Finished the repair, with a bit of guessing and common sense. The washer is running extremely well. Not sure how long the repair will last, but for now, I'm pleased with the results.
The removal of the old pulley was done with a dremel, so whoever suggested that, it was a great idea. It was fairly safe as long as you paid attention to when you broke through the pulley and saw the spindle. It was easy to avoid damaging the spindle with the dremel. Step one completed with ease.
Step two was a bit trickier. There is no real good description anywhere to describe how to put the pulley back on. So, my first recommendation would be to buy two pulleys. They are cheap, (postage is more expensive than the part), and if you break it, you are hosed until a new one arrives. I came very close to breaking mine, so consider this a fair warning.
The new pulley has plastic "teeth" visible from one end of the pulley. This is the end that should be "up" or facing you, the installer, as you put it down on the spindle. I found out this by putting it on upside down and realizing immediately that this was the wrong way to go. When I tried to remove the pulley, one of the "teeth" broke, so be very careful to put this on the right way. I only lost one tooth, so I think I'll be ok, at least for a while, but I know it's something that may haunt me in the future.
so, figuring out how to put it on correctly will save you some time and probably some pulley teeth. I hope this helps anyone to follow me. :cool:
To review, as you are looking straight down on the bottom of the motor (the part that will be sticking out the bottom of the washing machine), the long spindle (the one that you've removed the broken pulley from), will be staring up at you. Put the pulley on, turning it slightly until you feel the grooves on the spindle line up with the grooves on the inside of the pulley. then, start tapping the pulley down onto the spindle. I used a small socket to fit between the plastic teeth of the pulley and the spindle itself to help the installation. I used a small hammer, and kept after it until it seemed to bottom out on the spindle. I didn't get it the entire way down to the bottom of the markings on the spindle, but very close. I eyeballed the level of pulley and the spindle, and after it looked like they were perpendicular to each other, and the spinning of the spindle with the pulley looked clean to the eye, I installed the motor, reinstalled the belt, and crossed my fingers. When I plugged it in, I started it on a regular wash cycle and it worked perfectly. The belt and pulley also seem to work correctly, and they seem to sit at the same level (again, an eyeball from yours truly). It now has about 10 loads behind it, and it is still running very strong. So, I'll call this project successful and fixed.
I'm sure there are better ways to do this, (a gear puller would be a nice help as well as installation instructions for the pulley), but this is how I did it and it worked for me.
Anyone reading this, I wish you similar success. If someone figures out the correct way to do this, and can post pictures and directions, that would be helpful. Apparently, this pulley melts quite a bit.
