Kenmore 110.20022011 washer agitating only in one direction...

Hi Folks. Washer at my parents' seems to be not working correctly. I only had time to look at it real quick on the way out. In agitate mode, after I stopped the washer and waited for the lid safety mechanism to release the lid so I could look inside, the water inside was swirling in one direction, which seems to indicate that the agitation is only occurring in one direction instead of back and forth. Additionally, instead of making the normal whir-whir-whir-whir-whir sound, it makes a whir-whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr-whir-whirrrrrrrrrrrrr sound. Washer seems to work fine otherwise. And there are no other noises such grinding, clunking, etc. that I have seen in other posts.

The obvious next step is to disable the lid safety when I am by there and watch the agitation, but I am pretty sure the agitation is only in one direction. So.....

Can this be anything other than the gearbox? And can the gearbox be repaired instead of the getting a new one?

Thanks!

via Kenmore 110.20022011 washer agitating only in one direction...
by cam96546