Hi,
Have a Maytag A612 Series 4. Pretty clean for the age, but the transmission belt started smoking (well, not literally, but it smelled like burning rubber), and I thus suspected the transmission. Turned very smoothly in the spin direction, but very difficult to turn manually in the agitate direction. Figured it was worth a shot to see if perhaps it was just a bearing and would be cheap to fix. More I tore into it, it seemed less likely, as eventually removed the entire transmission, and the external bearings were fine. Bit gummed up on the spring loaded seal, but nothing obvious.
So I took it to work today, and pulled the transmission apart. (2-3438, the one with the stacked stamped counterweight) All the gears are beautiful, and there is nothing the matter inside. However the output shaft is completely bound up in the output bearing which I assume is just a big bronze bushing of which you can see about a 1/4 inch at the top. There is no way I could turn it by hand, and I didn't see any snap ring or anything, but a light tap with the lead hammer didn't budge it. Think it is galled up, or just gummed up? How can I get it apart without destroying it? If I have to replace the entire transmission, I'll probably junk the machine, but if I can do it for the price of bearings and seals, it may be worth getting another 5 years out of the machine.
Thanks.
lm

I know this may be a bit late, but since these machines are aging out now, there may still be interest in an answer.

The output shaft is removed from the housing by removing the pin which holds the drive gear to the end of the shaft that is on the inside of the case. Now, this pin is not a simple dowel pin or spring pin and removal of the pin requires the use of a press and suitable rest so as to avoid damaging the gear or your person. I was successful by using an arbor press and, based on the required effort, I would say the required force easily exceeds 1 ton. Re-insertion of the pin requires just as much effort as removal. If you are not familiar with using a press, get some help because when things break, and they do when subject to these forces, hard/sharp things can start flying everywhere.

I will note that when I recently performed this exercise on my transmission, the bushings were in fine shape. The stuck output shaft was due to some rusting, and some very gummy oil on the portion of the shaft nearest the outside of the case. There is a second more critical bushing near the inside of the case and that bushing, and mating portion of the output shaft, were fine.

That said, sometimes a new washer is what is really needed. I fixed my transmission mainly out of interest, and the challenge of doing so. I would guess there is very little chance of this repair being economical if one had to pay for it, but like I said, I just like to do these things.

Look for an older unit of the same vintage that still has a working transmission that can be used to replace yours. Repair of tour tranny is not something that is easy or economical and repair parts are not available .