I'll show that Agitator who's boss!!!

[ttuee2006]

Well I finally got that old agitator out of the Highlander! What a PITA that turned out to be... The motor failed with a full load of clothes and water, and the tub was allowed to just dry out by evaporation......NOT FUN! So the agitator shaft was crusty and had hard water deposits all over it, basically sealing it to the agitator.

After many failed attempts to get the old agitator off, I said screw it and decided to bust it off instead. It had a crack in the base and a big gash in the side before I owned it anyway, so no harm, no foul!

A 5 pound sledge hammer and a VERY sharp chisel later, it was off in pieces! YAAAAY! Now I can actually begin work on the machine when the motor gets here next week! I'm itching to work on this old washer so bad I can just taste it...oh I've got the bug so bad!

The Aftermath:

 

[ttuee2006]

The Replacement...

Pretty nice no? Picked up on eBay for less than $20 shipped FedEX. It's used, but you can't really tell it, VERY clean.

So it's not the bakelite agitator.....so sue me! At least this one's usable!

 

[ttuee2006]

The Tub...

With all the bits from the "persuasion"

 

[ttuee2006]

The Tub...

After a quick cleaning with the shop-vac. Gotta love vintage appliances too!

The orange stuff isn't rust...it's some sort of gunk in the bottom. Probably some sort of slime mold or something. It wipes right out.

 

[frigilux]

I can't imagine just letting a whole tub of water dry up through evaporation! What a stink that must have made.

The tub appears to be in very good shape despite all that. Gotta love a Maytag...

 

[ttuee2006]

Dry Tub...

If you look closely at the agitator it had in it, it's heavily covered with lime scale. The whole tub is that way! It comes right off, but I don't want to leave it in there without being able to pump the cleaning solution out, so I'm waiting on the motor to get here.

From what the original owner said, the machine was still their daily-driver up until the motor gave up the ghost. The drain pump has been replaced at some point, and the transmission looks literally brand new. I'm anxious to see how it runs with a functioning motor.

 

[qsd-dan]

Been there done that!

I ended up using a 10 pound sledge on the powerfin of a free A-610 that I acquired. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, would budge that damn thing. The lint filter was the same. 3 rounds of boiling water and constant banging/pulling/screaming wouldn't budge the agitator or lint filter loose.

I wouldn't worry about the yellowing tub, it'll probably disappear after a few hot washes with household bleach/oxygen bleach.

A resurrected Maytag always brings a smile to my face. Good luck!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Fascinating that the owner would not take a small pail/bowl/pot of some kind to bail out the tub. Even lowering the drain hose would have worked.

 

[christfr]

ha ha

am glad to see that im not the only one who has chopped an agi to bits to get it out of a machine.. who would have thought a agi would get stuck like that..

 

[bobbyderegis]

A tip:
Once you get the agitator off, put a coating of Vaseline on the post. You will never have trouble getting the agitator off again. Lube is good!
Bobby in Boston

 

[ttuee2006]

Be Careful what you Wish for!

Motor showed up today! YAY! Too bad it's a league night....means it won't see action till tomorrow!

Murphy loves me....

 

[swestoyz]

Wow the post looks a bit rusty. I can't imagine how water would have gotten up in the shaft. Take Bobby's advice. I use white lithium grease - both would work just fine.

Looking forward to seeing your highlander in action!

 

[ttuee2006]

Murphy REALLY Loves me...

I thought replacing the motor would be entirely too easy. Slapped that puppy in there and she runs like a dream! Timer works, fill valves work, transmission works. Belts are a bit loose.....but that's easy to fix.

The crappy part is that the tub seal leaks!!! There is NO evidence of it leaking prior to me getting the machine, so I have to believe it has something to do with the 80 mile trip back up here in the back of a truck and all that pounding trying to get the stupid agitator off!!

So can anyone tell me.....what can I expect replacing a tub seal in one of these? It's not a bad leak, just a very slow trickle. The spin bearings sound good with no roughness, so I'm inclined to believe it's a recent leak.

Is this going to be another 2- week long hammer-fest? Or is changing the seal out pretty straight forward?

 

[qsd-dan]

Tub Seal

Changing out the tub seal is a fairly easy task. The only problem is that the outer tub lip is known to rust and piece of the rust will come off in chunks. I just ran across this with my 806 last night. 806's and 906 with timed bleach dispenser used their own unique tub. NLA of course. GRRRR!!! If both the tub cover and outer tub lip are fine, straight forward task. Pray it doesn't look like this!

 

[jetcone]

Welcome Eric

Well, I had jobs like that but once its all shined up and cranking its first load and you hear that machine humming awahy that is a real sweet moment and sound!

If your tub leak is recent then hopefully you'll have alot of metal to work with, Maytag uses their own key/wrench to get that nut off and its been awhile but I remember it being a left hand thread, anybody want to back me up on this??

jet

 

[ttuee2006]

That was going to be my next question....if anyone knows what kind of wrench I need! I've never take the tub out before, so this is a first for me.

 

[jetcone]

Rick

if you are stuck I have a wrench I can mail you send me an email but you gotta mail it back!

Jet

 

[gansky1]

If the original agitator had a crack or hole above the skirt then it would never have the air bubble that normally protects the shaft from coming in contact with water. Don S. and I had to cut a bakelite filter-agitator out of a machine once - we found a hole in the agitator where a foreign object had broken it from underneath. The spline and shaft were cemented onto the agitator drive shaft. After smashing the bakelite to bits, we had to use a dremel to cut away the spline. Lots of work, but worth it!

You should be able to get the tub-wrench at most parts suppliers, they are very common. Remember to remove the set-screw before trying to remove the tub nut.

 

[ttuee2006]

The agitator that was in it was in fact cracked up into the spline area. That's one of the reasons I wanted to change it out. The base was cracked and it had a big gash on the side. I've since cleaned the splines up so I can insert and remove the agitator without busting a nut in the process.

On the Tub wrench.....will the generic Maytag "Spanner Wrench" that's so readily available on eBay and such work for what I need to do? It seems like the common one with the 4-star looking thing is what I need....i'm not sure of the size though, so I figure I'll check before I buy.