Kenmore Front Loader Washing Machines DEFECTIVE?

Every other retailer sold the same machines under the Frigidaire brand. And, you'll find that this style of machine has been retired for exactly this reason. I would recommend either contacting Frigidaire directly or contacting SearsCares, the case escalation team, through this website.

Thank you for your help but for the life of me I can not find any reference to SearsCare on this website and therefore do not know how to contact the escalation team.

I got you covered, BradR.  I will send this on to them, for you.  Just check back on the thread in the next day or so to see if they have reached out.

Thank you so much.

To BradR,

We have received your email and assigned your issue to a Case Manager. You will be contacted shortly so we can proceed to try to resolve this situation.

Thank you,

Brian J.

Senior Case Manager

Sears Cares

Now BradR please don't be a stranger once we work veery diligently to resolve your issue. Good luck with everything I trust we can achieve a solution that will be much to your satisfaction!

After reading the above postings, I checked out the other sites on complaints about the spider assembly and decided not to even bother having the applance people fix mine as my machine is a front end kenmore that is 5 years old. So 

I emailed sears and told them  was unhappy about having an appliance that is 5 years old with a built in self destruct.

Well sears got back to me and offerred to fix it for parts only. I declined their offer as the machine is 5 years old and even with this new the rest of the machine could go at any time. They then offered to give me the 2nd year of the warranty free. I use a credit card that doubles my warranties so I declined that offer. They then said that they would send me a $50 coupon to use on any sears purchase.   Well I still have to buy a new washer but at least sears did not just say it was not their problem.

I still feel that sears should fix it as a 5 year buy another one policy is wrong.

What really aggrivated me was when I called sears appliance center and asked if they were having problems with the front end loaders the guy said let me guess the spider assembly right. He said almost everyone who comes into  to buy a new washer is because the spider assembly rotted out at  around 5 years.

Bill

The sad part is, even if a class action lawsuit is pressed in your state, the lawyer's fees that Sears, or Frigidaire would have to pay, would put a dent in the company's working capital, and the award amounts usually don't pay much to each individual.

It would be better for all involved if they received a $100.00 voucher, via Sears, AND the manufacturer of the defective machines, towards their next washer purchase.

Just my opinion though...

Could someone tell me what the spider assembly problem symptoms are.  I have a Sears Kenmore fromt load #41742142100 that is only 7.5 years old and is making an extremely loud noise on the final spin-maybe a rear bearing?  I agree, that these machines should last longer than 5-7 years.  Very disappointed.  Parts are extremely expensive along with the labor.  Thank you

We have the same model #41742142100 and same problem occurred. Noticed the loud noises during final spin. $136 and a 10 minute SEARS repairman visit later we have a machine that "costs more to fix then buy new". It is 5.5 years old.
Very upset as we only have room for the stacked set and assume I need to purchase another of the same faulty model to match the still working dryer knowing full well the lifespan appears to be 4-6 years based on consumer reviews.

very disappointed as well,   washer very loud,  also has too much left over water that other brands dont have.. gasket on front broken.. its a piece of junk.  dryer has lousy lint filter design which keeps catching clothes and ruining them.. very upsetting,  will never buy kenmore again.  

what a mess !!!   my 4 year old washer is sitting full of water and SEARS CAN'T SERVICE IT UNTIL JANUARY 5TH!!

no value in buying a sears kenmore appliance.  I bought one of the more expensive models and it's sitting idle.  I do not endorse buying this HE 3 ELITE waster or  the He  dryer anything from sears....my mistake.

I'm looking to purchase a Kenmore Elite Steam HE5 washer and dryer.  The problems reported in this blog, did anyone have this model of machine?  Should I stay away?  Does it have a noisey spin cycle? Sears salesperson today told me they are going out of production of the Kenmore Elite but is bringing in a new one made by LG with Steam function on dryer and drainage plug on the washer.  What's your opinions?  Awaiting your resp before purchasing.  Thx Mmbolin

From what I have read... I wouldnt by one thing made by LG.

Consumers must vote with thier feet.

We bought a washer and dryer, both Kenmores, in February 2005 and in the spring of 2006, the dryer took a dump with the timer/starter switch and we ended up buying a new one (NOT from Sears).  This past week, Christmas week, the washer started making horrible noises and my husband took the back off and BEHOLD!!  A huge hole in the outside plastic housing that surrounds the stainless steel drum.  My guess is that there is something between the drum and the surrounding housing that is broken loose and in the spin cycle, hits the plastic housing and blows a holes in it.  Needless to say, warranty is out and we have to buy a new one.  Very, Very disappointed with Sears and their products.  We've had lawnmowers, snowblowers, washers/dryers, and stoves/refrigerators from them and have had trouble with all of them.  This washer thing really ticks me off though.  How in the world does this happen?!?!?!?

