Whirlpool 285811 Washer Agitator Cam Repair Kit OEM Part

I had previously replaced the pump about 1 year ago. That was not the problem. Still leaked the same way - intermittently, but always in the center of the washer onto the floor. None of the hoses were leaking - no evidence of corrosion or water mineral residue at any of the hose fittings. So, it must have been something else. I studied the parts diagram for the washer tub assembly and concluded the source of the leak almost had to be the outer tub's Centerpost Gasket. It was really the only part left that came in direct contact with water in the otherwise sealed outer tub. Gonna backtrack a little here... When I was checking for leaks before and after I swapped out the pump (about 1-1/2 years ago), I noticed the rear lower frame of the machine was almost totally rusted out and the Suspension Spring was was about to rust through also. I had some 2" angle aluminum in my garage, so I cut a section of that about the width of the machine and pop-riveted it to the machine back panel with the angle facing inward. That did the trick and completely reinforced that lower section of the washer. It also gave me solid metal to drill a new hole for the suspension spring. The point here is not the innovative repair - the point is that the machine had been leaking for a long time and rusted out the lower rear frame and suspension spring! (The actual visible water on the concrete floor only manifested itself about a year and a half ago, but based on the extensive rust, it had to have been leaking much longer than that.) Back to fixing the leak...I ordered the parts from Appliance Parts Pros. (I rebuilt the agitator section too, with a new Medium Cam Agitator Repair Kit. This had nothing to do with the leak, but since I was taking the whole thing apart anyway...) The main components I ordered for the leak were the Centerpost Gasket and Spanner Wrench. I also ordered a new Suspension Spring because the old one was just about rusted through. I followed some instructional videos on how to remove the inner basket from the outer tub. The spanner wrench was an absolute necessity. Once I got the inner tub out, I removed the old style filter on the bottom of the inner tub and cleaned it up thoroughly. (I replaced the old style filter with the new Washer Filter Plug Kit - four small plastic filters that fit in the four large holes in the inner tub. The holes were a little too large for the plugs to stay snug, so I super-glued them in.) I then removed the outer tub by sliding it up the centerpost. Cleaned it up thoroughly also. That's when I noticed the triangular frame to which the motor/transmission assembly was attached was rusting severely at each of its three corners. One corner had rusted through. This is evidence of a Centerpost Gasket leak, as all this rust was above the water pump. In order to curtail any more rusting on the triangular frame, I knocked out all of the loose rust and scrapped the rest of it to remove as much rust as possible. In each of the three corners, there is a downward-facing "bowl" in the metal frame where the support posts extend upward. These "bowls" had been collecting water for years, hence the extensive rust. To combat the rust and prevent any further rust I heated up the hot glue gun and I must have used (5) 12-inch sticks of hot glue to fill in the bowls, cover up all the rust, and actually made them convex so water will run outward and not get trapped if it ever leaks again. Whew! I then used 0000 steel wool on the centerpost to remove some minor corrosion so the new gasket would seal. I placed a small amount of silicon grease on the centerpost where the gasket will seat. I then pressed the new gasket into the outer tub and applied silicon grease on the inside so it would slide into place without sticking on the way down (about 12 inches). I seated the tub and secured it. I installed the new Suspension Spring. I reinstalled the inner tub and cinched it down snugly with the spanner wrench. Reinstalled the newly rebuilt agitator and snugged down its retaining bolt. Reinstalled the washer body and set the spring clips. Hooked up the water and drain line and crossed my fingers. My wife did laundry the next day. No leaks. It's now been right at a month and many laundry loads later...no leaks!!! Yay! Project took me about 5 hours including the hot gluing and extreme cleaning of all the parts.

This problem had occurred on another washing machine I owned so I had an idea what the problem was. After removing the agitator top cap and the inside agitator cap, I could see that the agitator dogs (the small plastic cams (4) that connect the inner agitator to the outer agitator) had worn out; the little teeth on the cams were gone. I ordered a parts kit from AppliancePartsPros.com. It arrived two days later (quick shipping). The cam agitator repair kit contained all the necessary parts to fix the washer. The included instructions were thorough and within 15 minutes the repair was complete. To be detailed, after pulling off the top agitator cap and pulling out the inner agitator cap (the inner water seal cap has an o-ring, which should be replaced later in the process), I used a ratchet with an 8 inch extension and socket to remove the bolt holding the agitator in the washer. The bolt has a rubber washer on it which should be replaced during re-assembly (a new washer was included with the kit). Pulling up on the agitator removed it from the washer. Inside the agitator the cams, plastic bearing plate, and cam assembly were replaced according to the instructions and the old parts were discarded. I used some petroleum grease on the plastic bearing plate, according to the instructions, and re-assembled the agitator. A new rubber washer was placed on the bolt and the agitator was bolted in the washer. A new rubber o-ring installed on the water-seal cap completed that part of the repair. After re-assembly I tested the action of the agitator by moving it with my hand. As it should be, the agitator moved in the proper direction and locked up to the lower agitator nice and tight.

After contacting ApplianceParts Pros.com I submitted the appliance serial number which brought me to a page dedicated to the precise appliance and parts I needed, along with a video showing how to do the job. The part arrived at my home the following day. Everything was in the package, nothing missing and all parts were correct, unlike many other on line parts suppliers . My experience with AppliancePartsPros. couldn't have been better. I will most definitely use their services again and recommend them to friends

Ordered the Agitating Kit from your web sight. Followed the instructions on the Video at your sight. Some things were a little different but easily figured out. Thank You. Have a good washer today. Only one problem. The kit shipped 2 days later than expected. FedEx could not find my physical address. New driver. 2 days later. So I could have had a washer 4 days earlier. Would suggest you ship whichever way the customer request. USPS works best for me.

In reality, this turned into a full-on rebuild project - with several parts orders, not just a simple repair. But I have to give credit: The parts listings with pictures on the AppliancePartsPros web site were really useful in figuring out what was going on inside the machine, and what parts I would need. Also: The repair videos were critical for me to be able to ensure I was reassembling everything correctly. Shout out to Simon, who was featured in several of the repair videos. His "gorgeous wooden box" and his habit of setting a part aside "where the kids won't play with it" are really humorous late at night, when I'm trying to get things back together! This was a challenging repair - largely because my washer is 25 years old. But the reputation of the Whirlpool direct drive design convinced me it was worth the effort to bring it back to life. Getting the tub nut and block apart without damage is difficult on old machines.