Product review (5 stars): Common part to fail, Easy to install...
I struggled for a long time, trying to figure out why our 2.5 year old Amana NTW4600Q1 washer wouldn't spin correctly and did a lot of very strange things.  I initially thought it had to be the main control board and for $320, I wasn't going to do that - I'd just buy a new washer.  After several hours over several weeks of troubleshooting, I finally figured out that there is a somewhat unwritten secret....  Inside the body of most washers, there is a technician's manual.  What a find that was.  In my case, I just took the top off of the washer and low and behold, there it was inside the front in a ziplock bag that was glued to the inside.  The troubleshooting instructions in the manual are what finally led me to this part on Amazon.  Wow, I thought - what a crappy washer design.  There are this many people buying this actuator, and the lengthy comments really cemented that for me.  So, I swore if this worked for me, I would write a fair review.  I typically weigh a lot of my buying decisions on the comments I read.  I owe a lot of time and money to those that took time to document their experience.  So, here are a few of my own.  Basically, from what I can gather, this actuator works on a lot of Kenmore, Amana, Whirpool and Maytag washers, which are apparently all assembled by the same "core" company.  In my case, I followed the directions in the technician's manual, and was able to produce the codes that led me here.  I ordered the part.  Replacement took about 10 minutes.  In my particular configuration, I was able to pull the washer out a bit from the wall, unplug it and lean it back.  You have to remove 4 fasteners and one wiring connector to replace this actuator.  Two fasteners hold the belt cover on (2 5/16" head screws), the other two hold the actuator to the bottom of the washer (2 phillips screw heads).  Take the four fasteners out, and the wiring connector last.  Reverse to install, and make sure you get the shifting pin back into the transmission.  Simple task.  Afterwards, I did run the "Calibration" mode, even though according to the manual, this part is not named as a part that requires re-calibration.  Just for grins, I took apart the old actuator, and unlike another review I read, there were no broken gears.  I suspect mine failed electronically, due to the abuse this part has to take.  The fault is the design of the washing machines, not the fault of the part.  This part gets whipped around at the bottom of the tub.  Maybe they could redesign the part and make it more durable, but the actuator does take major abuse.  I'll probably order another one just to have as a spare.  Based on the quantity sold and how fast the "items remaining" declines, this is a very common problem.  I called a friend of mine after I figured out what the problem was, and he said "Don't tell me, it's the W10006 something actuator".  He's an appliance repair guy.  I should have called him first!