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JOHN MCCULLOCH
We'll start things out with Lynn in, Painesville, Ohio, who has a question on a Frigidaire washer, on the Appliance Repair Show.
LYNN
I've got a Frigidaire Crown heavy duty super capacity seven-cycle automatic washer made in 1999, it's a beautiful machine. I took it down, opened it up, and the belt needs changing, and I detected...I was a fairly accomplished mechanic; let's get that out of the way. So the belt was badly worn, obviously needed changing, and also there appears to be an excessive amount of movement in the-
JOHN SOWDEN
LYNN
In the tensioner, yeah.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yes.
LYNN
Now, it looks to me like I'd better dismantle the whole washing machine just to change the belt!
JOHN SOWDEN
No, on that one I do believe you need to take the pump off in order to get to the belt, or detach the motor bracket assembly, so you can wrap the belt around the motor pulley. You don't have to take the whole thing apart, but you do need to remove the motor assembly-and in some units take the pump off as well-to get at that.
LYNN
Now, I called the company and all I get is a recording telling me what my nearest repair shop is. What I would like is a shop manual for the thing. Can you supply me with one of those?
JOHN SOWDEN
Let me see, I'm trying to pull your model number up here. If you go to our website, RepairClinic.com, and put your model number in, you can see all the common parts for that and some have specific manuals for that particular unit and some do not, it really depends on the unit.
LYNN
RepairClinic.com. Okay. And you say it's not necessary to take it apart completely to change the belt?
JOHN SOWDEN
No, you can do that by just gaining access, and you've got the front cover off so you're halfway there. It's just a matter of removing the motor bracket assembly and getting so you can route the belt around the pulley and go from there. But I'd replace that tensioner too, if it's worn.
LYNN
Oh, I will, if it's the least bit worn. But one guy I talked to, said that there's a bearing in the top of the transmission that's changeable and there's one in the bottom that isn't.
JOHN SOWDEN
Well, you know, if you're having a lot of noise on spin and the belt and the idler are worn, that could be just where the problem is coming from. You could try running it and see if you have any additional sounds coming from the upper spin bearing, which, yes, you can change and I would replace the tub seals with that if you're going to do it.
LYNN
I see.
JOHN SOWDEN
The lower part of the transmission does have a bearing, and that comes as a transmission complete.
LYNN
That's what I figured. Buy a new washer.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, that can put you over the cost effectiveness of repairing it.
LYNN
Now you will send parts by mail in case I can't get them locally? I can get them from you folks?
JOHN SOWDEN
Sure can! If you go to our website, RepairClinic.com, in the upper left hand corner we have a search box, put in your model number and you'll see a picture of all the common parts and availability. We ship FedEx, so you could do next day air if you're really in a hurry for them, or you could just go for standard ground if you don't need it and save a few bucks on shipping.
LYNN
Sounds like you've got a real outfit!
JOHN SOWDEN
We try!
JOHN MCCULLOCH
And let's go to Tom, in Canton, on the Appliance Repair Show. Good morning, Tom.
TOM
I have a Frigidaire dishwasher. I think when it's trying to re-circulate the water it makes a real loud noise, like the ball bearing is worn out on the motor. It's a real loud buzzing sound. And so I was going to replace the circulation motor, and I was just wondering how involved that is, or are there any tips to do that? The diagram I have shows a bracket with two or three screws in it to take off.
JOHN SOWDEN
How old is the dishwasher?
TOM
It's like two and a half years old.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah. Most of those come as a kit, the motor kit, which you may have to change the housing as well. They went to a one motor kit instead of having two or three different motors. If it's just the motor, it's basically a turn and snap into place type thing, once you remove the wires and all that good stuff. But, it can be hard at times to get underneath it; it depends on how much clearance you have. A lot of them have a locking mechanism for the pump and motor assembly. If it's making a lot of noise, then you probably have a broken impeller or something in the motor pump assembly. Or, the bearings, as you said, could be gone. If you need to change the whole thing, then you need to change the whole pump housing, and they push down into the lower tank and they have some locking clips that hold it in there; it really depends on your particular unit which way you go. Either way, it's something that if you spend a little time you can achieve yourself. Most motor pump assemblies run between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and fifty dollars.
TOM
Okay. And what hours are you open today?
JOHN SOWDEN
We are open, at our parts counter, from eight to six as on every day, seven days a week.
TOM
Okay, thank you very much!
JOHN MCCULLOCH
And with our first refrigerator call of the day, let's go to Judy, in Farmington Hills, on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Judy, go ahead please.
