Old timer in Tucson showed me a trick for stuck washing machine pump impellers

I was fighting a Whirlpool direct drive that had a seized pump for like 30 minutes with penetrating oil and a wrench. Nothing was budging, and I was about to just tell the lady she needed a new pump assembly. Then the guy who trained me back in '03 stopped by and said to tap the impeller with a hammer handle first to break the rust seal. Did it once, it loosened right up, pulled it off with my fingers after that. Has anyone else got a weird old trick like that that actually saves the day?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_fox9225d ago

Ngl that hammer handle trick is gold, I've read about it on appliance repair forums before.

joseph52925d ago

My buddy tried that last month on his old Whirlpool dryer and ended up cracking the belt housing instead. Took him 3 hours on YouTube to figure out how to order the replacement part. I still think the hammer handle method works but only if you're gentle with it, not going full Thor mode like he did. Some people just have zero chill with tools man.

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