[Marc James]

This machine is about 15 years old and has been trouble free until now. At spin cycle heard a squealing followed by burning rubber smell and smoke. The pump belt seemed very loose and the drive belt was worn. I replaced both belts and cleaned and dry lubed the motor slides. The springs that tension the belts do not seem very strong but are not stretched or deformed. When I first restarted the machine, I had to give the transmission a push to start it spinning. Since then it seems to be okay.

Here are my immediate problems:
1. I have water dripping thru the bottom of the tub at about 1 drop per 5 seconds. It is coming out of what look like drain holes in the bearing assembly on the bottom of the tub. In looking at an exploded parts diagram, I can only find one seal (Y0A4298, seal, agitator drive shaft). Can this seal be replaced easily from the top side and how is it done? Am I correct that this is the only seal out of the tub?

2. No question that the drive belts were worn out after 15 years, do I need to be concerned about the clutch assembly that the drive belt goes to? I'm afraid that after all these years that it may be difficult to impossible to disasemble the clutch assembly from the drive shaft.

[applianceman]

Fixing the tub seal requires replacing the seal and the stem assembly. (see linked page) this will most likely solve all of your issues. What typically happens is the tub seal will leak then the spin sleeve will rust once then the transmission will hang when trying to spin because of the rusted sleeve.

The belts are supposed to be loose don’t try to tighten them. You can adjust pump belt but it should be loose so that the motor can achieve full speed before the load of the pump is on it.

This page should help with replacing the tub seal.

Maytag Tub Seal Replacement

[Marc James]

Originally Posted by applianceman

Fixing the tub seal requires replacing the seal and the stem assembly. (see linked page) this will most likely solve all of your issues. What typically happens is the tub seal will leak then the spin sleeve will rust once then the transmission will hang when trying to spin because of the rusted sleeve.

The belts are supposed to be loose don’t try to tighten them. You can adjust pump belt but it should be loose so that the motor can achieve full speed before the load of the pump is on it.

This page should help with replacing the tub seal.

Maytag Tub Seal Replacement

applianceman,

your reply was most helpful and I ordered the parts and tools.

The "wrench" is now a universal type, part #TJ90TB123A. Your number shows up as not available.

lubed the seals with plumbers silicone and spent some time cleaning the "washer" dirt off of the associated parts of the tub, spinner tub and cover.

2 test loads and no water leaks or problems.

When I disassembled the washer stem the discoloration on the steel sleeve was deceieving. I thought that there was a shim at the bottom and that the sleeve was too long. Turned out the "shim" was just discoloration and when I remove the sleeve, the new one was the same length.

thanks for the help!!

[applianceman]

Your welcome!!

I didn’t know you couldn’t get the original spanner wrench anymore. Did the TJ90TB123A spanner wrench work fine with no problems?

I got one of those spanner wrenches I have used it for GE and Whirlpool but not for the old Maytag. Next time I replace a tub seal on a Maytag I will use it to see how well it works compared to the original. It works real well for the Whirlpool and you can get by with it for GE but it is not as good as the original tool for GE

[Marc James]

Originally Posted by applianceman

Your welcome!!

I didn’t know you couldn’t get the original spanner wrench anymore. Did the TJ90TB123A spanner wrench work fine with no problems?

I got one of those spanner wrenches I have used it for GE and Whirlpool but not for the old Maytag. Next time I replace a tub seal on a Maytag I will use it to see how well it works compared to the original. It works real well for the Whirlpool and you can get by with it for GE but it is not as good as the original tool for GE

The TJ90TB123A spanner worked fine. It has the lug pointing down so you have to maintain down pressure while you tap. The hex adapter for another machine may not work as well, but who knows?