We have a Kenmore Elite HE3 that we bought just a little over 5 years ago and this issue sounds like what maybe just happened to ours. The plastic around the drum liner has been chewed off I assume, because the drum rear bearing has worn out or maybe the spider assembly and has caused the drum to move forward rubbing the liner during the spin cycle. From what I can tell reading the forums,  this is an expensive repair and probably not worth doing.

This comes at the same time our kenmore dishwasher stopped cleaning the dishes as it should. We bought all of our appliances from sears just a little over 5 years ago and are very disgruntled now with the issues we are having.

Someone told me that the problem with kenmore is that because Sears does not manufacture their kenmore products, they put it out to the low bidder and therefore quality suffers. Any truth to that?   Right now I am in the market for a washing machine and a dishwasher and I will probably stay away from kenmore based on my experience.

We had a similar experience with our HE3 washer...it was about 5 years old. We had the washer/dryer and two pedestals. We paid about $2000 for them and did not want to just replace. We decided to pay for Sears to come and look at the Washer AND we also prepaid for all the labor to repair. If the washer could/should not be fixed, we would be able to take the entire amount paid to Sears for the washer repair and labor towards any new washer Sears carried. We needed a new spider assembly as well as the drum (basically all the inside of washer). Motor was fine. Our washer was still under the 5/10 year warranty for certain parts. Because we pre-purchased labor, we ended up paying for the service call with all labor and decided to get a new front "seal" that was no longer grey, had turned brown (only part replaced that was not under warranty). If I remember correctly, we ended up paying about $275 for all of this because the labor for this repair was prepaid. We have always used HE detergent, but have not always left the door open. Now we leave the door open, we leave door open to soap dispenser, dry the seal after wash, use 1/2 recommended amount of HE detergent, use hot water more often and use Affresh monthly. This was about 6 months ago and our washer has been perfect since the repair. Our grey seal is clean and still grey. We were without a washer for several weeks....first visit was to "diagnose" and order parts. Then 1-2 weeks to receive parts, (huge boxes to store), once parts arrived we were able to schedule repair...1-2 weeks for that. We live in a remote area and Sears only comes to our area on certain days of the week. The service repair men were really wonderful, they gave us a tutorial on how to keep our washer in good shape. Hope this helps...

OMG - I feel like an idiot!!  I too have a Kenmore 4174114200 which broke on 12/3 and I paid $150 for a repair tech to come and tell me the machine was history and Sears knew about this "drum" problem and I had to buy another machine.  I bought it today (good customer that I am) and the online sale guy assured me all mfg's had the problem.  I have to cancel my order right now!!!!

 Hello out there...hoping to find some answers, and I have some suggestions of my own.

I too am a victim of the dreaded "broken/corroded spyder" problem - Kenmore model 417.44042400 -  purchased in July 2004 - started the banging, etc. just before Christmas... took it apart over the weekend to find what everyone else finds - cracked/corroded spyder and scored (but not all the way through) plastic drum. Here's hoping "Sears Cares" enough to do right by a "Kenmore" household - I also have a Kenmore dryer, wall oven, and just recently, a Kenmore dishwasher.  Until this weekend I would have gladly given high marks for the washer - it was a great machine until it broke.

How does one find justice in this situation? My warrantly booklet states that the stainless steel tub is "guaranteed for life" - does that mean my replacement will soon be on the way? The stories I've seen on the web indicate that if one grovels and/or finds a sympathetic service manager, these units CAN be replaced under warranty... otherwise you line up to fork over $200 to $500 for new parts which will probably not last as long as the originals... Are you out there, moderators? This site is sponsored by Sears, right? How do I get my lifetime warrantly honored?  In a perfect world, I would get a new tub and spyder ("free" under warranty) THEN I would unbolt the spyder from the tub, and either take it to a machine shop to have it powder-coated/anodized or at a minimum spray it with several coats of marine outdrive paint (what they use on outboard motors to prevent corrosion). If you go along with the terms of the warranty, and pay the Sears service dept to fix the machine, even if the new tub is "free", and you pay for labor you will not have the opportunity to "prep" the spyder, so you'll still have the same problem in a few years or sooner. Even easier from the dealer perspective - simplicity itself - SELL US NEW SPYDERS so we can do this fix ourselves. There's never anything wrong with the tub itself - (except for those stupid protruding screws which score the plastic tub) just the spyders that go bad. Somebody out there must be making spyders - they have to get bolted to the drums at some point... - just make a few extras and I'll be happy to buy one and do the fix myself. Actually there would be a line a mile long of people looking to replace the spyders...better make a few hundred extra...So there it is - how about stepping up and doing the right thing for the customer? (I'm waiting...)

Hey, JC128-Welcome to the site.  I can't tell if you have already gone through the normal customer service channels and given them a call to explain?  I can send your information along to SearsCares, also, if you would like.  This is the customer service escalation team on the site.  Just send me a private message with your name, email and phone number, and I will get it to them right away.