Doh, lost the transmission
 

in our washing machine! No spin cycle so I hoped it was the clutch. No such luck. Hopefully it's an inexpensive and easy part to replace, otherwise it's time for a new washer. This one is only around 5 years old too. Whirlpool direct drive washing machine and it's around $180 for a new transmission. No way I'm spending that much to keep an old machine running.

5 years eh? Doesn't sound like a long time for an appliance. I saw a few deals on fatwallet and slickdeals on new appliances if you aren't looking for anything fancy. A newer one will likely be more efficient too!

Looks like you already have a diagnosis and parts cost, but just throwing this out there: http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/

I have used the site a fair amount since moving into our house. People there are pretty helpful, and they have parts diagrams and an online store that is stocked well. I spend some time cross referencing replacement part numbers before buying from them though, often find parts cheaper elsewhere or locally.

- Justin

Yeah, I've been reading all over the place and the washer is pretty well taken apart right now. I haven't opened up the trans yet, plan on doing that tomorrow to see if it's an easy/cheap repair.

Wow, just took the cover off the gearbox and there are no teeth left on the plastic drive gear! Just a pile of plastic shavings in the gearbox and it's pretty low on oil as well. I think the gears are around $60-70 so I may go ahead and replace them. The rest of the machine seems to be fine and it's only 5-6 years old.

Got the new gears in, cleaned out the old debris and filled it with gear oil and it's back up and running quieter than it did when it was new.

My washer died on black friday, was also only 5 years old. Best day of the year to lose an appliance tho. Went to Lowe's and picked up a new one.

I ordered parts to repair the old one but haven't gotten to it yet.