Center seal on agitator shaft may be leaking. Not uncommon.

Test for transmission lubricant. Take a pail or two of obviously clean clear water and dump it in. Run the agitator for a minute. If water discolors you have your issue. I have to clarify this by stating. I am not an appliance service guy. If what passes for a bearing down there is still in reasonable condition.

I probably would change the seal. Newer washing machines and other appliances seem to be more complicated in general and failure rates may be higher.

To change the seal look on the procedure on the net. You will probably find the service manual there as well for free if you look.

Parts for Kenmore in Canada might be hard to get as Sears closed down all operations here. On the other hand they are still alive in America. You might be able to cross refferance that seal at a bearing house as well. Or a busy service guy might have one in stock.

Sometimes the agitator gets really stuck on the shaft. Sometimes not but it has to come off if the test proves the leak is there. Wives seem to get a little rattled if you do not fix it fast. Experience has proven in our household. If any appliance has an issue. Either I fix it fast or replace it. Wives seem to appreciate this.

Now if the discolored water is actually entering the machine is another kettle of fish entirely.

Doing the repair yourself eliminates the cost or moderates it as well as the discussion. Simply because the cost of the repair is so cheap. That is should we just buy another washing machine? In that case a person should do their homework. Many today are not that reliable.

I just suspect you lost your shaft seal.

White Westinghouse purchased Maytag and shut their plant down. It was the simplest longest lasting washing machine ever produced on average. They substituted the line with their own product. This to me was an obscenity. On average you could go twenty five years with a Maytag machine. Change two belts and go another long period of time.

Their secret was simple. You paid for lack of parts and what parts they had where of decent quality. Plus well thought out. I sold a truckload a week at one time. Just had one on display with the front cover removed and a competitors machine alongside with the front removed. Explaining to customers that you are basically paying for the lack of parts. Parts break. Back then the average expected lifespan of the average automatic washing machine was about twelve years.

The wifes current white Westinghouse washing machine Is about three years old and has two faults. One is Electronic and the water control valve is suspect. I have temporarily worked around both problems. There is a slight chance both problems are being caused by the one part. That is another problem to determine. Appears to be a common problem with that model on the net research. There are just several ways of failure when it occurs. Not a specific part. The machine is not displaying a code either.