belt drive Kenmore motors

Jed -

I thought that was at least partially your pump too. Dissappointing that it's not. That noise is coming from one of only four places - the motor, the basket drive, the pump, or the transmission. It sounds like a bad bearing.

Since you have a new pump and an old noise, we can eliminate that as a source. I would not think this is a basket drive noise, and with the motor's hum that I hear also, I think you're on the right track.

BUT, the bad news is 3-speed motors are NLA, and have been apparently for a while. They were stupidly expensive anyway. Good news is they're the round ones and are serviceable. My recommendation would be the same to you that I gave to Delmer - see if you can find a little shop somewhere that loves to work on that sort of thing (the guy I used was fascinated that I wanted to fix a 1960-made motor for an old "worsher" and he did it gleefully).

If you want to verify that the motor is the problem, I would pull the motor (VERY easy) and swap it with the motor out of your 24-inch machine if you still have it, or some other 2-speed motor. You'll need to swap the pulleys, which are installed with set-screws. This will confirm whether or not the noise is the motor, and you'll be able to use the washer while the motor is out. You will simply not have the 3rd speed (leave the third wire secured but not touching anything).

I can tell you how to remove and re-install the motor if you like - just let me know.

Gordon


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Post# 345674 4/30/2009 at 04:16 (5,473 days old) by whitekingd ()
Checkrate/Likes The motor on the 1960 Kenmore gave up the ghost! It's one of the cube type replacement motors. Are these really not servicable? I loved the original motor. It had such a nice purr, and seemed quieter than the newer one. I still have it. Is it servicable? Can you get the switches and so forth?

Post# 345704 , Reply# 1 4/30/2009 at 08:50 (5,473 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes Delmer - The square motors are paperweights or garbage when they're done. Don't even bother. The original round motor is definitely serviceable. I found a motor service shop in my area last year which rebuilds everthing from swimming pool pump motors to appliance motors, HVAC motors, etc. Folks like this are not on every street corner, but they're out there. I'd look in your yellow pages if I were you. In the meantime, 285222 motors are everywhere as replacements for your machine. Gordon

Post# 345727 , Reply# 2 4/30/2009 at 11:21 (5,473 days old) by lebron (Minnesota)
Checkrate/Likes As long as we are on the subject... my Lady Kenmore has a "clicking" sound when it runs, very rapid, almost "racheting". I thought it would be the old pump, but it makes the same sound with the new one. You can hear the sound in the link. Is it the motor? How expensive are they and how easy are they to replace? CLICK HERE TO GO TO lebron's LINK

Post# 345741 , Reply# 3 4/30/2009 at 13:19 (5,473 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes Jed - I thought that was at least partially your pump too. Dissappointing that it's not. That noise is coming from one of only four places - the motor, the basket drive, the pump, or the transmission. It sounds like a bad bearing. Since you have a new pump and an old noise, we can eliminate that as a source. I would not think this is a basket drive noise, and with the motor's hum that I hear also, I think you're on the right track. BUT, the bad news is 3-speed motors are NLA, and have been apparently for a while. They were stupidly expensive anyway. Good news is they're the round ones and are serviceable. My recommendation would be the same to you that I gave to Delmer - see if you can find a little shop somewhere that loves to work on that sort of thing (the guy I used was fascinated that I wanted to fix a 1960-made motor for an old "worsher" and he did it gleefully). If you want to verify that the motor is the problem, I would pull the motor (VERY easy) and swap it with the motor out of your 24-inch machine if you still have it, or some other 2-speed motor. You'll need to swap the pulleys, which are installed with set-screws. This will confirm whether or not the noise is the motor, and you'll be able to use the washer while the motor is out. You will simply not have the 3rd speed (leave the third wire secured but not touching anything). I can tell you how to remove and re-install the motor if you like - just let me know. Gordon

Post# 345857 , Reply# 4 5/1/2009 at 04:09 (5,472 days old) by whitekingd ()
Checkrate/Likes *Gordon,* Thanks for the advice! I am going to try to have the original motor repaired. My machine also gave a strange "humm" just before giving up the ghost. Thanks again for you help.

Post# 346394 , Reply# 5 5/4/2009 at 04:01 (5,469 days old) by whitekingd ()
Checkrate/Likes *Gordon,* The motor works great in normal speed. But when called upon to be in the slow speed, it bucks over, and over, and over. It won't stay in the run mode. I've taken it apart and cleaned the contacts and the brushes. It still bucks and won't stay in run mode. Do I need to bend the contacts a bit?

Post# 346510 , Reply# 6 5/4/2009 at 16:26 (5,469 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes Delmer - I am not a motor expert. I know enough to be dangerous. Since the machines I work on have usually had good round motors or throw-away square ones, I'd rather leave the answers to your questions to an expert. Someone here may know (I believe Robert would) or you should seek a rebuilder's shop as I said. Good luck! Gordon

Post# 346514 , Reply# 7 5/4/2009 at 16:57 (5,469 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()
Checkrate/Likes Could it be that the "run-winding" for the slower speed is blown open. The motor is probably a split-phase motor, where there is a "start winding" to start the motor and a "run-winding" so that one the motor is started, it continues to run. There is a Centrifugal switch that switches the start-winding off once the shaft reaches adequate speed, and the run-winding just stays on. The most of the "square" motors have an external box located at the bottom of the motor, and acts it as the electrical switch. If you have a "square" motor, it could be that some of the contacts in this box have gone bad.