What happens on this vintage Maytag A606 is that everything works on REGULAR (fast) agitation, but I have to "coax" it to go into Gentle.
What always works is if I first push in the REGULAR button, and THEN GENTLE, it works, and will STAY agitating, but once it goes to the spin cycle, it just stops, and all I hear is the timer ticking, and NO motor hum at all.
Once again, at this point, if I hit the REGULAR button, and then GENTLE, she'll start spinning, draining, etc.
I even shorted the orange and yellow leads going to the "fabric selector" switch (Regular/Gentle) on the console, and got no response, so I think I can rule out that switch. I pulled off all the harness leads going to the top of the motor, cleaned them, jiggled them- ZILCH. I took SOME terminals off the back of the terminal, cleaned them, jiggled them back on- ZILCH.
I'm beginning to think it's the centrifugal 2 speed switch INSIDE the motor, but have no idea how to check it or the motor???
NOTE: Let me mention that I used to hear a slight growling noise (probably a dry tub bearing), but by filling it with hot water, and more frequent use, it managed to work itself out somewhat. Now I really don't hear ANY squealing or growling. Could a worn bearing put such a drag on the motor that it can't overcome it in gentle mode??

Thanks, sidfink43- It will be a sorry day indeed when this A606 completely fails. At that point, I'm going to probably have to find a new TOP LOAD no frills washer that has SHORT wash cycles, if they even exist.