Maytag A490

[qsd-dan]

Hi Everyone,

I've been a long time lurker but never posted anything since I didn't feel worthy enough to give any advice due to my lack of knowledge in fixing vintage appliances.

My faithful Maytag decided to give me its first problem in 19 years by breaking the tranny belt. So I cleaned up 19 years of grunge underneath the hood, purchased and installed new belts and replaced the fill injector and hoses since those were looking rather worn.

I first checked to make sure the machine spins, and it does just fine, but it does not agitate. The motor is running and spinning as well as the belt (at the motor end). I hope it isn't tranny since (I believe) it's the almighty helical and it just seems too young to die. Any advice is appreciated.

Dan

 

[coldspot66]

If it has the orbital tranny, the agitate shaft could be frozen and not turning the agitator back & forth. A model # would determine which transmission it has. I think they switched to the orbital tranny around 1990 or so.

 

[qsd-dan]

I believe it has the helical drive transmission since the tub, agitator, and agitation stroke are exactly like my grandmothers 806.

I crawled under the washer again and spun the trans pulley clockwise, which I believe is "spin mode" and that functions correctly. But, when I turn the pulley counter clockwise, it spins, but there no action is occurring with the agitator. It's almost like it's stuck in neutral, lol.

Does the "brake package" have anything to do with the transmission engaging/disengaging the spin/wash cycles?