Kenmore washer - slow agitate and spin

Kenmore 80 series (model 110.92282100) heavy duty washer. Washer seems to be in slow motion, agitation is much less vigorous, doesn't spin as fast as it used to, clothes are much wetter after wash cycle completes. No unusual noises, though the agitation sounds slower.

 

You may have 2 different problems. 1st and easiest check the agitator. the top of it should only turn one way, If it turns both directions you have agitator dogs bad. Just put your hand it and try to turn top.
2nd
Look inside cabinet about 6 inches from floor you you may see a streak of oil. If there you need a gearcase top seal, clutch and drive coupler. lean washer back against wall to look under it.

 

Pugsl:
Thanks for the detailed response! The agitator has a top and bottom part, the top part spins freely in the clockwise direction, but engages and turns the bottom part of the agitator with some resistance when turned counter clockwise. The bottom portion of the agitator can be turned in either direction with only a little force, force required seemed the same in either direction.

Tilted the machine back and crawled underneath - no sign of oil either on the cabinet sides or on the floor underneath, in fact everything looked quite clean considering the age of the machine

Steve

 

Both the agitator and gearcase seem ok. Would have to see what you are seeing as you don't have a common problem. You described a good working agitator.

 

Is there a clutch in the drive train that might be slipping?

Steve

 

Slipping clutch would only affect spin but has no affect on agitation. You said agitation is slow as well so something else is amiss unless you have two separate problems.

 

The motor is two speed. It almost sounds like it's stuck in slow speed. Have you tried the gentle cycle ? If that speed is the same as your normal wash speed then you may be looking at a timer problem as it selects the motor speed.

 

Great question, PJmax! Some background before I relate what happened. The machine belongs to our mother-in-law, we are visiting from out of town so when my wife used it this week it had been a while since she had used it previously. We just ran a small load, and while the machine doesn't have a "gentle cycle" as such, it does have a "normal", "permanate press" and "heavy duty" cycles. In the past our mother-in-law always used the heavy duty cycle, which agitates quite briskly, while my wife used the normal cycle, which has a more gentile agitation. Since this didn't sound like the brisker agitation in the heavy duty cycle, there was the erroneous assumption that it was not agitating as well.
The clothes are still dripping wet after the "normal" and "permanate press" cycles, but appear to be much dryer after the "heavy duty" cycle. Thus our problem can be restated as "spin cycle in normal and permanent press leaves clothes too wet".
Any thoughts why this might be the case?

Steve

 

Slow spin or wet clothes usually means oil in clutch.