Almost 40-year-old Maytag A506 “slowing down…” keep repairing or time to retire?

[woodjack99]

I have felt my 1985 A506 beginning to slow down for a little while now. I changed the belts last year, and just very recently, thanks to Eugene at Lorain with his virtual service calls, tipped it upside down to get the oil into the transmission to help it agitate better. This seemed to work, but I still don’t know how well. And Eugene said the only way to guarantee a more permanent fix would be a new transmission, which I am not in a place for right now, financially or logistically. It is a day I’ve been dreading for a long time, and my gut feeling says it may be coming sooner rather than later, so I might as well start preparing for it. I have found a slightly-newer A512 for sale, which is an almost identical machine, and am thinking maybe I’ll buy that one to replace the 506, and keep the 506 as a parts machine.

Meanwhile, my 1975 A107 is still going strong as ever despite being 10 years older. Man, can that old girl splash and splash! The 506 usually seems sluggish in comparison. Whenever I use the 107, I always get a generally “good” feeling. But when I use the 506, I don’t get a good feeling anymore and my gut always says she’s dying.

 

[maytag85]

The transmission isn’t going out, just the oil has thickened up over the years. The only way to actually fix it would be to do a oil change, the Whirlpool belt drives can have this problem as well, but usually is caused by a leak and water finds it’s way inside the transmission and turns the oil into a molasses/taffy.

 

[washerlover]

My recently acquired Maytag is starting to do the same thing. Is it difficult to change the oil in these things? I've never attempted it because I thought I had read on a previous post that it's either next to impossible and/or not worth trying it?

 

[jons1077]

Oil change

Hear oil over time definitely thickens up. I just completed another transmission rebuild on a 1965 Kenmore washer. You could barely move the agitator which normally should be easy to do. The oil inside was literally the consistency of caramel. A thorough breaking down, soaking the metal parts in mineral spirits, lots of scrubbing, nee seals, and new gear oil and it’s good as new.

 

[qsd-dan]

Most of the post '74 models don't have the thick oil problems as Maytag used a thinner, more modern oil by 1975. Not saying it can happen, especially with a very high mileage use washer. It's just pretty rare.

The main cause of this issue I have found in post '74 models is a leaking stem seal allowing water to slowly enter the agitator shaft/upper sleeve bearing, causing that area to seize up. I ALWAYS recommend doing a stem/boot seal immediately after getting a washer for this very reason.

When I pulled my daily driver 1975 806 out of the scrap pile in 2009, I immediately replaced the stem/boot seal and tore the transmission apart for this reason. The original stem/boot seal had not leaked one drop of water and the agitator shaft and bearings looked brand new for this reason. This is what saved this transmission. The trans oil was perfect but I did a complete rebuild anyway knowing parts would soon be gone and would get expensive in the process of disappearance. I certainly called that one.

I have seriously considered having shafts, sleeve bearings, a groove pin made/sourced and providing a service of rebuilding the upper trans units. Just send your upper housing in and I'll rebuild it. There's far too much of a learning curve for the average person to do this. Trust me, I have a bunch of experince in this.

I also thought about providing a rebuild kit that would include the Delrin pinion gear, clutch washers, very high quality lower o-ring, and trans gasket.

The reality is, is that people are just too fucking lazy and too fucking cheap. This would just end up being a complete waste of time, money, and effort on my end.

It's still a dream though.

 

[combo52]

Sluggish agitation on a Maytag Pittman transmission washer

As others mentioned, it's most likely, the top transmission bearing failing from moisture getting in it, Jack you would probably be better getting the other washer and if it agitates well, go ahead and put a seal and stem kit in it. It's easier than doing a transmission on these washers.

It's never a bad idea to change oil after 50 or 60 years but it's not gonna make the difference in performance even the 1965 whirlpool transmission pictured in reply number three wouldn't have slowed down the least bit in agitation, even with the caramel consistency oil in the gear case, however, changing the oil in that gear case would resolve in longer life and less wear.

John