This is a pretty easy repair to do and all you need to do is open up the door and go around the outer lip of the bellows gasket and find the retaining loop that holds the front edge onto the front cabinet panel. Look for the locking loop and carefully remove it. I find that a couple of pairs of small needle nose pliers work well, just be careful not to bend the retaining wire loop, as you'll need to reuse this when you put the new bellows gasket on.
Here's a line drawing that shows your washer model and the parts involved, to help make this a bit easier to understand and so you can see what you're going to do.
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/getSubComp.pd?modelNumber=WFW8300SW01&productCategoryId=0153200&brandId=1198&modelName=RESIDENTIAL-WASHER&diagramPageId=00002&componentDescription=DOOR%20AND%20LATCH%20PARTS&documentId=W0607261&backToLink=Return%20to%20subcomponent%20list
Once you've got the outer lip retainer off, you'll be able to roll back the gasket off the front panel mounting lip and get to the rear hose clamp. It's basically a giant diameter hose clamp like you'd find on your car's radiator, etc. You'll need a small socket or nut driver to remove this clamp (usually it's either a 1/4" or 5/16" but sometimes it's a larger 3/8" size.
Loosen it and remove it carefully and you can now remove the entire bellows gasket.
When you go to install the new one, you'll want to make sure that you line up the water inlet section properly (if your's has this design, so do, some don't). Be careful not to rip or tear the gasket when putting it on the outer tub and when you tighten up the clamp. Take your time and don't rush this, as you don't want to be doing it again, as these gaskets aren't cheap!
Once you've got the rear of the gasket on, you can then carefully and gently start pulling the front lip onto and over the outer front cabinet. It helps to have help in holding the starting point onto the lip while you continue installing the rest of the bellows gasket onto the cabinet lip.
Once you've got the entire gasket on the front cabinet and you're sure it's on the lip all the way around the panel. You can then reinstall the retaining wire loop.
Now you're done and can give it a try, as you've just likely saved yourself about another $150-175 bill by not having to have a service tech come out and do the job for you!
Hope you find this Very Helpful and best regards!
×