JUDY
Hello, I have a side by side Jenn-Air refrigerator, about six years old, and there is a light bulb where the water or the ice dispenser is and I used to be able to push that button and shut it off. It's on constantly.
JOHN SOWDEN
And you can't turn off the light as an option?
JUDY
Correct.
JOHN SOWDEN
And is it a push button or is it a touchpad?
JUDY
It's a touchpad.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah. Well, there are two things it could be: it could be that the touchpad itself is sticking in the 'on' position. Is it worn? A lot of times you can see where it's starting to crack, or evidence of use on it? If that's not the case, the touchpad's okay, then there's a circuit board in there that controls the dispenser assembly and there's a relay on that that could be stuck in the 'on' position as well.
JUDY
How do you get to that?
JOHN SOWDEN
You need to disassemble the dispenser assembly and take the lower tray out, the spill tray. There's normally a spill tray that you can unsnap the housing and get in there. It's about a hundred bucks for a new dispenser control board, and the touchpad I think is about half that.
JUDY
Okay.
JOHN SOWDEN
It's one or the other. You may want to have somebody come out and look this over, diagnose it, and see for sure where you're loosing that circuit, or you could replace both and take the shotgun approach and do it yourself.
JUDY
Or, just leave the light on.
JOHN SOWDEN
Or, you could unscrew the light bulb and save seven watts of energy twenty-four hours a day.
JUDY
Alright. Thank you very much.
JOHN MCCULLOCH
Here's a question on a Bosch dishwasher from Joe, in Ann Arbor, here on the Appliance Repair Show on News Talk 760 WJR.
JOE
Hi. I've got a Bosch stainless steel dishwasher that a friend of mine gave to me. They were on a hard water system and never really softened the water, so it has a lot of hard water deposit built up on the inside.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, that's never good.
JOE
And I'm wondering-I haven't installed it in my house yet, it's in my garage-if there is a way I could run it in the garage, maybe dumping a bucket of water in there. And I was wondering if there's any additives like vinegar or something that I could run a cycle and just have it drain out into my lawn.
JOHN SOWDEN
Did you empty the dishwasher before you put it out in the garage?
JOE
Yes, certainly!
JOHN SOWDEN
Well, a lot of times if you have water still in the pump housing, and obviously if it's out in the garage it's probably frozen here in Michigan, and that can cause other problems like a broken pump.
JOE
Sure.
JOHN SOWDEN
As far as cleaning it up, yeah, you can use vinegar to get rid of the hard water scales. They also make a product called Glisten (part # 5303319027) that's a cleaner for dishwashers. I think it's six or seven bucks a package that you dump in.
JOE
How do you spell that?
JOHN SOWDEN
Glisten (part # 5303319027), G-L-I-S-T-E-N.
JOE
Okay.
JOHN SOWDEN
And that works pretty well. It's more of a citrus type cleaner. It depends really on how bad the buildup is. You may need to replace some of the wash arms and things in there if it's really bad.
JOE
No, it just kind of looks like a film. It's not really thick or anything, it's just kind of a film.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, and you can run it out in your garage. Obviously, you want to get the drain hose. In most of those, the drain hose is looped around the back of the dishwasher anyway, so it doesn't go running out as it comes back in.
JOE
Right. How much water should I put inside it, since it's not hooked up to a water source? Do I just put a bucket or two in there, a gallon or two?
JOHN SOWDEN
Those I think actually fit a few gallons, yeah, per fill. They're low water usage machines. If you're going to just use it for the cleaning, you basically can fill it up until you have an inch of water in the dishwasher and then just let it run. Obviously, it's going to want to stop and drain so you're going to have to monkey around with it a little bit to let it drain out and then put some back in. Or, you can disable the electronics to make it not drain, but it's probably easier to just let it drain a bucket and re-circulate a few times.
JOE
Yeah, just do a rinse cycle at the end and just let it do that. I just want it to wash around and spill out.
JOHN SOWDEN
But before I'd install it and everything else, I would clean it up, make sure it does go through those cycles, and look for any leaks or anything like that before you spend all the time and energy putting it into the hole and then having to pull it out again.
JOE
Sure. Alright, thanks!
JOHN MCCULLOCH
With a question on a Jenn Air electric range, from Bob, in Farmington Hills. Go ahead please, Bob.
BOB
I've got a Jenn Air electric range, and it's got an electric fan instead of a vent above it. The fan actually draws down
JOHN SOWDEN
You've got a downdraft.
BOB
Exactly. What's happening is everything seems to work fine on the range, except that fan no longer works at all. There's a little switch where you can turn the fan on it, a rocker switch. You turn the fan on one way, and you can turn the oven light on the other way. The oven light works but the fan no longer works. I just wondered if you had any ideas on how to repair that.
