[Maytagburned]

I came home to the washer running, happily agitating, when it stopped and started the drain and spin cycle. About 60 seconds into the cycle a high pitched sound started coming, and the smell of burning rubber. Stopped the washer, and assuming that something had happened to the drive belt for the spin, took it off and replaced it. Looking at the belt it seemed to be slightly glazed in a 6" length (probably the part that was slipping on the drive motor pulley. Took the drum drive belt off again, and ran the washer in the spin and rinse cycle to empty out the tub. The pump worked just fine and drained the tub. Put the switch to off, and tried to move the tub... it was very tough to make it move... either the bearing was shot, or the brakes weren't letting go.. didn't know which.
Put the drive belt back on, and ran it in the initial "agitate" cycle, which seemed to work fine. When it switched to the spin cycle I would hear a very small "thud" which must be the brake disengagement mechanism attempting to disengage, I suppose. How do I figure out whether it is the brake that is failing to disengage, or it is a bearing that is shot? I don't want to rip everything apart and find out at the end of hours of work that it was a 10 minute fix , if I had known what I was doing.
Please help!
Thanks.

[sidfink43]

There is no 10 minute fix and you are going to have to rip into it and check the brakes.

You will need a special tool and the service manual. Here is the manual,

http://www.servicematters.com/maytag...(16001145).pdf

[Maytagburned]

Thanks. I've gotten to the part of removing the drive belts, and taking off the pulley. I've taken the hexbolt and the retaining clip out of the brake assembly... but for the life of me I cannot make the brake assembly budge! There's nothing in the manual about whether one unscrews it or hammers the damn thing out... guidance please???? ... before I hurt myself or the machine !!!

[sidfink43]

If you do not have the special brake removal tool, then STOP!

Get one and then follow the instructions in the manual. This can be dangerous work so if you are at all uncertain do not continue but get a qualified repair tech out.

[Maytagburned]

Originally Posted by sidfink43

If you do not have the special brake removal tool, then STOP!

Get one and then follow the instructions in the manual. This can be dangerous work so if you are at all uncertain do not continue but get a qualified repair tech out.

Thanks for the final advice. I hammer&chiseled off the brake assembly.. which the Appliance Parts guy had also said was the problem. Turns out, it wasn't... and I unnecessarily destroyed a perfectly fine drum assembly. The problem really turned out to be a corroded tub-bearing.. for which I hired an experienced appliance service tech to do the job. What amazes me is the lack of insight of all the "experienced" guys I dealt with... even the appliance tech.. who removed and replaced a grungy part because he claimed it was bad and replaced it. I checked the grungy part and it was not functioning.. but ater 5 minutes of cleaning, I re-checked it, and it was perfectly fine! Needless to say, the whole experience set me back a ton of money... next time, I'm throwing the sucker into the landfill and just getting a solid European washer. A couple of hundred bucks more, and I could have bought one