Got NASTIES? Clean them up!

My wife spent a whole day running the tub-clean cycle on our washing machine. It was due for the monthly cleaning tab, but left little gunkies behind, even after another rinse cycle. Baking soda? No dice. All-purpose cleaner? No dice. Time to pull the agitator plate.

Pop goes the plate cap!

Really, the cap comes off pretty easily with a light pry with a flathead screwdriver.

Center bolt is 10mm.

Simple enough. To remove the plate, some people pry the edges between the tub. That didn't work for me. It was being stubborn, so I used the Google for help. This is what I found: https://youtu.be/a544XXlk6V4

Hm. Not only does he have a good plate removal method, apparently the tub itself gets pretty mucky and doesn't clean well over time. Okay. I'm doing that, now.

Wire is a tool, too.

I used this general purpose wire to remove the actuator plate. See the three holes in the center ring of the actuator plate? Run this wire through them with enough to grab, and the even pressure is what's needed to remove even a stubborn plate. (I also used a rubber mallet, a smidge.)

Tub bolts. There's 6.

I didn't take a picture of this during disassembly, so you get a re-assembly picture. But as you can see from the first picture, it was nasty. 6 bolts to remove the tub from the gear-plate. 8mm.

Take your top off.

Another 8mm bolt here and one on the other side.

This is where to pry on either side after the rear screws are removed. It will then slip forward and the top is removeable. Be careful, on the right rear near my hand in this picture, there is a sensor wire and a pressure hose. Don't break those.

Retaining clips.

Here's what the retaining clips look like on the upper tub retainer. There's 8 of them.

This is what it should look like before you can remove the tub.

I've rotated the top around as to not damage the pressure tube and the sensor wire. I'm pulling the tube retainer off. Yes, it's a good idea to have unplugged the washer before doing any of this.

Nasty, yo.

The tub removed. I'm going to leave some degreaser soaking on it for a bit.

Rest of the tub.

This is definitely the problem.

Scrubby dub dub.

I am so glad that I insisted on a laundry room sink. This is much easier with a sink right next to the washer that I'm cleaning.

Much better.

I'm not making soup in this thing, but it's going to do laundry just fine. Not shown: my 1-gal shopvac used for water/sludge removal. It made my life much easier with this part.

The shiny bits.

This part took quite a bit of scrubbing. I decided it was easiest to use the floor drain as drainage and simply mop up after myself.

Clean. For now.

After a little analysis, I think I get gunkies built up from the hard water at my house. I don't want to do this sort of thing even annually, but I am too poor to add proper water filters right now. So instead, I'll be running the cleaning cycle with vinegar every other week or so.