JOHN SOWDEN
Well, the switch is something that does fail on that unit. You can normally get at that by just removing, after you turn the power off of course, the two screws that retain that little square cover, and then look at the switch. You've probably got a burned wire on the fan, or the switch itself has failed. If the switch checks okay, then you could have a problem with the blower motor itself. Normally, those are mounted underneath the unit, but sometimes they have remote fans, it all depends on the installation. I would start with the switch, and a lot of times once you get the cover off, the problem is apparent where you've got a wire burned off hanging there or something like that.
BOB
Okay. With the model number, is that something you can get at your store, do you think?
JOHN SOWDEN
Sure can. Get the model number off the unit. Is that one just a drop-in stove?
BOB
Yes.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay. If you open up the oven door, it's going to be around the door frame, or you may have to remove the cartridges to get it. But if you go to the website, RepairClinic.com, and put in that model number, you'll see a picture of all the common parts, availability, and shipping options. Being in Farmington Hills, you can probably shoot over to our counter; we're open until six today, so you can pick one of those up. As long as you go wire for wire on the switch, you normally don't get into too much trouble as far as reinstalling it.
BOB
Thank you so much!
JOHN MCCULLOCH
And, here with a question on a Whirlpool dishwasher, Cindy, in Dearborn Heights, on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead, please.
CINDY
I have a Whirlpool built-in dishwasher, and I have about a half an inch to an inch of water standing in the bottom of it.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay.
CINDY
My daughter had broken a glass in it.
JOHN SOWDEN
I was just going to ask that question.
CINDY
Yes. She was taking something out of the dishwasher and it broke. I've taken the screws out of the white thing in the bottom, but I don't know how to get that off.
JOHN SOWDEN
Well, the problem you run into, when something like that breaks in the dishwasher, those pieces get into the motor impeller assembly or the little fan blades that turn to push the water through the wash arms, and it breaks all the blades off of that. Does the unit run? Do you hear the motor still turn? It just doesn't pump, is that it?
CINDY
It's not doing anything. To be honest, I haven't run it since this thing broke, just in case something went down into it.
JOHN SOWDEN
That's probably a good idea. And how long ago was that?
CINDY
It was about three days ago.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay. So it's recent. There are two routes you can go. One is to just replace the motor pump assembly, depending on the age of the unit, and just start over. If you want to rebuild it, then I would recommend a motor seal kit with the impellers; if you're going to do that I'd recommend the manual because there are a lot of pieces that have to go together correctly and be spaced properly and all that good stuff to do this. If you have somebody come out and install something like that you're probably looking at a hundred to one hundred fifty dollar bill.
CINDY
Okay.
JOHN SOWDEN
This is not an uncommon problem. Wine glasses break and such...
CINDY
It's at least thirteen years old.
JOHN SOWDEN
Right. And if it's something you want to do yourself and start over, you could just replace the whole motor pump assembly, which pops into place with a few locking tabs on either side; you hook up a few hoses and a few wires and normally you're back in business. Again, you're probably going to spend over a hundred bucks, but you would be rebuilding it, putting the most expensive component back into the machine.
CINDY
Or, I could have the one in my garage put in instead.
JOHN SOWDEN
If you've got an alternate one waiting, yes. Again, if it's out in the garage...how long has it been out there?
CINDY
Maybe six months.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay. And did they empty out the pump assembly and all that before you stored it?
CINDY
Yes.
JOHN SOWDEN
That's a good thing that they've taken the water out, but the bad thing is the motor seals on dishwashers are made to be wet, so that the rubber doesn't break down. So you could have a situation when you fire it up that the motor seals could tear and you could end up with a leak coming through the motor assembly if the motor seals dried up.
CINDY
Alright. Thank you.
JOHN MCCULLOCH
And with a question on a Maytag washer, here's Jim, in Woodhaven, on the Appliance Repair Show.
JIM
I got this Maytag washing machine and it won't go into the rinse cycle. I can manually reset it on the switch and the pump will come on and it will engage then. But during a normal cycle, when it calls for the rinse, it just gets stuck. If you come over and give the washing machine a good hard rap, it will kick in, so I don't know if something's getting stuck down there in the solenoid, or if it's the switch itself, I'm not sure. What do you think?
JOHN SOWDEN
You say it doesn't go into spin on its own?
JIM
No, not spin, the rinse.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay, so it drains out the water and then it doesn't refill?
JIM
Doesn't let the new rinse water come in.
