Well, glad you got that apart and I cannot say I have any idea about the melting plastic that may have sealed things together.

I would not put any lubricant on anything, just put it back together, be judicious with the fabric softener and good luck in the future. Let us know if you need anything at all.

Thanks also for the update.

Hi, and thank you so very much. I got it!

Before hearing from you I tried oiling it; repeatedly banging the blasted thing (as someone else online had suggested); almost pulled my guts out trying to pull it while standing on it; tried to find something to sit inside the hole for leverage in hopes of just pressing down forcing the top off; practically beat it to death with a mallet; and attempted countless bodily contortions to achieve leverage that, had someone been filming, would surely have made it to the finals on Funniest Home Videos.

In the end, it took a combination of (1) soaking in extremely hot water for a few minutes which I think not only loosened the gunk but probably also expanded the plastic and (2) realizing that what was on top of the four little divets (little snap tips) on the cam (?? is that what they call the clear/whitish part that the dogs sit in??) was not fabric softener build-up but rather the tiny tips had somehow been melted down, effectively sealing the two parts together. Still can't imagine how the little tips could have been melded together like they were -- it looked almost like a heat gun or chemical of some type had caused it.

At any rate, were it not for your suggestion to try hot water, I suspect I'd still be trying (I'm part Scottish, so I don't give up easily). Have to admit though, I almost got to the point that I was going to return the agitator kit and simply order a whole new agitator assembly. Even if I had done that, it still would have cost me significantly less than paying a repair person.

By the way, should I have applied grease to any part of the agitator assembly? I thought I read somewhere about greasing some part, but I'm not sure exactly what and wouldn't have known what type of grease to use.

Well, now it's time to start the laundry, so I'll leave you with another thank you, and God bless you for coming to my rescue.

~ Bernadette