Hello! I have a model LA882 washing machine. It stopped draining (i.e., it finished washing, but there was an inch or so of water at the bottom). I don't think there's a clog, but not 100% sure. Using a flashlight, I don't see anything in the water pump but water. When I run the spin cycle, there was a odd sound that I suspected was due to the belts. Since the belts are old, I ordered new belts (non-OEM), cleaned the pulleys, and replaced. It seemed to run okay, but there was a burning smell. I thought maybe it was the belts breaking in, so decided to do a small load. But right after the agitation cycle finished, nothing happened (no spin, etc.) so I unplugged and started emptying the tub. After a while I thought maybe there was a thermal cutout of some kind, so I decided to try spin cycle again. It started to spin, but then there was a pop and some smoke from the motor. After a cooling time, I tried it again, and it again seemed to work, but with the same end result. My suspicion is the belt to the tub is too tight and it is straining the motor? Is there a way to loosen the drive belt to the tub? Is it possible the motor is damaged now? Note that the motor was acting all fine before I changed the tub belt. Any input on the issue would be appreciated. Thank you!

Update 1:
I emptied the tub to see if less weight made a difference. It doesn't. Then I disconnected the belt to the tub to see if the pump was fine. This worked perfectly. I filled the tub about 1/4 of the way, and tried it again. Completely emptied the tub. No motor overload. I realize if the motor is bad, that lowering the strain might make it seem to work, but I noticed when I removed the belt from the motor, the motor snapped all the way back. That is, it was completely pulled in when the belt was on. I don't know what it is supposed to be, but this seems way too tight to me. The sled the motor is on is spring loaded for a reason. So slamming it fully tight like that cannot be good. The belt is marked 211125, which is correct. Is there a way to stretch a belt like this? Any help appreciated!

Update 2:
I tried taking both belts off just to see if the motor would run without overheating, which it did okay (no smell). I then tried with just the tub belt with an empty tub, and the motor was able to spin the tub full speed, although there was a slight smell of motor burn. But it held and never stopped. But then I put a mere bucket full of water in the bin, and while it got the tub up to speed, the motor thermal popped with some smoke.

So is there any chance this is only a tub drive belt issue, or is the motor no good any more? It is 38 years old, after all. Still, I'd really appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

Edited by user Saturday, March 30, 2024 4:30:00 PM(UTC)  | Reason: More Information

Thank you for your reply and advice. I did order OEM belts just to be sure. The transmission belt was definitely a better fit (more play in the motor sled), and at first, it seemed to work okay on just the spin cycle, but it still seemed to labor. Foolishly, I tried a light load to see, and while the motor never overloaded, it couldn't handle the water + some clothes very well either.

After wringing out the clothes by hand and scooping out most of the water, I tried my pump-only spin to empty the rest of the water, but this time it didn't work! I went back to the original belts, and they didn't work either. I found this to be odd, and now I'm wondering whether the motor was the problem, or the symptom of something else. Anyway, I ordered a motor and I guess I see what that does.

Can you tell me whether a motor can begin to behave like this? That is, not trip the thermal, but not get enough speed to do anything either?

Thanks again.