I have a Maytag LA882 washer, purchased in the late 80s. I have over the years replaced the inlet hoses, both belts and the injector valve. It has performed very well.

Recently, at the beginning of any of the drain / spin cycles, the motor starts out very slowly. It soon “catches” up to normal speed and the spin cycle leaves the clothes well wrung out — dry as usual.

I’ve pulled off the front panel and the belts seem OK and the pump drains well and quickly.

The motor used to spin up so fast, one could hear the water being forced through the drain holes. Now it starts out much slower, before "catching up" to normal speed.

Again, the water is all pumped out and the spin cycle completes just fine — it’s the motor “starting out slow” that bothers me.

Any suggestions on what’s going on?

Thanks — A

>If the belt is tight all the time the problem may be the motor is failing or the transmission is beginning to have problems.

OK. How does one then determine if it's the motor or the transmission that is failing?

I really like this machine and would want to fix it rather than buying a new one ;^)

Thanks again.

Problem solved!

Summary:
Belts were OK, but the pulleys they wrapped around were greasy.

Details:
I cleaned the pulleys off and installed the new belts. Everything worked OK after this. When I originally check the old belts, I had not noticed the slippage. Someone suggested I check the platform the motor was mounted on (it moves back & forth a bit when it engages on a greased roller) and that’s when I saw the belts were slipping as the motor came up to speed.

Thanks for the advice!