F1397FYN2 LG Washer - Instructions

Removed the old bellows (2 squeeze hose clamps and one screw adjustable hose clamp) slid on the new one and it was done!

Took off the old one and put the other one on. The only difficulty was that my husband has big hands and had a hard time getting to one end.

Unplug washer!!! 1. Remove retaining ring around rubber gasket with flat head screwdriver. Just slightly pry off and it will easily come off. 2. Just peel back rubber gasket on the side that the lock is on. 3. remove 2 screws from the front off the lock assembly. 4. gently reach in and lift the little plastic clip holding the wiring harness and lift straight off. If the clip is lifted it might be a little tight just use even steady pressure to pull off. 5. Reverse these instructions to replace. Note: replacing the retaining ring on the rubber is a pain. The spring has to be in the bottom. Using a couple of flathead screwdrivers you can wrangle it back in place after awhile. There is a tool that looks like a large reverse pliers that may make it easier. Anyway thats it, pretty easy. There is a youtube video that shows all of this.

1. Remove spring-loaded clamp assembly. 2. Partially pull out the large rubber gasket near the lock switch assembly to gain access to the lock switch assembly. 3. Unscrew two screws holding the lock switch assembly. Carefully separate the connector from the lock screw assembly and replace it with the new part. Reinstall in reverse sequence. Ensure that the electrical connector is fully seated unto the lock switch assembly and the connector latch is fully set against the lock switch body. Also make sure that the large rubber seal is fully seated around the door opening to prevent water leak. Restarted the washer and everything worked as before.

Turn off hot water supply and activate a cycle on the washer momentarily, with hot water selected on front panel options to relieve hose pressure. Slide washer out to gain access to rear of unit. Unplug washer from AC source. Using pliers, remove washer supply hose from washer-side of the line (water may drain from hose) Remove single Phillips screw at bottom of each nylon lid holder at rear. Using a plastic putty knife, place between front panel and top lid to loosen lid and slide to rear. Remove lid and store aside. Hot and cold inlet valves sit side-by-side at top rear of the unit. Disconnect connector from valve by pulling gently away from valve plug prongs and place to the side. Using pliers, compress hose clamp and move to lower section of hose. Carefully rotate hose back and forth to remove from assembly. Inlet valve is held to washer body rear with 3 small Phillips screws. Remove first 2 and then while holding inlet valve body, remove final screw to free inlet valve assembly. Replace with new assembly by reversing these steps.Make certain when supply hose is reconnected, it is firmly tightened but DO NOT over tighten. Test washer by running a cycle to ensure there are no leaks.

The problem ended up being the pump motor which discharges water from the washer. I figured out this was the problem after trying several things. I determined the motor was fine when it was empty. With the unit turned off, if you can rotate the tube with a quick spin and it lights up, probably this is OK. Then I tried to run it again and it went about 1/2 way through the cycle and stopped and started humming again. So I started emptying out the water, which I noticed was about 5 gallons which is way too much. so once empty, I took the pump off by turning unit on side. There are two hoses with hose clamps, and a few screws. Be careful to mark which wire plugs onto which side of the pump. One is brown and one is black. If you take the pump housing off, with the 3 screws, you should be able to pull the motor apart. Mine had water and scum from the wash in it, which was a dead give away that it was the problem.

Used a screwdriver to carefull lift the top of washer. Reached in and unplugged old assembly from wir harness. Unscrewed old one (2 screws) from washer screwed in new one connected it to wire harness. Closed top of washer and plugged it in and it was ready to use. I am a 53 year old female and had never done this before. The repair shop wanted $150 to install part plus the part cost more from them. I' m sure a guy could do the job in 15 minutes or less.

Did the repair entirely from the back.- 4 screws back cover comes off. Once you see the Bellows it is obvious what needs to come off and there are other videos on the net showing this. The main things I did differently were 1) Leaned the washer forward and placed 3 2x4 blocks of wood under each back leg. This allowed me to reach under the washer with one hand, and through the back with the other. You need both hands in there ! 2) Uninstalling is easy with just pliers. But on the way back in, I used a pair of Locking Pliers to keep the circular clamp squeezed as much as possible. That seemed the only way to get the bellows back in. Another option would be to switch to screw on Pipe clamps instead of the spring clamps.

Followed the manufacturers instructions to disassemble the washer from the top. There was a video on youtube of a guy who was able to replace his bellows hose from the back, but maybe my arms weren't long enough, I couldn't reach all the way to the front. The washer was pretty easy to take apart, except for taking off the top, where there were 2 extra screws not mentioned in the instructions. Replacing the part was really easy. HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: LG DOESN'T MENTION IT IS REALLY HARD TO GET THE CLAMP ASSEMBLY BACK ON THE GASKET WITHOUT A SPECIAL TOOL. You can buy the special LG tool, or you can do what I did (and others on the internet) and buy an $8 "Brake spring spreader" tool at your local auto parts store. Repair was a success. No more water leaking!

Contacted LG customer service, not much help there. Watched a very helpful Utube video on how to find and repair the leak. The video suggested that the most common leak is in the drain hose with bellows. Removed the rear panel and removed the bellows unit using pliers for the clamps and screwdriver for the bellows part. This was pretty easy. The rubber bellows was leaking in the exact same place as the youtube video showed. This is a Design Flaw that LG needs to fix. Ordered the new part and installed the bellows portion of the part first, as the angle for that installation needs to be correct. Then attempted to install the end of the hose (very inaccesible) to the pump drain. Very difficult to position the factory supplied spring clamp with pliers so I purchased a screw-type clamp (using the nut-driver rather than a screw-driver to tighten the clamp was helpful) at the local hardware store and that made my job much easier. Note: My unit is mounted on a pedestal, so it was a little easier to access the part location (about one foot off the floor, rather than at floor level), but it may be that the part should be replaced from the bottom of the unit, which would make it much easier to access. Then I installed the other end of the hose to the drain line using a screw-type clamp. I am 69 years old, and not that flexible anymore, so getting down on the floor to reach inside the unit was difficult. You need patience to do this job and you have to make sure all the clamps are properly installed so you don't start the machine up and end up with another leak. For me, this process was difficult and took more than two hours to complete. Limited access to the area made it more difficult and I hate the factory clamps they use. Overall, the repair costs about $25, compared to the $125 just to come look at the machine, then more money to fix the unit. It was satisfying to complete the repair for a small amount of money, but not sure it was worth the aggravation.

Took apart the washer and removed bearings and shaft on spider. My advice would be to order the spider and shaft (one piece) hen ordering the bearings, seal, and tub gasket. If the bearings are gone, it is likely the shaft is gone too as mine was.