Baylynx wrote:
I have an very old Kenmore top loader which after 20+ years still does
a great job. Over the years I've personally replaced the automatic
timer and the pump when they failed. However, lately I've noticed
large oil stains on my clothes after they have been washed. The
stains are not black and aren't noticeable until the garments are
dry. The oily stains are most conspicuous on dark colors. Other
posters in this forum have reported that, upon removal of the agitator
assembly, they found an oily goop on the agitator shaft . Cleaning
this gunk off the shaft seems to have resolved the greasy stain
problem.

Can someone please provide instructions on how to remove the agitator
from this machine. Do I need any special tools? Thank you.

Agitator itself just slides on splined shaft. At that age it's
undoubtedly "growed" on there and isn't going to be easy to pull in all
likelihood. Brute force and awkwardness are about the only tools as
it's rarely possible to get any leverage in any place that will do any
good and the edge of the agitator itself away from the center is
generally to weak to use as a pry point, anyway.

Some have a removable cap at the top that can either be unscrewed or
pried out depending on the make/model -- if so, you can sometimes from
that point actually see the splined shaft and get some solvent down
there to help.

Unfortunately, ime, the "goop" has always signified a transmission shaft
seal failure and nothing less than replacing that seal will solve the
problem...

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