force you sometimes have to exert it might come up and strike you hard around your facial region. If the agitator either has never been lifted off or a long period of time since it was then you may have to "wiggle" the agitator whilst attempting to lift the thing of the drive shaft. Once you have removed the agitator clean and re grease the splined drive shaft with suitable grease, not too much only a smear as too much will melt and leach into the bowl and hence you'll have greasy marks on the washing. Clean out the female splined section of the agitator and again a thin film of grease should be rubbed on the female splines. Replace the agitator on the shaft and make sure it's fully the length of the shaft as it will ride up and attempt to come of the drive shaft whilst the machine is operating if it's not seated correctly. If you think there are / is foreign objects beneath the agitator that seldom happens but sometimes it can with small articles. The problem of noisy agitators can be caused by worn bearings in the drive gear box which in turn allows the agitator to move sideways a bit and that then can grind on the bottom of the bowl under the agitator or even allow a small piece of cloth to get under the agitator etc. I doubt the unit would be driven by a belt directly connected to another pulley