How do you tighten that agitator thing in the middle of a washing machine?

Question

Its a Whirlpool brand washer. That thing hardly moves. Hoping to find a way to do it myself before having to call someone in.

Answer 1

Usually the top will pop off with a flat head screwdriver and there is a bolt in the center. most are either 7/16 or 3/8 , just tighten it !

Answer 2

Is your agitator a single agitator or dual agitator.  It is easy to tell the difference.  A single agitator is one solid piece and the whole thing will move if you turn it by hand.  It is easy to replace by removing the top cap and using a 7/16 socket with and extension to remove the retaining bolt.  To tell if you have a dual agitator, grab the top part and move by hand.  if the top moves and the bottom doesn't, you have a dual agitator.  The top should only move in one direction and stop if you move it the other way.  If it doesn't stop, then most likely the "dogs" are worn out.  Just pull the top off and another cover about 1/4 of the way down to access the dogs, and retainer bolt.  The dogs are 4 small tear drop plastic pieces that look like dog ears.  Sometimes you have to remove the top part of agitator to access them, sometimes there is a retaining ring holding them down.  Cost to fix this about 5 to 10 bucks if you do it yourself

Answer 3

I haven't worked on washing machines in a number of years, but there used to be a bolt right down the center of the agitator. This was under a cap on top. If this is loose, you will need a ratchet wrench with a long extension to tighten. If it is tight, the splines that attach it to the shaft have worn, and you may need a new agitator. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

You can usually remove the cap at the top and access the shaft upon which the agitator sits. There is a nut that holds this on that can be tightened with a wrench.

Answer 5

The agitator  has splines which mate to splines on the shaft, there is a nut that holds the agitator down, but the spines transfer the energy from the transmition to the agitator.  Rarely the nut comes loose and can be tightened, but, most likely the splines are stripped on the agitator, which means it must be replaced.  Not cheap, sorry

Answer 6

Slowhors is correct. You can buy the parts here -

http://appliancequickfix.com/PARTS.html