Hi Folks!
First, I am new to the forum and not sure if my post belongs in the 20 year old forum as my machine is kind of on the ragged edge. I have an Amana ALW480DAW "commercial grade" super capacity washer that has served us nearly flawlessly for about 20 years. My wife loves the machine, it has handled countless loads of laundry without complaint, and we have been very satisfied with it. About 3 weeks ago, she urgently summoned me to the laundry room because it was filled with acrid smoke. I quickly narrowed the problem to a burnt up belt on the Amana. After a few internet searches, I found the belt replacement procedure and went out and got a new belt the next day. (Yes, this was the original 20 year old belt.) I did read that a locked up transmission could fry a belt, so after verifying that this wasn't the problem, I installed the new belt and we were back in business. However, during the spin cycle I noted that the machine was very loud, so I figured a new set of bearings would be in the near future. That future came sooner than expected as it proceeded to burn up the second belt in fairly short order. Since my wife and daughter were going to the beach for 5 days, it looked like the perfect time to tackle the bearings and replace the hub and tub seal and discharge pump while I was at it. And that's when I encountered my first snafu - although this machine was made by Alliance and shares a lot of the same DNA with the Speed Queen machines, it has the plastic sided tub, and the seal/hub kit for that model is now unobtainium. After quite a bit of digging, it appeared that the 646P3A kit had what I needed, so I took a chance on it and ordered one, along with the bearings. So when my parts arrived, I deconstructed the washer, hauled the tub assembly out to my work shop, and went to work. When I pulled the original hub, I found that it was pretty much corroded and crumbling. It took quite a bit of work just to get the lint filter off of it. I was then able to pull the hub and replace the bearings without incident. However, as I somewhat expected, the seal that came with the kit was slightly smaller than the seal in the plastic tub, so I made the decision to just keep rolling, since the original seal showed no sign of leaking and I had to get it back together to promote marital harmony. I did notice that the replacement hub uses a little stainless sleeve around the sealing surface on that snout that slides over the splined shaft. I followed the directions that came with the kit, put it back together, and tested it. As soon as it went into agitation cycle I saw water leaking from under the tub seal. I shut it off, unplugged it, and vacuumed the water out. When I pulled the inner tub and hub off, I saw what the problem was. In addition to using the stainless sleeve, the new hub is about 1/8" taller at the snout than the original. So the back surface of the hub does not make proper contact with the face of the seal, hence the leak.
My original hub is too far gone to re-use. I suppose I could get a machine shop mill down the snout of the new hub and sleeve, but I still can't figure out why they went with that sleeve arrangement. I have seen a similar sleeve back when I used to rebuild car engines and the harmonic balancer would get a groove worn into it from the seal, but those kits used Loctite to attach the sleeve, and this kit didn't come with any. In fact, the instructions said to apply some grease to the inside of the sleeve. Makes not sense to me, and seems like a possible leak point. Has anyone dealt with these hub kits that use the sleeves?
I did find a part number on the hub that was installed on my machine - 40003902. There is actually a kit for this that goes by PN 40003901, but I am reluctant to dump another $150 into something that I am not sure will hold. If my machine was just a few years newer it would have the same porcelain and metal tub used by the Speed Queens, and I would be fine. I thought about ordering one of the tall tubs and switching everything out, but I feel like I may be peeing in the breeze at that point.
I really, REALLY want to keep this machine running for another 20 years. I like the fact that there are no fancy electronics to crap out on it. The wife is on the warpath for a new machine now, but the Speed Queen Classic is about $1150, and money is tight because I am currently unemployed and job hunting. It would be attractive to stay in the SQ "family", since I now know those machines inside and out, and I would have some spare parts, but damn - $1100!
Can anyone recommend a new machine that is a little more affordable but is still durable? I noticed that most of the "Home Depot" level machines carry a 1-year warranty, which I feel is kind of ridiculous.
Looking forward to any suggestions, especially folks who are experienced working on the Speed Queens and older Amana's. Thanks in advance!
