Clothes washer not agitating your clothes?

I don't like to be agitated, but our clothes do.

If your clothes washer agitator is not spinning and just making clicking noises, it probably needs new 'agitator dogs'.   Yes, funny name, don't know the origin.  Research is an exercise left to the student.
You'll first have to find the exact model number of your washer.  Its on a metal tag mounted on the inside of the housing just below the lid.  
Once you have the part number, you can go to Appliance Part Pros and type in the model number, then all of the replacement parts will come up.  Once you find the manufacturer part number you can type into Amazon or other online retailer to get the best deal.  I found the same part number on Amazon here, for $4 with free shipping. Yipee!  Do not go to local appliance parts stores if you can avoid it. Their markup is insane, and i'm pretty sure they're working on commission.  I want to support local businesses, but not when they're setup like a car dealer mechanic sales rep.

I like the French packaging
Start by removing the fabric softener tray in the center.  If you've never pulled this off before, pull or pry off without breaking it.
Fabric softener tray
Pull out the grody protective cover.
You can see the bolt holding the agitator now.
Use a 7/16" socket with extension to remove the bolt.

Remove the agitator.

Turn the agitator upside to remove the plastic retainer and the 'agitator dogs'.

You can see in this horrible photo a new sharp agitator dog on the left, old worn one on the right.

Place the 4 agitator dogs in the retainer.  There are little slots to put the small side of the dog into.

It gets a bit difficult from here, don't despair!  Put the retainer with the agitator dogs into the agitator from the bottom.  If you try to do from the top, the dogs will simply fall out.  Gravity!

You can check the dogs are working by twisting the agitator clockwise and counter-clockwise and ensure they are 'grabbing' in one direction.
Here's what the seated retainer looks like in the agitator, right side up.
At this point, you might try to put the agitator back on the machine.  Don't try it, its nearly impossible to line up both the retainer with the two parts it needs to mate with.  Pull the yellow part off the machine.
Place the yellow part into the retaining clip inside the agitator.
Now try to fit it back onto the machine.  You'll have to hold the retaining clip down while GENTLY reattaching the retainer.  If you don't hold it down, or try to force it own, the retaining clip will lift up and the agitator dogs will fall out.  Make sure its fully seated.  Sorry for bold here, this step is really important to the success of this job!

Before you return the bolt, you can check if it turns each direction properly, grabbing in one direction.




Use the socket without the wrench to screw in the bolt at first.
Then you can fully tighten.
Back in action!!



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