Maytag A5000 Washer. Able to rotate Pulley and transmission. Agitator seems to be seized to drum; Caused belt to fry. Replaced belt but motor unable to start the agitator.
Does this involve replacement of the transmission? or am I misdiagnosing?
Is this worth repairing? Estimated cost? What parts are required? Can I do it myself?
[FONT=‘Times New Roman’][COLOR=#000000]Will it spin? [/COLOR][/FONT]
[QUOTE=applianceman;81290][FONT=‘Times New Roman’][COLOR=#000000]Will it spin? [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]
Can turn pulley and transmission by hand, seems to cause both drum and agitator to rotate. Motor was unable to initiate agitation (i.e., motor hum) during trial wash cycle. Removed drive belt, advanced timer to pump out water; so motor and pump working normally.
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The motor is mounted on rollers if its unable to move back and forth freely on the rollers it may have trouble starting. If you were able to rotate the tub by hand easily both ways I would look at it as being more of a motor problem. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Also the pump belt could be too tight this will prevent the motor from starting but I wouldn’t think it would turn the pump by itself as you describe. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]http://www.appliance-repair-it.com/Maytag-washer.html[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]
Motor appear to move back and forth easily. New belts went on easily and don’t appear to be excessively tight. [COLOR=Red]Agitator seems to be seized to drum.[/COLOR] Noted that the agitator is very hard to turn from the inside the drum. Should it freewheel (or at least move independently) from the drum?
[FONT=‘Times New Roman’][COLOR=#000000]When you turn the pulley on the transmission one way the tub, transmission and agitator should move together. Then when you turn the transmission the other way the agitator should move independently. No the agitator shouldn’t be easy to turn because you are trying to turn the gears in the transmission. I don’t think the agitator is stuck to the tub but I have seen strange things. I know I already mention this but the pump belt has got to be loose for the motor to start.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=‘Times New Roman’][COLOR=#000000]The transmission gears may be stuck but I work on a lot of these models (two laundry mats full) and this doesn’t happen. I am not saying that it can’t happen but I have never seen it. I have seen this on some of the older models with the flat transmission but the diagram shows that yours has the round transmission. So I am trying to come up with other possibilities before we condemn the transmission. [/COLOR][/FONT]
[QUOTE=applianceman;81416][FONT=‘Times New Roman’][COLOR=#000000]The transmission gears may be stuck but I work on a lot of these models (two laundry mats full) and this doesn’t happen. I am not saying that it can’t happen but I have never seen it. I have seen this on some of the older models with the flat transmission but the diagram shows that yours has the round transmission. So I am trying to come up with other possibilities before we condemn the transmission. [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]
Still trying to id the problem. From the top of the unit, the agitator does non seem to have any movement independent from the drum. As such, although I can rotate it, it requires quite a bit of torque. I was considering trying to remove the agitator, but I’m not sure how to do that.
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman]Trying to turn the agitator from the top will not tell you anything either will trying to turn the tub from the top. The transmission gears will stop the agitator from turning from the top and the brakes are holding the tub in place making it hard to turn both from the top. What you need to do is to lean the washer over and try to turn the transmission pulley. It should turn easily both ways. Turn it clockwise, the brakes will release and the transmission, agitator and the tub will turn together. Turn it counter clockwise and the brakes will stay engaged and the agitator should turn independently. If this doesn’t happen the problem is in the transmission or the brakes. Post back and tell what happens when you do this. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’]The agitator has a setscrew that will allow you to remove it.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’] Also I though about the post I made about your washer having the round transmission and decided that just because the parts breakdown shows the round transmission doesn’t mean your washer has the round transmission. So you may have the transmission that the gears locked up sometimes. But the test I told you to do above should tell the tale on if the transmission is locked or not. [/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[QUOTE=applianceman;82558][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman]Trying to turn the agitator from the top will not tell you anything either will trying to turn the tub from the top. The transmission gears will stop the agitator from turning from the top and the brakes are holding the tub in place making it hard to turn both from the top. What you need to do is to lean the washer over and try to turn the transmission pulley. It should turn easily both ways. Turn it clockwise, the brakes will release and the transmission, agitator and the tub will turn together. Turn it counter clockwise and the brakes will stay engaged and the agitator should turn independently. If this doesn’t happen the problem is in the transmission or the brakes. Post back and tell what happens when you do this. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’]The agitator has a setscrew that will allow you to remove it.[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=‘Times New Roman’] Also I though about the post I made about your washer having the round transmission and decided that just because the parts breakdown shows the round transmission doesn’t mean your washer has the round transmission. So you may have the transmission that the gears locked up sometimes. But the test I told you to do above should tell the tale on if the transmission is locked or not. [/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
Thanks for your response.
Turning it clockwise, it turns easily (it’s spring loaded so the movement lags behind the pulley). Transmission, drum and agitator all turn.
Turning it counter-clockwise, it turns but requires more force. No spring loading so the pulley seems to be locked to transmission, drum and agitator all turn. Transmission, drum and agitator all turn. From your description it soulds like transmission or the brake is locking things up.
By the way, the transmission (is shaped like a sideways mounted funnel) is of the type shown in the drawing referenced below .
