How to Replace a Wig Wag in a Whirlpool Washer
- 1). Remove the washing machine plug from the electrical outlet. Use your screwdriver to remove the top hatch to your washer. Pull on the plastic cap that covers your agitator tower until it slides off and is removed. Pull on the agitator itself until it slides off. Place all of the pieces you remove aside in order, for easy re-installation later.
- 2). Use a large adjustable wrench to loosen and remove the wash drum. Once the agitator has been removed, a large nut should be visible at the center of the center tower. Turn the nut in a counterclockwise direction with your wrench, and remove the nut. Your wash drum may also be held in place by a wedge inside the tower. Use your flat head screwdriver and hammer to strike between the two halves of the wedge so that it slides downward, and the tower and drum can be removed. Lift them up and out of the machine.
- 3). Lay the washer so it sits front side down for easier access. Locate the wig wag off to one side of the brake yolk, which sits at the bottom of the drive shaft that stood inside your agitator tower. The wig wag will look like a rectangular container with two cylindrical solenoids inside it at either end. Locate the rod on which the wig wag is mounted, and the lock nut which holds it in place on that rod. Use your ratchet set to loosen and remove the lock nut.
- 4). Slide the wig wag upward and off of the rod. Disconnect the wires that attach to the wig wag by compressing the plastic clips with your fingers. A pliers can be used to compress the clips if they prove too difficult to disconnect by hand. Remove and discard the old wig wag.
- 5). Connect the same wires in the same order to the new wig wag. Make sure the wires follow the same path they did before so that no tangling or breaking occurs. Place the new wig wag onto the mounting rod, and reinstall the lock nut with your ratchet.
- 6). Stand the washer back up, and insert each part removed in the opposite order they were removed. Once the machine has been completely reassembled, plug it in and test the new wig wag.
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