Kenmore Washer

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Pinerat

Member
Feb 24, 2010
19
South Jersey
So the Kenmore Elite Front load washer started making noise when in a high speed spin. Had an idea that it was the bearings. Pulled off the back cover and the pulley wheel and sure enough the bearing assembly shows massive wear. Some of the ball bearing are shot. Tried to get a part number from a sears website but the website doesn't show the bearing assembly as a separate part. Not sure if it is considered part of the outer tub. Has anyone had this problem and how did you find the correct part.
 
Took about 3 hours start to finish.. I found all the info in this link... The bearings were easy to find, the seal I had to order from the internet.

http://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/washers/237-fixed-drum-gasket-rear-shell-bearings.html

note that the first bearing kit shown/discussed, did not work/fit, but they give the right sizes later. It is for Frigidaire, but I think they are all about the same on the inside. The bearing shop I went to was able to measure the bearing shells I removed and verify their size.
 
Thanks Dakotas Dad, thats my issue. The one thing that gets me is that the people on the sears helpline are of no help. My washer is four years old. The kenmore manual says the plastic tub is covered by a ten year limited warranty and that they would only charge for labor. But no one could confirm that the bearings are part of the plastic tub, which from the pictures in your post, it is clear they are.
 
I am going to guess it depends on how you define "part of". The bearings are pressed into the tub, but again depends on how you define it. They are seperate parts.

If they are "only" going to charge you for labor.. The bearings and seal cost less then $30. I don't know what the labor rate would be, but I am pretty sure it would be prohibitive. I like fixing stuff. I would rather fix it myself. I was more worried that I would find the drum corroded, ours was 10 years old when I did it last year. I also ordered a tub seal, but truthfully, it wasn't really needed. And our drum was really in pretty good shape compared to what some people found in that thread (25 year warranty supposedly). The hardest/scariest part was getting the drive wheel off the back of the drum. Put down lots of newspaper or something, when the bearings and seal goes, it's pretty nasty.
 
To Firestarter,
First allow me to apologize for not finding this post sooner. Typically we see these much more quickly and are able to reach out in a timelier manner. I am also sorry to hear that you’ve had these issues with your washer and our customer support team. It is difficult at times to try to isolate if a specific part is part of an exceptional parts warranty assembly. The folks you talked to don’t have all the technical information available to them, but my team does have our technical support system available to us so that we can determine absolutely if it is or isn’t covered. If you still need assistance and at your convenience, please contact my office via email at [email protected] so we can help. In the email, please provide a contact phone number and the phone number the washer was purchased under (if different than the contact phone number) and we will call you directly. Also, in your email, please provide the screen name (Firestarter) used to post on this site, for reference to your issue, and we do look forward to talking to you soon.

Thank you,
Brian J.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares
 
Update;

The guy came out on Friday and looked her over. The bearings are considered part of the outer drum. So he ordered the stainless steel drum and the outer drum under warranty and I just have to pay for labor. Dakota, I like to try and fix things myself also but as long as under warranty there no way I could do it for less in time and cost.

Searscares, thank you for the offer. The people on the phones were ok, but when they repeat the line "Let me check my...." my blood pressure would rise even high then it is. The repair person was quick and to the point and helpful.

BTW, the screen name is pinerat...firestarter is what they refer to us FNGs as...

And if you wonder what a pinerat is, it is a whitetailed deer in southern New Jersey's Pinelands. Due to lack of good food most deer here are the size of rats.
 
Pinerat,

What, is this Monday? I totally didn’t catch that when I posted earlier. I’ve updated our system with the new screen name Pinerat. That’s pretty funny about the deer. I'm also glad that we finally got this issue figured out and that things seem to be moving smoothly at this point, but I would still feel better if you would allow us to step in and ensure that the service call goes according to plan. We can step in and attach our priority to the call and monitor it the whole way through. The call should go without a hitch, but we want to be sure it does. Since we are the highest level of escalation with the organization, when we step in, it gets done. You will have a dedicated case manager who will monitor this all the way until it is done and you are happy. Just send us an email to [email protected] and we’ll take it from there. Be sure to include your screen name Pinerat so we can reference this issue in our database.

Thank you,
Brian J.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares
 
I can say that Sears gained some serious respect from this thread.

Customer service that would post to a non related forum says a lot.

Aaron
 
Aaron Pasteris said:
I can say that Sears gained some serious respect from this thread.

Customer service that would post to a non related forum says a lot.

Aaron

I agree . . . and I'm impressed . . . although to tell the truth I tend to like shopping at Sears for my appliances . . . and I love my current vacuum cleaner . . . which is really strange for me to say since vacuum cleaners don't exactly rock my world . . . but I really, really like this one as it does a great job and has some great features . . . plus the salesman really knew his product.
 
Sounds like the good old Sears that we had many years back may still be alive, but barely. Unlike the later Sears that could not decide what type of store they really wanted to be. Here's hoping! Time will tell. Be safe.
Ed
 
Well guys, we are back to the same old "new" Sears. Got a call yesterday evening from Sears asking if the two parts had been delivered to the house by UPS. (When they order the parts, they have them sent right to your house instead of to themselves.) I told them no and they said that they were having trouble tracking the order from UPS and that they didnt have the tracking number. They also told me that they would get back to me in 24-48 hours with a determination where the parts are. I explained to the person on the phone that within 48 hours they were scheduled to have two guys at the house fixing the washing machine. He stated that they would have to reschedule. That was it. Mind you that the washers has been out of commission for over a week with two adults and three little kids in the house. Wife was not/is not happy about returning to the laundry mat again. I stated to the person on the phone that the parts were ordered on Friday March 26 and that UPS usually does not take anywhere near a week to deliver.

