Last weekend, my washing machine stopped spinning the tub properly. It's a fairly old washer -- I'd guess about twenty years. We bought it with the house, and since the house was previously a rental, I'm sure it was the cheapest thing Sears had to offer and it's already well past its expected useful life.
That said, I figured I'd give it a shot. Googling the model number and the symptom took me to an appliance parts web site with both a troubleshooting guide, a helpful installation video, and a link to order the part I needed.
Nineteen dollars, an hour or so of my time, and one scraped knuckle later, my washing machine is back in service. And with five people in the house (two of whom are in cloth diapers), it's not a minute too soon.
It's really amazing how many useful repair guides there are on the Internet.