Replacement parts for MAYTAG A5000 | AppliancePartsPros.com
What do you think?
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Sounds like the gears in the transmission are locked up. Sorry we had to go through so much to determine this but its not a common problem so I wanted to be sure. If you lean the washer all the way back and point the transmission cover up you can remove the transmission cover drain the grease and see if you can determine why the gears are locked. I warn you be ready there is a lot of grease in that transmission I always catch the grease with a large trash bag. Also you will have to buy a new quart of grease. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Also if you decide to tear into the transmission as I describe let me know what you find good or bad. For more do-it-yourself appliance repair help visit Appliance Repair Guide For All Major Home Appliances[/FONT][/COLOR]
I was attempting to remove the transmission cover. The rubber gasket is effective gluing the cover plate in place so I still have not removed it. However, while manipulating the pulley it freed up in the counter-clockwise (CCW) direction. Now turning it CCW only moves the agitator. When turning it CCW it turns freely for about one revolution then, requires a few pounds of force for one revolution, and so forth. This appears to drive the normal agitation cycle.
However, I guessing that I’m still not done since I have not addressed what caused it to lock up and burn up the belt in the first place.
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman]Glad you posted I forgot to tell you that you need to buy some gasket maker like car mechanics use to make gaskets of oil pans and things to make a new gasket when you reinstall the cover. Also get ready for a mess when you take the cover off. I also though about it the other day I took one apart and there was no grease in it. It had all leaked out this one was still working but if yours was out of grease it may have been why it failed. Have you seen any grease on the floor?[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[QUOTE=applianceman;84286][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman]Glad you posted I forgot to tell you that you need to buy some gasket maker like car mechanics use to make gaskets of oil pans and things to make a new gasket when you reinstall the cover. Also get ready for a mess when you take the cover off. I also though about it the other day I took one apart and there was no grease in it. It had all leaked out this one was still working but if yours was out of grease it may have been why it failed. Have you seen any grease on the floor?[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]
What type of grease is used in the transmission (brand, grade, etc.). I assume that an appliance parts dealer would have a supply on hand.
[SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Times New Roman]The part number for the grease is 05680. this is one bottle of grease more than enough to fill your transmission back up. Sorry i didn’t mention this before. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]
I finally had time to pull the transmission cover. There was about a quart of oil in there and no visible signs of damage or wear. Oil seemed good as well.
Originally when the problem occurred, the agitator was locked/jammed to the tub and that caused the belt to burn up. I’m thinking that the transmission is fine and that the jam was in the mechanism that locks the agitator to the tub for spin (CW) and unlocks during normal agitation (CCW).
Your thoughts? Is this reasonable and can I lube the lower end without disassembly. I don’t have a manual and it looks like dissassembly and reassembly could be difficult.
[COLOR=black][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] I wouldn’t attempt to lube anything at the bottom of the machine. You say its working now? If so I would use it and see what happens. I hate that you opened the transmission for nothing the more we talked the more it sounded like the transmission. At this point I really don’t know what to tell you. Basically the agitator (when working properly) is never locked to the spin basket (tub) it just spins along with the tub when the brakes are released (in spin mode). I will seem as if the agitator is locked down because the gear ratio of the transmission would make it very hard to turn the agitator from the top. If the brakes were not releasing the washer would still agitate and the problem would be when it tried to spin. If the brakes were not holding it would spin in agitation mode. [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[QUOTE=applianceman;93051][COLOR=black][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] I wouldn’t attempt to lube anything at the bottom of the machine. You say its working now? If so I would use it and see what happens. I hate that you opened the transmission for nothing the more we talked the more it sounded like the transmission. At this point I really don’t know what to tell you. Basically the agitator (when working properly) is never locked to the spin basket (tub) it just spins along with the tub when the brakes are released (in spin mode). I will seem as if the agitator is locked down because the gear ratio of the transmission would make it very hard to turn the agitator from the top. If the brakes were not releasing the washer would still agitate and the problem would be when it tried to spin. If the brakes were not holding it would spin in agitation mode. [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
When I first looked at it, the agitator was jammed to the drum. At that point, I was clueless as to how the transmission operated (i.e., CW - Spin, CCW - agitate). After manipulatiting it several times by hand, the agitator “broke free”. At that point, I got a basic understanding of how the transmission was supposed to operate.
In theory, it should operate now, though I still don’t have a good explanation for why it failed in the first place. The inside of the panels didn’t show any signs of water leakage. There was only some dust, lint and a minor amount of waxy soap residue as you would expect after 16-18 yrs of use.
So I guess that I’ll try it and monitor it closely. Thanks for all of you insight.
Bernie
What you need to do is to lean the washer over and try to turn the transmission pulley. It should turn easily both ways. Turn it clockwise, the brakes will release and the transmission, agitator and the tub will turn together. Turn it counter clockwise and the brakes will stay engaged and the agitator should turn independently. If this doesn’t happen the problem is in the transmission or the brakes. Post back and tell what happens when you do this.
I have a very similar problem. Spinning the pulley spins the drum but reversing its spin is extremely hard and does not agitate. How can I tell if it is transmission or brake assembly?