Looking to verify directions (from the parts store clerk) to disassemble a Kenmore (whirlpool?) Series 80 washer (3 speed)about 9 yrs old in order to replace the lid switch.

I'm told to pull the end caps off the control panel, remove 2 screws in the control panel, then pull it forward and upward to release. Then I need to pry two clamps loose at the rear corners of the cabinet? Then tilt the top and front and sides as one unit forward to gain access to the lid switch? Any other helpful hints before I attempt to do this over the weekend?

After you tip the control panel back, remove the plug with three wires in it from the top of the cabinet before you remove the cabinet. This is the beginning of the lid-switch assembly. From there, you should see the rest under the top of the cabinet.

Checkout the website. I was totally amazed at how easy it was to remove the cabinet. When you get to the part about removing the clips, use a large flatblade screwdriver to push down on the clips on the front to ease them gently up out of the cabinet. This may not make sense now but when you flip up the control panel you'll see.

Upon reassembly,make sure the cabinet is sitting on the small tabs that extend from the frame.Also make sure the back part of the washer is even around the cabinet,it's easy to get a cabinet askew on a DD Whirlpool. Reassembly is where I have the most problems.

kennyGF

Thanks to those who responded with the hints.... I changed the switch on Sunday... half hour start to finish... back in business now!

Well, for lack of a better word , all I have to say about this cabinet design is "piss on it." I always and I mean always by-pass these switches before I sell one of them out of my used appliance shop to avoid future break downs for my customers. I just reach up under there and give that switch a yank to get those wires out so I can bear them and twist em together. Don't make the machine safer but it sure makes it more dependable to that old lady that buys it or that lady who has 5 teenagers washing in the machine and constantly slamming that lid down and destroying that already crappily made lid switch. Any comments?

Never had one fail due to abuse.....

... if you're deliberately modifying a machine from factory specs,you're leaving the door wide open to a lawsuit.Just a thought.....

How is your Dad making out after surgery?

Goatfarmer, I guess I'm a daredevil with those lid switches. I know it's plain and simple laziness in my by-passing those switches but more times than none, I have seen so many Kenmore and Whirlpool lid switches go bad way before thier time. But to give you an idea about how I run things here, I have alot of folks just drop in with a machine in thier truck wanting to get back on the road and washing again and ass economically as possible. I tell and show them exactly what I am doing and explain the issue of safety with them. 99% of the folks I by pass switches for say they could care less as long as the washer starts washing again.

Dad's doing much better,thanks!

Concerning the lid switches,that's still a road I wouldn't transverse.All it takes is one person to get hurt,and the lawyers on the phone,whether you explained it or not. People tend to "forget" what they've been told when $$$ are involved.

I would tell people that it's a poor design,call Whirlpool to complain,I can't bypass it.

Goat, I totally agree with you on this issue's legal stuff. My wife almost got me into a legal mess a while back concerning a washer & dryer. She went to pick up a Maytag stack unit and was backing up backwards into an unfamiliar driveway and God bless her enthusiasm but she backed slap into a column that was holding up the peoples' covered carport. I told the lady on the phone that I would be glad to pay for repairs and she agreed but have never heard back from her. I'm not pushing the issue. Maybe she cooled off a bit and decided to give me a break.