I don't need a diagnosis. The lid switch is broken where the mounting screws go into it. I have two screws and two bits of plastic and the rest of the switch is under the top panel where I can barely reach it, tethered by its cable.

I need screw by screw instructions for lifting the top panel so I can either replace or repair the broken switch. Darn it, that used to be easy; you just pop the front edge off the spring clips. That doesn't seem to work with this one.

The model number is 110.92573210, serial number is CF2539425, the purchase date was 8 July 1996, the control panel says Kenmore Heavy Duty 70 Series Extra Capacity, and the three control knobs are all mechanical.

It should be easy, but I don't want to break anything, and I don't want to take off more than I have to.

Thanks for any help.

Look at part 6. Let me know please

Sears parts site stinks.

OK, I saw that part on the diagram I have. What do I have to take off, and how do I take it off, to get to that clip? Thanks.

Oh -- that's the FRONT of the machine. It's where I thought it ought to be. No, it's the BACK. I'm confused. Do I have to take off the control assembly? How do I do that?

I don't know, Sears parts diagrams stink. The clips are in the back. It looks like it might have a lever that you lift to unsnap it. The detail is to small to tell.

The top may be held in place buy a lip or grove at the front edge and the back edge held buy the spring clips. In other words, pry up the back edge, then push forward. Kind of the opposite of what it use to be.
Just a guess.

Thanks, Harold.

Unfortunately I can't directly get to the back edge. The back panel is one piece from top to bottom and covers the back edge of the top. I attached a photo of a top corner of the back. I think the key parts are (from top to bottom) what looks like a screw through a hinged plastic tab, a lever that looks as though it should be pushed up but I can't move it, and a metal hook coming out through a slot. There are corresponding parts on the other side of the back. The screw further to the right seems to be holding something that's on the inside; there is no corresponding part on the other side of the back.

Does this give you any clues?

I think you must remove that Phillips screw from the plastic clip. The clip can then be turned 90 degrees and removed from the back. Just removing the screw will get you in.

No luck.

I unscrewed the Phillips screw. It goes through the plastic tab, the top of the control housing, and then the side panel of the control housing. What looked like a slide lever is actually the bottom end of the plastic tab. Removing both screws allowed me to lift the control housing slightly. I then removed two screws from the front of the control housing, allowing me to lift it off and tip it back over the back panel.

The next photo shows where I am now. (The little piece of plastic just rearward of the dirt streak, with a little hole in it, holds the front screw I took out.) The clip hkstroud pointed to is heftier than I expected, and the back end of it is the hook I noted in the previous photo. I popped one of the clips, allowing the back to tilt away slightly.

But the top is still firmly attached to the main housing, which consists of one piece of sheet metal forming the front and sides of the machine.

Any suggestions?

OK I better understand. If you want to lift the top at this point you insert a stout putty knife into the seam 1" below the surface of the machine and pry down or up.

I got a different clue. The diagram attached to post #2 (I have the original paper version) shows two screws labeled "23" going up through the rim of the main housing into the top. They would have to be removed. The accompanying parts list says these are "Screw, 10-16 X 1/2 (5)" but the diagram shows only two of them.

Incidentally the plastic things I called "tabs" held by the Phillips screws I took out are called "Hinge, Console (2)" on the rear panel parts list. So I didn't have to take those screws out. If I had just started by taking out the screws in the front, I could have swung the control module back. I think.

No criticism intended. We're fishing in the dark, but I think we're getting close. My main worry now is where the other three screws called "23" are, and how hard it will be to get at them.

Squeeze that clip together with a pair of pliers and see if you can remove it. I think that is locking the rear of the top to the cabinet. Or squeeze the clip together and try lifting top. To get to the two #23 screws you will have to remove the back of the cabinet.

I think that yellowish clip is what helps to hold the control poanel onto the top. Look at the picture in post #5

The washer is closed up again and the lid switch has been jammed in the actuated position so the machine can be used. This is of course not a permanent solution. I'll be busy for the next week or so and won't be able to try again soon.

Here's what I think I will have to do:

Remove the screws in the front of the control panel as described in post 7, without removing the screws at the top of the back. Swing the control panel over the back on its hinges.

Pop out the clips described in post 2, as shown in the photo in post 7. This will allow the back panel to be partly swung away from the cabinet.

Continue to remove screws and things from the back panel until the back panel is free. Reach in past it to remove the screws holding down the top, which are labeled "23" in the diagram in post 2. Remove the top. If I'm lucky, it might be enough to remove the two screws holding down the back of the top and then lift the top far enough to access the lid switch.

I hope this helps somebody else who might have the same project. I'll post again (or edit this post) after I do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNRd04vwc4Y

I couldn't have done it without this YouTube video. With the video, however, it was pretty easy

Thanks for the video, to bad we didn't have it back in 2008.