Whirlpool Washer Repair in Eniswood, Palm Harbor: Worn Cam and Shifter

A regular client of ours in the Eniswood neighborhood of Palm Harbor called about their Whirlpool top-load washer making noise — but not on every load, which makes this kind of intermittent noise trickier to pin down than a constant one (see the video below).

Diagnosing an intermittent noise

Whirlpool top-load washers use a shifter (also called an actuator) that switches the drive between agitate and spin, working off a cam inside the transmission. When a symptom only shows up sometimes, the fastest way to catch it is the washer’s built-in diagnostic mode rather than waiting around for the noise to happen on its own. Running diagnostics pulled up an “Activated Toggle Shifter” readout on the control panel — confirming the shifter was being commanded to switch, but not fully engaging every time.

Pulling the transmission apart to look at the parts directly confirmed it: the cam had visibly worn down, which was letting the shifter slip instead of locking cleanly into position — that’s exactly the kind of wear that only makes noise on some cycles, when the shifter happens to catch it wrong.

The fix

Since the cam and shifter work as a pair — a new shifter riding on a worn cam would just wear out again the same way — we replaced both: the cam (Whirlpool part W10721967) and the actuator/shifter (Whirlpool part W10913953).

Result

With both parts replaced, the washer shifts cleanly between agitate and spin and the noise is gone. If your top-load washer makes noise that comes and goes rather than every load, it’s worth having it checked with diagnostic mode rather than guessing — it can catch a shifter or cam problem well before it wears into something louder and more expensive. See our washer repair page for what else we typically check.