First time posting...1960's maytag, looks similar to A700's here

[Helen_Marie]

We came by this machine by incident, responding to a freecycle ad for a coffee machine and a dresser. When we went to the house, the gentleman was basically trying to get rid of everything. His mother had been put in a nursing home, and he and his siblings all lived far away, and needed to empty the house to sell it. Once we had loaded the dresser, taken the coffee maker, and another dresser, he asked us if we needed a washer or dryer. We did, as we only had a washer, certainly not as cool as as the one his mother allegedly used without fail since she had purchased it in the 60's. I thought he said it was a '64 but I can't be sure. We put the Maytag into use as soon as we got home. The dryer didn't last us long, it died about six months later, but the Maytag is still going strong. My husband did have to replace a belt about a year after we started to use it. I was just wondering, are there things that should be serviced, or anything we should be doing to improve its longevity? We noticed that we need to keep it to one load a day rather than having a laundry day to keep it from shutting itself down (overheating?) We love vintage things, we have a ton of them, old furniture, old can opener, old dishes, and our oven is a 1921 Garland. We really want to take good care of this washer, but we don't know where to begin. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[toploader55]

Welcome.

Welcome to the Land of "Keep it going" and More Help than you can imagine.

There are some really great Experts here that know Maytags better than the company that made them.

Just stay tuned and someone will reply very quickly.

I have 2 Maytags and they just keep going.

 

[d-jones]

That looks like an A502 Highlander washer to me.

Mechanically speaking, it has a lot in common with its 700 series counterparts, and is generally considered a very reliable machine. After this many years of service you'll want to inspect all the rubber hoses and fittings you can reach and make sure they're still pliable. As they harden with age (as they tend to do) they'll be more susceptible to cracking and breaking. If the little tube that connects to the pressure sensing diaphragm on the fill level selector switch becomes brittle and breaks or no longer seals properly on the tube, the machine will stop whatever it's doing and resume filling until it overflows and you end up with water all over the floor. Thankfully it's an easy one to check. And while your at it have a look at the large hose that connects the outer tub to the top fitting on the little water pump. Whenever there's water in the tub there's water in that hose, so you want it to be in good shape. Fortunately both of the parts mentioned above are still available.

With a little effort and laying up of spares for future use you should be able to use this machine for a good long time, and folks on this blog are always ready to help with any questions you may have. The very fact that you chose to use this venerable old machine rather than scrap it tells me you'll be right at home here.

 

[Helen_Marie]

Repair-Master for Maytag automatic washers 9010

I am seeing there are manuals for sale (or available on an inter-library loan through the world-cat system.) The Repair-Master for Maytag automatic washers no.9010. It looks like the same type of washer on the manual cover. There were three editions of this manual in the world-cat system, printed in '74, '75, and '84. Would anyone know if there is any difference between these three editions? They are all available through my library inter-loan system.

 

[d-jones]

I have that manual from 1975

It isn't bad and it has a lot of useful information in it, but the way it's presented can be a little confusing if you're not familiar with your particular machine. For example, your washer is an A502, but there isn't any one section of the manual that applies to the 502. The relevant data is spread throughout and intermixed with info that won't apply. The manual pictured on the left in the photo below is produced by Maytag and the layout is much more intuitive. It's broken down into sections based on the various models. I find both manuals to be useful, but the one by Master becomes much more useful if you have the Maytag manual to go with it.

 

[Helen_Marie]

Highlander Manual

Thank you! Well, I could not find a manual with the exact title you are showing me. However, I was able to find one that says "Maytag Highlander automatic washer service manual" and I am hoping that may help as well.

More than anything, I just want to know, if it's not broken, do these things need anything, or don't worry unless it stops or is leaking? It doesn't leak, it used to have issues with water levels, but my husband seemed to figure it out. It only does one thing that we'd like to know is or isn't an indicator of a repair in need, and that is sometimes not being happy with multiple loads on the same day. It will just stop. We leave it alone until the next day when this happens, and it seems to run just fine again. Still wondering, would anyone know if this is a sign of overheating, or a part that needs to be replaced? Thank you, all! I can't believe there was someone in NY trying to sell this same washer and dryer a month or two ago, we totally would have driven 3 hours to get a matching dryer and extra washer.