I took up the Sears Cares guy here on the forum and am waiting to hear from somebody. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
One of the things that can be useful to keep in mind about Sears / Kenmore products is that there really is no such thing... I.E. there is no "Kenmore" factory making appliances just for Sears, but rather a guy in some other appliance factory that slaps a Kenmore label on the product instead of that of the company that actually made it - like GE or Frigidaire, etc... One can debate whether this is a good thing or not, and whether the Kenmore version of a given product is as good / worse / better than the "real" version or not.

The important thing to note though is that the model number contains a code that can be used to find out who made the product, and going to that manufacturers site can often lead to useful advice about parts and fixing that isn't available from Sears directly - there are usually cosmetic and minor feature differences between the Kenmore and OEM versions, but the general construction and repair techniques are usually identical or close to it...

Gooserider
 
Leave it to Goose to know the ins and outs. Welcome back buddy from the other end of Mass.
Ed
 
Gooserider said:
One of the things that can be useful to keep in mind about Sears / Kenmore products is that there really is no such thing... I.E. there is no "Kenmore" factory making appliances just for Sears, but rather a guy in some other appliance factory that slaps a Kenmore label on the product instead of that of the company that actually made it - like GE or Frigidaire, etc... One can debate whether this is a good thing or not, and whether the Kenmore version of a given product is as good / worse / better than the "real" version or not.

The important thing to note though is that the model number contains a code that can be used to find out who made the product, and going to that manufacturers site can often lead to useful advice about parts and fixing that isn't available from Sears directly - there are usually cosmetic and minor feature differences between the Kenmore and OEM versions, but the general construction and repair techniques are usually identical or close to it...

Gooserider

One of the things I did before buying a new refrigerator and stove last year was to find out which company made the products we were looking at . . . and who owned which company so I could do a little checking with Consumer Reports and other on-line sites. When we went to Sears we were able to know which company made the Kenmore branded appliances and based on my past checking know if the company and product had lots or few problems and defects.

If memory serves me correctly we didn't end up buying Kenmore for the appliances since my wife wanted a double oven gas stove and there were no Kenmore branded stoves in that configuration . . . but we did find out that the stove manufacturer that made the stove had been bought out by Whirlpool and according to my Dad (who has been servicing appliances for a very long time) the badged Maytag (I believe) stove (which had a bad reputation) was actually improving under the direction of the new company.
 
Pinerat,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist with your complaint, I’m glad we could connect and be of assistance for you. We do value your business and appreciate you giving us the opportunity to resolve this issue to your satisfaction. If you need any additional assistance from Sears in the future, please do not hesitate to reach out to the SearsCares team at [email protected].

Thank you,
Brian J.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares
 
HehHeh . . . only a month later.
 
To bump this up.. and inquireing minds want to know..

Did they come fix it.? under warranty?? how much was the labor? It took searscares a month to post up, doesn't mean that's how long it took to get it fixed.. not that I am defending them, as I said, I did it myself...
 
This exact same issue just hit my sister-in-law a couple weeks ago. The Sears service guy said he could fix it (only 4 yrs old) for around $400. My s-i-l freaked. That was almost the cost of a new unit. They finally decided to replace it with a new one, but this time, not a Sears. This bearing problem on these models should be reported to Consumers Union. It has a ridiculously short lifespan.
 
Guys, it would take forever to type out the whole story with this so I'll try and keep it short. First I will say that without this forum I would probably still not have a working washing machine. The bearing were shot, still under warranty so the tech ordered the outer drum and the SS drum. Get one part delivered to the house in a couple of days but no outer drum. Find out several days later that the outer drum has arrived in PA. Several days later still no drum. Turns out the drum vanished like a fart in the wind from the UPS warehouse. Sears orders a new one. Backordered. Finally delivered directly to a Sears center and have two guys scheduled to come out on a Friday. Guys never show up. Call Sears, no idea. I contact my case manager Darrius, who I beleive works with the guy who first contacted me on this thread. He finally made the call to replace the washer with a new one. Picked out a Samsung washer (highest current rating for the price) and had it delivered in two days.

Please note that I left out a great deal of info (about 3 weeks of info). If you have a problem with a Sear item, DO NOT call 1-800-4 my home. Get a hold of the Blue Ribbon people.
 
jlasserton said:
My advice is to not get a front loader that locks. I have had so many issues with the locking feature on my washing machine. It is a great washer, but it is almost not worth the trouble.

Hmmm . . . I've been using a front loader with a lock for the past three or four years with zero issues.
 
Ours (Kenmore HE5t) has a lock and we have never had a problem with it. I thought they all did to keep someone from opening the door while the drum was full of water but never really used any other front loaders.
 
Never had a problem with the lock in 10 years. Mine is a frigidaire gallery. bearings, yes, nothing else.
 
Well I am glad no one else has had any problems with the lock feature. As we speak, I have someone looking at my washing machine because it won't lock. I guess I just have bad luck! Hopefully it won't happen again!
 
reading this and also my customers complaints on front loading washers, i'm glad my wife listened to me saying no front loader, get the top loader. we bought a whirlpool. and if i'm not mistaken, the majority of laundry appliances at sears are made by whirlpool. as far as top loaders go i never owned (and even as a kid) anything but whirlpool or sears top loading washers and they all got 18 years or more out of them.
except last whirlpool. we got 16 years because the wife likes to load 100 pounds of clothes in a 20 pound washer. blew the transmission.
 
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