Got another fix done on my 30+ year old Maytag washer. A belt broke and the tub stopped moving. Amazon provided the right belts for less than $20 (it has two, so I changed them both). YouTube provided instructions. Job took less than 15 minutes. I’m sure a repair man would have been $150 - $200, mainly for the cost of bringing the truck full of stuff.
I could see no reason to get rid of a machine and buy a new one for such a small repair.
–Peter
Well, life seems to be a bit more complicated than just replacing an old belt. I should know from my automotive experience that belts break for a reason, and that reason should be determined before just assuming it was age. Even with a belt in its mid 30s.
Longer story. So in the fiddling around to inspect and then replace the belts, I moved something somewhere which created a small water leak. Had to run a couple loads of wash to find and repair the leak. But in the process of closely monitoring those loads, I found that the motor was occasionally overheating and tripping a thermal switch. And then on one load, the whole tub locked up and left the belt still while the motor was spinning. That’s not good at all.
A closer inspection showed that the old belt apparently broke due to a similar event. There were clearly marks around the break where the motor was spinning while the belt remained stationary, partially melting the belt in that spot.
So now I’m wondering if the transmission is having problems. That would explain both symptoms I’ve noticed. Back to the school of YouTube to see what is involved in removing and either replacing or rebuilding the transmission. Plus a visit to various parts web sites to see what the parts cost.
–Peter
Yes, the joys of DIY. You fix one thing, and then find three more things that need fixing. Just a guess, but maybe your motor is wearing out. Either some bearings, or internal lubrication. YouTube might know better (probably, if you find the right channel).
I had to repair our washer a few months ago. The control panel was going crazy (it would change modes randomly, “start” didn’t always start, etc). I did call a guy in, and he diagnosed the problem. So I had to pay for that bit. He would have had to order the part, and then come back in a week or two. But he was really nice…he gave me the part number (control board), and told me how to open the machine and replace it.
So, I ordered the part myself (took a bit to find it, but I found it). Opened the lid, disconnected the ribbon cables, and removed some screws. The control board was kind of interesting in that a lot of it was plastic toggles that the buttons depressed to engage various things. The “start” toggle was broken, and fell out when I removed the panel. Not sure what was wrong with the dial, but it was simple enough to take the old one out, put the new one in. Works great.
It cost me the diagnostic call, plus the part from the online store, and about an hour of my time (I’m careful and methodical…probably could have done it in 15 minutes, but I am not experienced and wanted to make sure I didn’t do something dumb).
And I did find that one the screws that holds on the outer panel wasn’t doing anything. It was in a “well” that had broken. As soon as I removed the panel, it fell off. I had to gorilla-glue the well to the front panel, let it set, and then remount the panel. The four hours for it to set, I didn’t include in my above estimate of time to repair. If it hadn’t worked, I would have had to drill a hole inside the detergent dispenser and use a sheet metal screw to secure. Otherwise, the panel would have rattled and vibrated. So far, the gorilla-glue is holding.
Hi, anyone on this thread may have a clue about the following…
I have a Maytag Centennial Commercial Technology washer. I bought it new 12 years ago. There are two problems with it:
any idea of what is wrong with it and how to repair that?
tj
Just a guess: the control board.
I would google your symptoms, and see what pops up.
Does the belt have a tensioner of some sort? If so, maybe it is too tight (or too loose).
The motor is mounted on a base with springs that provide the tension. I have checked that both springs are present and unbroken. And it took what felt like a reasonable amount of force to push the motor in against the springs when I installed the belt.
–Peter
Hmmm, I wonder if what feels like a reasonable amount of force when stationary might not be sufficient when rotating over 1000 rpm?
If there is a way to skip “spin”, maybe that could be used as a test of this possibility?
(I know next to nothing about washing machines, I am just postulating as an engineer.)
Just one thought: unplug it for a few minutes on the off chance that a “reboot” will change something.
Let’s close this up. The belt broke for a reason. And as I suspected the reason is almost certainly the transmission. After trying to get some more laundry through it, the problem became pretty clear. It didn’t want to start the wash cycle agitation.
If I babysat the machine, I could manually move the agitator a few times, and then rotate the pulleys a bit, and then the belt would stop slipping and run.
So I broke down and bought a new Whirlpool from Home Depot for $200 off the list price of 899. Free delivery, but a fee to haul away the old soldier. That was a Maytag my wife and I bought for our first home back in 86 or 87. My cheap self didn’t replace the dryer we bought at the same time. It’s still working, so why fiddle with it?
Ran a couple of loads through the new one and it’s fine. It’s huge compared to the old one, as a load I considered full but not stuffed wasn’t even half a load in this new machine. Too much automation for my taste, but I don’t think any less is available.
It also spins a whole lot more water out of the clothes. They dried in about half the time that I was used to.
If your dryer is electric, this effect will save you more than anything else related to laundry.