 

[Helen_Marie]

Oh, forgot to mention

Oh, sorry, and thank you for the advice, too. My husband did check all the hosed and wires to make sure they are good the last time he tried to figure out why it just stops sometimes. He's guessing it's a motor thing, like overheating. I am curious if anyone here has done that sort of thing with their washers, or if he might be looking at the wrong ailment.

 

[DADoES]

 
The replacement belt you mentioned ... if that was the motor->transmission belt, did the Mr. get a genuine Maytag belt, or did he match the size to a "generic" belt? The belt in the case of Maytags of this design serves as the spin clutch and is required/intended to slip on the motor pulley until the basket gets spinning up to full speed. A non-Maytag belt doesn't have the proper surface coating, will "grab" too much and overload the motor.

 

[qsd-dan]

He's guessing it's a motor thing, like overheating.

The overheating motor is most likely due to worn, gunked up, stuck, or completely missing motor carriage rollers. True 2 belt Maytags don't have a clutch. The transmission belt and spring loaded sliding motor carriage IS the clutch. It's imperative that all of these components are operating correctly and smoothly.

Overtime, the rollers and motor carriage surfaces get gunked up, rollers developed flat spots (rollers only rotate about half a turn between agitate and spin cycles), rollers break, loss of polylube on the rollers and carriage, and weak or broken springs on the motor carriage occur. The motor pulley is usually gunked up with belt material since the belt slips on the motor pulley while ramping up to speed on spin cycles. Square glides now replace the round style rollers. Both designs are compatible with each other.

Every Maytag that works its way into my collections immediately gets new belts (211124 pump/211125 motor), motor carriage glides, springs, and polylube (205000), motor and trans pulley cleaned with 98% rubbing alcohol, and pump lubed.

Remove the pump belt and twist the pump pulley. It should turn very smooth and linear without hanging up. It's always best to lube the pump by removing the flat headed screw in the center of the pump and shooting some Zoom Spout turbine oil in there. This keeps the wicking wet with oil, which seeps oil into pump bearings.

It's possible to have motor issues, but the above is the most common culprits that cause the motor to overheat.

With the exception of Zoom Spout oil, get your parts from ebay. It's much cheaper than an appliance store.

Trans and Pump Belts

Spring/Glide Kit

 

[d-jones]

As DADoES mentioned, use of the correct belt is important, but assuming you used the correct replacement belt, you'll also want to make sure the motor is free to move back and forth on its little carriage. That carriage with its built in spring tensioners plays a critical role in allowing the belts to slip at the appropriate times, thereby(per the service manual) preventing the motor from having to absorb the starting impact and weight of a full tub. Beyond that I'm kind of stumped by the problem you're describing. The schematic diagram for your washer does show an overload protector in the motors circuit, and I have to assume it's self resetting once the motor cools down.

 

[d-jones]

Look at that!

I took so long responding that Dan stepped in first and summed everything up nicely. I guess I needn't have bothered. ; - )

 

[Helen_Marie]

Maytag belts

We did get the belt from a Maytag dealer, and the dealer said they even keep the belts in stock (this way four years ago) because these machines don't die. I have forwarded the advice to my husband. He said it's as clean as a whistle after the last search for the reason why, so no gunk anywhere. He also lubricated the pump as well. But those rollers he can definitely look at replacing. As old as it is, that may be the cause. We could always replace the belts just in case the dealer sold us the wrong ones.

 

[qsd-dan]

If the dealer sold you the belts, then they're probably the correct ones. Look into the motor springs and glides though.

 

[Helen_Marie]

Reset

Yes, it does shut itself off, and once it's relaxed it will run again. Just as expected, it also shuts down if a bunch of towels or pants get unevenly loaded as they spin, in which case once we redistribute the items it finishes just fine.

Thank you everyone, this is very good advice and so many helpful people!

 

[qsd-dan]

Just as expected, it also shuts down if a bunch of towels or pants get unevenly loaded as they spin, in which case once we redistribute the items it finishes just fine.

That earlier suspension design wasn't the best when it came to spinning uneven loads. The newer suspension design that came out in 1966 was much better.  At least you know the lid switch and out of balance levers are working correctly

 

[Helen_Marie]

Thanks for the link, too, Dan!

Oh, and thank you for the link. Nothing spells easy like click here. I already ordered the springs/gliders.

 

[d-jones]

I don't know if you're interested, but the Maytag Helical Drive service manual pictured above is available for download at Automatic Ephemera.

Here's a link

http://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?brand=Maytag=