rollers and springs, because I know that springs fatigue and don't work as well after several years. That way, the belt tension would improve. I replaced the motor and other parts using the videos on this site. They were very clear and helpful. my dog helped, and we found a live mouse and a nest on top of the old motor under the motor cover. The mouse jumped out as I was tilting the washer onto its back. My dog tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. This episode led to a trip to the home center to get mouse traps!