JOHN SOWDEN
So the rinse water does not come in?
JIM
Right.
JOHN SOWDEN
So you're not getting any cold water?
JIM
Right.
JOHN SOWDEN
Have you tried setting it to cold wash, warm wash, and see if you're getting all your water temperatures in the machine?
JIM
Yes, and that's working fine, that part. It's washing fine and as the normal cycle goes and when it calls to go into the rinse cycle, it gets stuck, and if you go over and just manually reset the switch on the rinse designation and just set that knob to the rinse, the water will come in fine. But, in the course of just a normal wash cycle, it's supposed to do it automatically, and when it calls for rinse it just stops.
JOHN SOWDEN
And no water comes in?
JIM
Right.
JOHN SOWDEN
And again, you're sure you're getting cold water. Because normally it's cold water rinse, and it's possible that you're not getting the cold water. It sounds like to me if you rap it and it continues on, you could have a bad contact in the timer assembly.
JIM
I was wondering if that timer assembly is just maybe dirty or something like that.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, there are a lot of nice plastic pieces in there, and it doesn't take much if a little tab breaks or something to where it doesn't want to continue on in the cycle. If you can tap on the timer dial like that and it normally continues on and fills and does all the things it's supposed to, then it's probably just a bad contact in the timer. You can try to tear it apart and clean the contacts and all that good stuff. I'd just recommend replacing it rather than go through all that, because most often once you separate that, a lot of those parts kind of fly across the room and you end up with a mess anyway. If it's intermittent like that, I would just put another timer in it.
JIM
Now on the back, I'm looking here, there are three screws on the back cover that lets me gain access to that. Is that all I need to take off, those three screws?
JOHN SOWDEN
You have to remove the knob, too. On some of those timers you have to go through the back shaft of the timer and push in on the timer shaft to release the knob.
JIM
Okay.
JOHN SOWDEN
So if you go to our website and put your model number in then you'll get an idea of what the components look like. And normally if there's anything that you have to do that way, we'll have it spelled out for you.
JIM
Is that RepairClinic.com?
JOHN SOWDEN
Yes it is!
JIM
I've used them a couple of times, and they're very good.
JOHN MCCULLOCH
David, in Columbus, Ohio, has a question on a Whirlpool dishwasher, here on the Appliance Repair Show. Go ahead please, David.
DAVID
The problem is intermittent in the timer knob that we turn to select normal wash or light wash, etc. On occasion, it turns extremely hard so I'm almost afraid I'm going to break it. So, I unbolted the timer from that and the cam on the timer turns very nice, so I'm assuming it's where the timer knob has the groove in it and it must pop into this plastic console that holds the knob. And, I'm guessing that's worn out. I don't know whether I just replace the knob or the part behind the knob, which I think they call the console.
JOHN SOWDEN
Does the knob seem to be binding in the console?
DAVID
Yes. When I unbolted the timer and I just started spinning the knob, it will turn fine and all of a sudden it just binds up and you can hardly turn it.
JOHN SOWDEN
And once you had the timer screwed back into place and you reassemble it, then it binds?
DAVID
Only intermittently.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay.
DAVID
And there's no lubrication or anything. It just looks like everything's plastic.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, I would lean still more towards the timer binding internally, unless you can see where the knob is physically binding against the console there. Normally the knob just slides over the timer shaft, and anything that would be hard to turn would be internal to the timer.
DAVID
But you see, when I unbolt the timer, the knob still turns extremely hard.
JOHN SOWDEN
Oh, okay.
DAVID
You see what I mean?
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay. I'm trying to get an idea ... so when you take the knob out you still have a hard time turning the timer?
DAVID
Yeah, so I figure it's got to be either the timer knob or I believe the part that the knob snaps into that they call a console. But I'm not positive. See, the knob's about ten dollars and the console's about eighty-five dollars.
JOHN SOWDEN
The console is just the housing for the control panel that the whole thing sits in, so unless it's cracked or something, I'd lean more towards the knob.
DAVID
Just the knob?
JOHN SOWDEN
You could try that for ten bucks and if you run into problems you could go the other way. It's weird that it would bind like that, not being attached to the timer. Most often the problem is something in the timer, like one of the gears is stripped or something that when you put force on it would cause it. When you take the knob off do you see any cracks in the knob that would cause it to lean one way or another, or does the knob look okay?
DAVID
Well see I didn't take the knob out, I just unbolted the timer from the back. I'm not exactly sure how to get the knob out; it looks like you pry these two plastic tabs out. I was afraid I might break it, so I didn't try.
