I finally tested the washer after replacing the latch and grommet, and
everything now seems fine. As mentioned in my prior newsgroup email, it
took a couple hours longer than necessary because I should have studied
exactly how the whole latch mechanism worked before taking it apart to
replace the grommet/latch, since a lot of time was wasted figuring exactly
how to put everything back together.

Anyway, everything is now working fine, so far. No more leaking, and the
soap dispenser appears to still be working properly after the repair.
Hopefully I'll luck out and get at least a couple more years of use out of
this machine.

Thanks again,

Jay