Maytag A512 02 Spins but Won't Agitate

[hosertp]

Epilogue

After 5 loads of varying sizes and temperatures, clean clothes and no leaks, I deem the effort a success! I am so happy with the results of the upgrades that I would have never thought about attempting to incorporate and the important maintenance items you all suggested for me while I had the machine in pieces. I have one seized Pittman transmission and a shark fin agitator to offer to anyone who wants to pay shipping? If no one wants the Pittman, I’ll probably take it apart to figure out what went wrong and maybe fix it?

Part of what got me going on the washer project was that I wanted to branch off of the gas dryer with a quick disconnect for my tri-fuel 13,000 watt whole home generator. Having a generator to work off your pre-piped gas source keeps you from running out for energy sources in a crisis (as long as your propane/natural gas is operable). An image of that new connection is attached.

Attached is a final photo of the pair ready for action! If you have been following along, the attached photos are for you. Thank you very much!

 

[good-shepherd]

Photo 3

Looks like the tub spring eye bolts could use some adjustment to get the tub more centered.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Congrats on your success! I would take the pitman apart and rebuild it to install back in at a later date with its original agitator. The simplicity and robustness of them is legendary. As for the gas hook up, is that to code?

 

[hosertp]

Good Shepard is right

Good_Shepherd, you are right. I took the picture after I had set the tub. During setting the tub I had released pressure to make all three attachments easier. After full attachment I did tighten them up until it set equally on the damper pads. I had measured them before I took them off at 1 1/8” from the top of the adjustment nut to the start of the eye so I had a benchmark as well. Very perceptive and thanks for your comment.
RobbinsandMyers, I’m not a plumber, but I am a superintendent. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be legal. If you were only counting on the quick connector for your gas shut-off, probably not acceptable, but with the ball valve, all the rest of it is just piping. I’ll ask the plumbers on site tomorrow and report back. Thanks

 

[combo52]

A job well done

Hi Paul, first of all, thank you for the generous donation in the name of many of us automatic washer members. That’s a really nice thing to do and as far as I know it’s the first time anybody’s made a charitable donation in the name of automatic washer. thank you.

Your machines look absolutely great I love the finish. I’ve always wanted to paint, some of my appliances cool colors the closest I’ve come is my outdoor kitchen I painted a couple of them forest green.

The centering of your outer tub doesn’t look to be that far off unless you’re having trouble with it going out of balance or banging the cabinet. I don’t think I’d worry about it too much or unless it bugs you

Your gas hook up is good. The only possible concern is that most of the flexible lines that you buy are not rated for indoor use however, we have such hook ups that I’ve installed both in my basement and that our warehouse that we use for testing, gas appliances, ranges, dryers, etc. and I don’t see that there’s any great hazard to them. I do generally shut the gas off when I’m leaving the building for extended period of time.

What’s your next Appliance project?

John

 

[thatwasherguy]

YAY!!

Glad to hear you got it all finished up. Hopefully, now that you've replaced the majority of the consumable parts, it will be able to run for another 30+ years, as that machine is about as close to new as a washer from the 80's can get!
Thatwasherguy.

 

[hosertp]

robbinsandmyers set the seed

Hello to all and I wish a very happy and prosperous 2024!

My A512 is working flawlessly thanks to all of your great counsel.
I am seriously considering rebuilding the Pittman transmission as it is always in my way and is just asking for attention. I would keep it as a safe second should the used orbital fail.
I read the entire thread where Eugene and Dan were discussing making a shaft replacement with new bushings which seems to have been completed, but there was no more activity on the thread after they were made? So before I make one transmission into 30 parts, I thought I would do a quick assessment of parts availability.
Any advice pointing me in the right direction will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Paul

 

[qsd-dan]

The only way to find out if the pitman transmission is frozen from the upper sleeve bearing is to pop the top half of the trans off and see if the shaft is still frozen in place.

There are not many parts inside these transmissions, it's not like a manual or automatic transmission out of a vehicle. Here's a video I made of a 906 washer 8 years ago that has some transmission shots in operation.

 

[askolover]

That's a great job!

 

[thatwasherguy]

Congrats on getting the machine running!!

As for the pitman transmission, I would definitely suggest diving into it. I rebuilt the one on my 1978 Maytag in about a day. Yours may take longer given that it was experiencing issues, however. If at all possible, avoid removing the metal gear from the agitator shaft. The groove pins that hold them in place often get destroyed when you remove them, and replacements are extremely difficult to find. The OEM oil (part number 6-0560800) was recently discontinued, but was re-created by Eugene. The two oil seals (part numbers WP210286 and 210690) should be replaced as well. The latter seal is discontinued, but may be able to be purchased NOS on Ebay. Both can be substituted with generic o-rings from a hardware store. While not absolutely required, you can also replace the clutching washers underneath the nylon pinion (part numbers WP6-2114830 and 211484). Once again, the latter of these parts is discontinued, but may be able to be had NOS on Ebay. I didn't replace these when I rebuilt my transmission, and it still works fine. However, it now shows symptoms of these washers being worn, so I wish I'd replaced them while I had it apart. I cleaned mine with carb and choke cleaner and mineral spirits, although kerosene will also work well for this purpose.
Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[maranoman]

"Symptoms of these washers being worn"

Thatwasherguy,

Can you elaborate on the symptoms you might observe when the clutching washers become worn?

Last year I rebuilt several pitman transmissions and a couple of them are behaving oddly. When the washer begins a spin cycle, the agitator will briefly agitate back and forth a time or two before going into the spin direction. I've tried adjusting the drive pulley lug and changing the brake, but neither solved the issue. It doesn't seem to affect operation or performance, but it annoys the perfectionist in me. Four other transmissions I rebuilt do not exhibit this behavior - just these two.

