Washer Bellow WP8182119

The first step is to remove the retainer ring that holds the outside of the bellow in place.
To do this, Open the washer door as far as you can to get it out of the way. look underneath of the front of the bellow on the outside of the washer where it meets the door. Put your head almost on the floor and look up.
You will find a spring streached about 3" connected to a small diameter wire (1mm.) that runs all the way around the outside portion of the bellow.
Use a small screwdriver or other to pull and pry the spring away from the rubber bellow. Be careful not to damage the spring or ring. Once you have grip on it, pull it carefully toward you then up and off of the bellow.

The front portion of the bellow is now free and can be peeled off. Start at any point and pull the rubber bellow in toward the opening of the washer, it comes off easily.
When you get to the detergent outlet on the upper left side, grab the plastic tube and carefully pull the bellow from around it. There is no adhesive or clamp holding this in place, just friction. Remove the rest of the front portion of the bellow.
Push as much of the bellow into the washer as possible to get it out of the way.

Once this is off comes the slightly tricky part. Look up at the top right portion of the bellow that is still attached. You may need to feel with your hand but you should be able to see it. You are looking for the screw/nut end of a giant hose clamp. This hose clamp goes around the entire bellow and the secures it to the portion that holds the basket.
This is where the stubby screw driver comes in handy. There is not nearly enough room for a standard one and a nut driver or wratchet are too big. The nut will be pointing down and will need to be replaced the same way.
Loosen the hose clamp almost all of the way, not necessary to have the hose clamp come completely apart.
You can now remove the entire hose clamp from around the bellow by pulling it forward.
You will need to remove the hose clamp from the washer. To do this, squeeze it in from the sides about 6", don't kink it. Push it down toward the floor between the basket and the metal front panel. You will now be able to remove it from the top of the opening and be able to pull the bottom portion out.
Pull the old bellow completely out, very easy to do.

Time to install the new bellow. Figure out which side goes in and which faces out. The big hint is that the water inlet is on the upper left side.
You will notice at the top of the bellow on the portion that goes inside of the washer, you will find a small triangular shaped tab about 1/4" high. This is your centering mark. This will be at the very top. If you keep this at the top, everything will line up perfectly.

Slip the bellow over the edge of the portion that holds the basket where you removed the old one. I started at the top and worked left so I could install the detergent inlet tube. Pull this through the bellow carefully. It doesn't take a lot of force.
As you are pressing the bellow on this lip, you will notice that there is a 1/2" high back stop all of the way around. This is great because as you press it on, there is a positive stop and you can't go further than necessary. Continue to press it in all of the way around.

Now it is time to install the Hose clamp. Un bend anything that might have bent on the clamp. With the nut at the top or top right with the nut facing down to the floor while holding it vertically, squish it slightly inward, put the bottom portion in first then the top portion. Orient is as it was when you took it off. Slide it around the bellow. You will feel a positive stop.
Grab the stubby screwdriver and tighten down the hose clamp. I did about a medium force when tightening. It doesn't take a lot of force.

Now it is time to pull the remaining part of the bellow out of the basket and fit it into place. Press it around the outside portion of the opening so it hooks over the lip. This w

I removed the outer tub clamp using two needle-nosed pliers. Then I folded the bellow back and removed the bellow from the dispensing outlet. I then losened the bellow clamp using a screw driver. It was on there very securely. Then I had my daughter with her smaller hands finish untightening the screw enough to release the bellows from the machine. Then the bellow and clamp were taken out of the machine carefully, not scratching anything and noting orientation for new bellow. I cleaned the machine surfaces. Next, lining up the top notch on the bellow, it was worked into the groove around the entire inner basket. The bellow also had to have the hole covering placed over the dispensing outlet. This was the most time consuming. Just to make certain that it was positioned correctly took 20 minutes. I then put the bellow clamp back on and tightened it to the very tight positioned it was in prior to being removed. My daughter returned to help with the smaller bellow clamp that goes to the front of the machine. I needed help keeping one side of the clamp in placed while the other side was stretched out again to go onto the bellow. Then the machine was leveled top to back, side to side, leg nuts tightened. Works quieter than ever.

Removed bellow clamp (used screwdriver to pry clamp open). Removed Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp with socket set. Removed Bellow. I had purchased new clamps as I didn't know condition of the old clamps. The Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp was in good condition, appeared to have an anodized finish - was not corroded and the tightening screw pointed forward where as the new clamp appeared to be galvanized and the tightening screw paralled the clamp. I assumed the new orientation of the tightening screw was to make it easier to tighten with a screwdriver, but space is limited and I had good success removing the old clamp with a socket set so I elected to reuse the old clamp. Plus, I liked the finish of the old clamp better - it had zero corrosion on it after several years, almost a decade, of use.
Reinstalling the bellow was the hardest part of the repair - it is just tedious and patience is required - I took a couple of breaks seating the Bellow to the outer tub. There was a tab on the Bellow which went to the top to insure the Bellow was properly aligned. After I seated the bead of the Bellow all the way around, I slipped the Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp over the Bellow and tightened it down - continually checking the seating of the Bellow. I then put the Bellow over the water inlet tube and seated the outer portion of the Bellow. I needed additional hands to help hold the outer clamp in place - my wife helped - and I used pliers and plastic pry wedges from a tire patch repair kit to pull it open and slip it over the Bellow - I didn't want to use screwdrives as I was afraid I would damage the Bellow.

1st I removed the front retaining ring. You do need to get down near the ground to see the retaining ring. I used two pairs of needle nosed pliers to pull the ring apart (which has a spring in the middle) and then removed the ring.

Then I pushed the bellows into the washing machine drum, pulled the water inlet valve from the bellows, and used a short flat blade screwdriver to remove the retaining band (upper right of the bellows) After doing this it was a simple matter to remove the whole unit.

I did find it was easier to remove the washing machine door.

The installation was a simple matter of reversing the above. I had no problems with this repair. I would STRONGLY suggest, unless you are one of those gifted 3 handed people, getting an assistant to push the outer retaining ring into place as you separate the spring.

Simple, easy repair.

I found a you tube video with step by step instructions. Very easy to follow. Repair would have been quicker had my kids not been at home. I had to have my boyfriend help me put on the outer bellow spring clamp, as I was not strong enough. Washer works great.

I followed the repair blog by the poster most liked...

First step was to remove old bellow. I opened the door there is a small wire with a spring attach that holds the outside of the bellow to thw washer. Then removed it from the water inlet, then took a short straight scewdriver to remove the gaint hose clamp holding it to the drum. Installed the new part. When putting hose clamp back on I removed the top of the washer by removing the three screws in the back then I flipped the hose clamp so I could use a long screwdiver from the top side.This will give you alot more room. Hope this helps

It was so easy my wife replaced the part.

simple repair. After reading other reviews my husband was confident he too could do the repair. He was right, we were so very glad not to have had to call for service.

Was able to remove old bellow without dis-assembly. Replacement required removing the front of the machine for access. Once the front was off, the bellow was simple to replace. Biggest difficulty is getting the top mark on the bellow lined up. It has a tendency to slip out of position while you are working the back of the bellow over the retaining lip and it is not possible to rotate the bellow after it is installed. Fortunately, the tube from the detergent tray can be rotated slightly to allow for a small amount of error. Replacing the front retaining wire and spring required three hands at one point, but was otherwise not a problem. Fortunately removal and replacement of the front of the machine is pretty straight forward. I needed to disconnect wires to set the front out of the way, but it is impossible to plug them back in incorrectly.