JOHN SOWDEN
If you're going to replace the knob I wouldn't worry too much about what it looks like once you get it off, for ten bucks. Most of those have locking clips. I'm trying to pull up your model here, and honestly the knob doesn't seem to be a real common failing part, from what I can see. Normally, the door latch itself is the common problem. Yeah, as far as that goes, I'd recommend replacing the knob to start with, and see what happens, and once you pop it off you can get some idea what the control panel looks like. But most often having to replace the control panel is from breakage, things of that nature- cosmetic reasons, normally not for mechanical reasons.
DAVID
To get the knob off the console, do you think I just pry those tabs out?
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, you might have to unsnap the console assembly. A lot of those have locking tabs around the perimeter. Use a putty knife and get in there and gently remove those tabs. Unsnap them as you go around.
DAVID
Okay. Well thank you very much.
JOHN MCCULLOCH
And now for a question on a GE oven from Joan, in Wyandotte, on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Joan, go ahead please.
JOAN
Yes, I have a GE range that's between seven and eight years old. Its self cleaning feature does not work. The oven does: I can use the oven, everything else works, the clocks work, the burners work, the oven light works; it's just the self-cleaner that doesn't work.
JOHN SOWDEN
You say the oven works. Can you set it to bake and the lower bake element glows red?
JOAN
Yes.
JOHN SOWDEN
And when you set it to broil then the upper element glows red?
JOAN
Yes.
JOHN SOWDEN
So they are both functional then. And when you set it up for self-clean and you slide the latch over, does it go all the way over? Can you feel any resistance there?
JOAN
I think it goes over as far as it ever did.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay. So there can be several components in the self clean that can cause it to fail, and the latch not moving all the way over or physically being broken in the latch assembly can cause the problem. What happens is when you slide the latch assembly over, you are actuating a switch that basically tells the oven door to lock, and then that way you can't open it up until the oven has cooled down.
JOAN
Okay, can I interrupt half a minute? I told you everything worked. Well, I hadn't tested the broiler.
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, that's what I thought.
JOAN
And I did just turn it on while we were talking, and no, the broiler does not work.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay.
JOAN
The lower coil works, but the broiler does not.
JOHN SOWDEN
Right, and you need them both for self clean.
JOAN
Yeah.
JOHN SOWDEN
So I would leave it on for a few minutes and make sure it doesn't just fire up, but it could be just a bad broil element at this point. What happens in an oven during self clean is you lock the door up and normally fire up both elements, either at the same time or normally they'll try to alternate them. You get the oven temperature up to nine hundred degrees and you just burn everything off the oven walls. So without that broil element working, then you're not going to ever get the oven temperature up to where it needs to be.
JOAN
Now, is that usually a very expensive repair?
JOHN SOWDEN
A broil element, if it's failed-and a lot of times you can grab a flashlight and look at it and you might be able to see some sort of deformation on the coil itself, although not always-a broil element's normally between thirty and fifty dollars. If you have somebody come out and replace that, you can double that cost. So you're looking at one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars to have a service man come out and change that for you. If you decide to repair it yourself, obviously you need to turn the power off to the unit. There are normally a few screws that retain the broil element to the wall at the back of the unit and a few to the ceiling, and then you can slide it out and there are two wires that attach to it.
JOAN
Okay. So if I decide not to put the money into a repair for a stove that's that old, I know you are not supposed to use these oven cleaning products on a self-cleaner but, if I'm not going to have a self cleaner, would it be okay to use them?
JOHN SOWDEN
That's a decision that you have to make. A lot of times if you use oven cleaners on a self-cleaner that's not made for that application, what happens is, the chemicals in there actually kind of get into the oven liner, and then at any point in the future if you decide to fix that, and you fire it up, it really smells. It will drive you right out of the house.
JOAN
Okay.
JOHN SOWDEN
For instance, if you decided next year you decided to sell the home and you put everything back in working order and you did that, it would be a bad situation for the new owners.
JOAN
So in the meantime then it's okay to just go ahead and clean it with soapy water and a Brillo pad?
JOHN SOWDEN
Yeah, just use mild soap and things of that nature if you want to keep it clean.
JOAN
Well, I hadn't checked the broiler until you mentioned it.
JOHN SOWDEN
One thing to keep in mind is if you have a serviceman out for another problem, you can mention this and have them bring another element along, and normally you'll spend less to have them look at a second appliance. So next time there's something you for sure need, such as your washing machine or even with some people their dishwasher...
JOAN
I don't have a dishwasher so I'm safe there.
JOHN SOWDEN
Okay, but that's a situation where you could double it up and have the problem addressed then.
JOAN
Well, thank you for the information.