My Freezer stopped freezing and it is only 5 years old.

extremely unlikely as manufacturers stop carrying parts after 5 years and aftermarket suppliers and service agent after 10 years
you may get gears from alibaba site but the time taken , makes junking it for a new unit a better idea

The running capacitor finally died. I used to be their factory service tech. You can change it easily by removing the back knob and the handle. The screws are under the silver buttons. The capacitor looks like a 3/4 x 1 1/4' tube with a small nib sticking out each end.

You will need to search for a repair shop. There are replaceable parts in the speed control assembly that will cause your symptoms when they fail. The question is - can those replaceable parts still be obtained after 25+ years?

ROTHL, you must be joking. 18 years?!? You're lucky it still turns on. In the last 18 years (I do a lot of cooking), I've gone through 5 hand mixers.

Buy a new one.

It sounds like it has been overloaded and the worm gear has been stripped. You will need to take the head apart to confirm this.

It can be. This may require replaing the plate that the shaft comes through, since there is now enough play to allow the grease that is in the nead to leak through. You can find the parts online, but be ware, it involves tapping out pins and undoing many screws. Manuals are available online at Kitchenaid.com

It sounds like the switch to me.mixers last awhile as long as there not overloaded.The brushes in the motor also go bad but i think the switch is your problem.Goto home depot/lowes and take the switch with you,dont forget to mark the wires.If they cant help you goto graingers (its a electrical/plumbing wharehouse).let me know,you can use an universal switch if the one you cant find isnt availiable.

Mine did almost the exact same thing one day. I have the Artisian Model, It would do it on any of the lowest speeds. Dont know if this will help you or not but I just ran mine the next day on all the way high with the spash guard on for making whipped cream for about 6 minutes full throttle and for some reason it hasnt went slow and shut itself off since then. Mine is about 7 months old. I called Kitchen Aid but their customer service all of a sudden seems to not know english worth a poo...

Try running yours on full blast for 5 minutes with something simple in the bowl. If its a 250 watt or higher make whipped water out of 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Run it till you get what looks like whipped cream. Oh yea. Use the Balloon whip. The lubrication in the motor is supposed to last for at least 5 years but I have seen on numerous post's that if you run them on all the way for at least 5 minutes the oil will even out in the motor. Running the mixers at low speed alot will cause the oil inside not to move as freely since the motor doesnt heat up the oil in the gears.

Good luck.

Kitchenaid doesn't repair anything over 1 year old. I have one that is 3 years old (KSM90). I have used it less than 10 times and it stopped working. The plastic piece in the back of the unit that holds all of the wires snapped. There are no repair centers in my state (new mexico). They told me I can pay $32 to have them send me a "repair kit" that includes shipping to and from a repair center and a box and packing materials. They then call you to tell you how much the repair is going to be. If you choose NOT to have them repair it, they charge you a $25 diagnositc fee just for looking at it on top of the $32 you spent to ship it there and back. It's a shame that this appliance costs over $300 and this is the service they give you.