Hoping someone can shed some light. My old Maytag A-608 (late '70s two-belt) will agitate, and will spin, but often won't reach high-speed spin, and either doesn't drain completely, or sometimes (as is the case right now), won't drain at all. The machine was screeching and squealing progressively louder over a period of time, so I finally replaced the belts (new genuine Maytag).
That got rid of the noise, but it still isn't draining completely, or at all. I lubed up the motor carriage rollers, which made a big difference in the sliding of the carriage, as I was thinking even the new belts may have been slipping, but I'm still having the same problem. The water pump pulley is turning, there appears to be nothing stuck in the pump housing, and the impeller seems to be firmly connected to the pulley shaft. Sometimes the machine will pump out a nice steady flow, but sometimes nothing--it spins the tub at a lower speed, sloshes the water around, but nothing comes out. I pulled the hose from the tub, and water immediately flowed out freely. I have not removed the tub to look inside (I don't have the spanner currently), and I suppose something could be in there and moving around, intermittently plugging the outlet.
At one point, I tried gently prying on the motor during spin with the front cover off using a fiberglass sledge hammer handle (I know--not the safest practice). Gentle pressure resulted in increased rpm, but too much pressure trips a switch and the motor shuts off. Someone suggested the motor might be weak, but it doesn't make any unusual humming or have any particular ozone smell like burned out, or burning out, motors often do. But I'm not familiar enough with these motors to know what do when they give up--is there a diminished performance, or do they just die?
I have run the machine with no clothes and gotten it to reach high speed, where it fully drained, and also got this to happen with some wet jeans in the tub, but other times, it just won't spin up, and right now, it won't drain at all, though it does spin, but at lower speed.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.