Whirlpool WP8546462 Spin Tube Bearing OEM Part

First, DO NOT call Sears for parts, their call center knows nothing about the product. App-Pros are the best for help and the right parts. I figured to repair, replace all seals and any item that shows need to and all items that have to do with the spin that may be bad. Repair videos great help. I will start from the "bottom" up, the repairs were not done in this order, just a list of what I did and notes. Replaced-- motor drive coupling, (checked out transmission ok), thrust washer, clutch ass'y, (brake ok), thrust washer, transmission shaft sleeve bearings (inside the spin tube), grease seals, and topwater seal. Replaced sleeve bearings, grease seals, topwater seal for spin tube in (sorry, name?) (main tube housing?). Replaced tub seal (it was real bad), drive block (was bad) agitator washer, agitator dogs (were broken), dog retainer washer. In hindsight, I don't think it was needed to replace the bearings, but beings I bought them went ahead and did it. That was the hard part and I used some "weird" solutions. After trying to remove transmission shaft bearings with a puller, etc, I removed the old grease seals and pounded the old bearings deeper into the tube, there is plenty of room, and they pounded the new bearings in. So now in effect, there are four bearings installed. For the spin tube bearings, I could not find the part number and/or info on the upper bearing. The lower bottom bearing is brass with a lip on it (grove cut in the lip is for the retainer ring for the brake). I bought two of them, cut the lip off one, and pounded it in from the bottom up to close to the old one in the top of the tube. So now there are two upper bearings. Then I put in the lower one with the lip. Be careful with this one, brass is easy to damage. Without doing the bearings, repairs were easy, they made it hard to do. The trans shaft and spin tube water seals are easily damaged when installed. For the spin tube seal, I found a one-inch pipe coupling that was a perfect fit, I ground off the threads in a taper that would clear the seal lip and just fit on the rubber-covered metal base and pounded it in. For the trans shaft, I found an old shower curtain rod was a perfect fit to drive in the seal. The wife is happy with her 25 year old "new" machine, it works great. You can hardly feel anything when it spins. :-)

Based on recommendation to replace the clutch if clothes aren't spinning dry enough, I ordered a new clutch. Upon disassembly, I observed no Ring Wire/C-Clip and that the bearing appeared worn. Where did the clip go? Well, the bearing wore down such that it wore out the clip and bearing up to the sleeve of the shaft. Knocked out the old bearing, tapped in the new and was done. I disassembled the brake shoes but believe you can get the bearing in and out without doing so. Not a bad job, just need a long rod to knock out the bearing.

Started by replacing the drive clutch, but found that the spin tube bearing was gone and the spin tube itself was worn to the retaining clip. Purchased the basket drive assembly and tub wrench (which is needed to remove the tub and spin tube). Purchasing the assembly instead of individual parts saves time and money. Followed the dyi video which has every step needed to do the repair. I took extra time to clean the inner and outer tubs. My 20+ year old Whirlpool washer is back in service.

The spin tube bearing and the cam sleeve needed to be replaced.

When the spin tube bearing wears out there is nothing to hold the ring wire in place to hold the clutch in place. To replace the spine tube bearing the drive shaft and tub must be removed from the machine. to remove the tub the spanner wrench is required. Once fully disassembled the old spin tube bearing must be removed by banging it out of the main drive shaft. A long wooden dowl and an hammer will accomplish this task. While you have everything apart it is a good time to clean the tub and other parts. Replace the Spin tube bearing and then put everything back together again. Paying attention to the clutch assembly and ring wire. It is always important to test out they system prior to putting the machine back in its place if possible (without water attached). and then with water attached.