A Maytag wringer anomaly?

[rocksolid87]

My Mom recently purchased a Maytag square body wringer (in addition to the Kenmore I'm still working on) that seems to be an anomaly. The model number on the sticker doesn't match a square body (as far as I can find). The serial number also doesn't seem to match the kind of square body this is either (again, as far as I can find). Does anyone have an explanation for why this is?

Sticker says N2L and serial says 50541 HM

 

[swestoyz]

The serial number letter identifiers, HM, on the J2L (square body) show that it was produced in June of 1969. This is a late J2 as they were discontinued by the end of 1969.

The system used for the J and J2 from 1940 thru 1953 would have been in the range of 200,000 to 299,999, affixed with a trailing letter to designate the production range to a specific month/year.

Starting in 1954 Maytag switched the system to start with a letter, indicating the production year, a six digit production number, and a trailing letter to indicate the production month. This was used thru 1959.

And in 1960, they switched the serial numbering system on the wringer to mimic the number system used on the Automatics, by using 5 numbers for the production sequence, followed by two letters to indicate the year and month. The year and month letter combos are universally used from 1954 through 1965 for the wringers, with the 06 series Automatics kicking off a universal set for 1966 forward, for all Newton made appliances.

At some point someone put an N2L (round body) model sticker on the washer, well after it left Plant 1 in Newton.

Ben

 

[rocksolid87]

@swestoyz thanks a lot for that info. Exactly what I wanted to know! I'm not sure if there has been any maintenance done to this machine. The gentleman my Mom purchased it from used to work on them, but is getting up in years and unable to do that anymore. It does work though. However, should the gearbox oil be changed or any other necessary maintenance be performed?

 

[swestoyz]

I would strongly urge you to replace the center seal, part number A4298, before putting any water in the tub.

The seal is readily available on eBay and other sources, under part number 6-0A57420.

It's fairly easy to replace (remove the agitator, remove the snap ring, remove the retainer washer, remove the old seal, reverse for installation).

Sadly folks will buy old Maytag wringers and start using them, not knowing that the center seal is probably dried up and allowing water to get into the transmission. Once that happens a full rebuild of the transmission and horizontal drive would be needed. The tell-tale that water has gotten in the transmission is oil leaking down the rear left leg, under the wringer head.

 

[rocksolid87]

Good to know. Thanks again!

 

[rocksolid87]

@swestoyz unfortunately it seems water in the transmission may be the case. My Mom informed me that someone had previously filled it with water prior to her purchasing it. I had a moment to briefly take a look yesterday and it seemed likely that oil was leaking down the leg like you mentioned, but I didn't have time to pull the agitator off to check the seal. Since you say a full rebuild of the transmission and horizontal drive would be in order, any idea what that entails or where to go for insight/instructions on performing that?

 

[swestoyz]

You might be able to get away with replacing the seal as a short term fix, which may stop oil from leaking out the horizontal drive vent. While there may be water in the gear case it might run awhile that way. God knows how many are running like that at any given moment now that they are at least 50+ years old.

Ben

 

[rocksolid87]

@swestoyz best case scenario I suppose would be draining the oil to see if any water is in there and then putting in new 80w-90 gear oil and hoping it does fine?

 

[swestoyz]

To replace the gear oil requires a full removal of the gear case from the washer, which then requires removal of the tub, which then requires removal of the gulmite bolts holding the tub to the center plate. Not an impossible job but the gulmite bolts might be a bear. Lots of parts over at Cottage Craft Works and eBay. Service Manuals are available here in the manual section of the site. Others may have a different opinion, but I'd personally use GL1 90w gear oil which is available at NAPA or a small town farm supply store.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313561453898

https://cottagecraftworks.com/home-goods/self-sufficient-living/maytag-wringer-washer-parts

Ben

 

[rocksolid87]

Ah. Other info floating around out there simply says to remove the gulmite bolt as seen in the picture and let the oil drain out. So that's not the case at all or at least not the effective way to get it all out?

 

[swestoyz]

The risk there would be having to reset the thrust bearing play on the worm gear. And, IIRC, the thrust bearing cap is held into place using a cap screw and a finger retainer.

If this isn't intended to be used daily, I'd probably replace the seal and use it sparingly. If you're planning on using this as your main washer it wouldn't hurt to do a full rebuild of the gear case.

Ben