First, I am new to the forum and not sure if my post belongs in the 20 year old forum as my machine is kind of on the ragged edge. I have an Amana ALW480DAW "commercial grade" super capacity washer that has served us nearly flawlessly for about 20 years. My wife loves the machine, it has handled countless loads of laundry without complaint, and we have been very satisfied with it. About 3 weeks ago, she urgently summoned me to the laundry room because it was filled with acrid smoke. I quickly narrowed the problem to a burnt up belt on the Amana. After a few internet searches, I found the belt replacement procedure and went out and got a new belt the next day. (Yes, this was the original 20 year old belt.) I did read that a locked up transmission could fry a belt, so after verifying that this wasn't the problem, I installed the new belt and we were back in business. However, during the spin cycle I noted that the machine was very loud, so I figured a new set of bearings would be in the near future. That future came sooner than expected as it proceeded to burn up the second belt in fairly short order. Since my wife and daughter were going to the beach for 5 days, it looked like the perfect time to tackle the bearings and replace the hub and tub seal and discharge pump while I was at it. And that's when I encountered my first snafu - although this machine was made by Alliance and shares a lot of the same DNA with the Speed Queen machines, it has the plastic sided tub, and the seal/hub kit for that model is now unobtainium. After quite a bit of digging, it appeared that the 646P3A kit had what I needed, so I took a chance on it and ordered one, along with the bearings. So when my parts arrived, I deconstructed the washer, hauled the tub assembly out to my work shop, and went to work. When I pulled the original hub, I found that it was pretty much corroded and crumbling. It took quite a bit of work just to get the lint filter off of it. I was then able to pull the hub and replace the bearings without incident. However, as I somewhat expected, the seal that came with the kit was slightly smaller than the seal in the plastic tub, so I made the decision to just keep rolling, since the original seal showed no sign of leaking and I had to get it back together to promote marital harmony. I did notice that the replacement hub uses a little stainless sleeve around the sealing surface on that snout that slides over the splined shaft. I followed the directions that came with the kit, put it back together, and tested it. As soon as it went into agitation cycle I saw water leaking from under the tub seal. I shut it off, unplugged it, and vacuumed the water out. When I pulled the inner tub and hub off, I saw what the problem was. In addition to using the stainless sleeve, the new hub is about 1/8" taller at the snout than the original. So the back surface of the hub does not make proper contact with the face of the seal, hence the leak.
My original hub is too far gone to re-use. I suppose I could get a machine shop mill down the snout of the new hub and sleeve, but I still can't figure out why they went with that sleeve arrangement. I have seen a similar sleeve back when I used to rebuild car engines and the harmonic balancer would get a groove worn into it from the seal, but those kits used Loctite to attach the sleeve, and this kit didn't come with any. In fact, the instructions said to apply some grease to the inside of the sleeve. Makes not sense to me, and seems like a possible leak point. Has anyone dealt with these hub kits that use the sleeves?
I did find a part number on the hub that was installed on my machine - 40003902. There is actually a kit for this that goes by PN 40003901, but I am reluctant to dump another $150 into something that I am not sure will hold. If my machine was just a few years newer it would have the same porcelain and metal tub used by the Speed Queens, and I would be fine. I thought about ordering one of the tall tubs and switching everything out, but I feel like I may be peeing in the breeze at that point.
I really, REALLY want to keep this machine running for another 20 years. I like the fact that there are no fancy electronics to crap out on it. The wife is on the warpath for a new machine now, but the Speed Queen Classic is about $1150, and money is tight because I am currently unemployed and job hunting. It would be attractive to stay in the SQ "family", since I now know those machines inside and out, and I would have some spare parts, but damn - $1100!
Can anyone recommend a new machine that is a little more affordable but is still durable? I noticed that most of the "Home Depot" level machines carry a 1-year warranty, which I feel is kind of ridiculous.
Looking forward to any suggestions, especially folks who are experienced working on the Speed Queens and older Amana's. Thanks in advance!