I'm wondering if it might one of the symptoms of a worn clutching washer that you mentioned. I did not change the clutching washers in any of the transmissions I rebuilt last year because they looked fine to me.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[thatwasherguy]

Maranoman...

That’s EXACTLY what my 1978 Maytag does! I’ve read the service manual on the transmission several times, and those washers are the only thing I can think of causing the issue. It seemed to subside whenever the drive pulley was tightened beyond specification. However, this caused other issues, so I loosened it back up. It’s annoying, but it doesn’t seem as if it will hurt anything.
Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[hosertp]

Breaking down and cleaning up . . .

Hello to all following along. I took a few hours out today to break the Pitman into pieces and begin the cleaning up of the pieces. I believe that the agitator shaft is seized as suspected by one of ya'll in a previous post.

I am going to be doing my homework this week and start procuring parts for the re-assembly. I will be using thatwasherguy's check list from his post above, but will be listening to all comments and links to help this me be successful.

I am hoping that Eugene still able/willing to whip me up a batch of his mystery oil. The stock oil seems to me to exhibit qualities that are different to the gear oils that I have dealt with in my limited experience.

Here are some pictures, let me know your thoughts please, and thank you in advance.

Paul

 

[combo52]

Rebuilding a seized Pitman transmission

This should be a fun project, there’s nothing special about the oil used in these transmissions just use a 90 weight gear oil that’s safe for bronze bearings. You can see the crap that Maytag used in the first place if that oil had been put in a transmission it would’ve seized up in a few thousand miles.

If you get the new shaft from Eugene, make sure he’s had the top of the powder coated if not, you’ll need to do that because the ones he had made we’re just plain steel and they wouldn’t last a year without a plating on the shaft.

It’s a shame Maytag didn’t put a small thin stainless steel sleeve on that shaft but of course they weren’t trying to build a washer that would last forever. Whirlpool didn’t do it either on their belt drive machines and that’s the downfall of those as they age as well.

Hopefully you can get it apart and get a new shaft for it. The pin that holds the gear on it such a challenging thing that it might be better just to have the gear tack welded onto the new shaft.

Thanks for all the great pictures. Looks like a good project.

John L

 

[qsd-dan]

The upper shaft is junk, way too much rust and corrosion. The bearings are toast if it seized up. Maytag had just about every single part available until their demise in 2006 but they never had upper bearings available. Had to purchase the entire upper housing. They did have new upper shafts available along with all of the hardware but that's all long obsoleted and parts have since dried up.

John Lefever claims to have several transmissions available. You can either use the entire transmission if it's a large tub model or steal the upper housing if it's a short tub transmission. The upper housing on a 12 series transmission ONLY fits a 12 series transmission and is not backwards compatible. Keep that in mind.

Everything else look fine. I'd be on the lookout for a new Delrin pinion gear, clutch washers, and lip seal. Some fresh GL-1 90W oil should do the trick. Here's an interesting thread about that oil here in Reply #8

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?92884

 

[good-shepherd]

whip me up a batch of his mystery oil

No big mystery to the trans oil.

Sta-Lube 85w-90 GL-4 gear oil (or another GL-4 oil) will work just fine.

The stock oil is just old, thick, oxidized, possibly water contaminated and some say wasn't the best quality to begin with.

If fact with the oil so thick from age no wonder the upper bearings seize up.

 

[good-shepherd]

fresh GL-1 90W oil should do the trick.

Considering how the factory trans oil turns into molasses over time maybe a modern GL-4 oil might be the way to go?

Sta-Lube GL-4 claims it is non-corrosive to yellow metals.

 

[hosertp]

Hello to all following along and looking in.

My A512-02 Pitman transmission's upper agitator shaft and bearing are seized. From all of your responses, I think I have limited options available. Here are what I think are my only options:

#1 - Find John Lefever or anyone who might have the upper case, with or without a property functioning shaft in working order. The cover, with the shaft will allow for a simple completion of the rebuild. Without the shaft will require reaching out to Eugene or another and see if he still has one of his replicant shafts available. Since I want to take advantage of the Pitman that I own as a safe second for the future, I won't be buying a new complete unit.

#2 - Go tribal on the old Pitman, surgically remove the pin, remove the shaft as carefully as possible, inspect the bearing, try to repair it or . . . try to replace it. If the bearing is wasted and is the only hurdle, I was thinking that maybe I could remove the shaft and cut the agitator housing allowing free access to the bearing to mill it out of the housing, replace it, weld the housing back together, buy a new shaft and put the unit back together. I don't even know if this material would weld with all of the contaminations in the metal? The very worst thing that I could imagine for exploring in this direction is "binning" the entire thing in the process, and the loss of time.

I have no technical expertise to rely on for pursuing such an undertaking. At the same time, I am unable to find in Google searches any threads that document an attempt to replace that bearing in the upper housing? If anyone knows of any, please share!

I do have a working A512, supercharged because of y'all's direction, and this Pitman ready to be refreshed to whatever degree deemed necessary. All comments and suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated.
Paul

 

[hosertp]

Upper housing and functioning agitator shaft for an A512?

If anyone has this the upper housing and agitator shaft for my Maytag A512 and is willing to sell it, I would be interested. Let me know, please. I would rather buy from this community if one is available, that is my preferred route.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[good-shepherd]

would rather buy from this community

Did you try contacting John directly?

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-PROFILE_DISPLAY.cgi?display=combo52

 

[qsd-dan]

Just an FYI, you will need an upper housing from a 12 series washer, the previous series will not work with this transmission.

 

[hosertp]

Finally Moving Forward Again

Hello to all,
It’s been a while, but I was running into a brick wall right after I decided to pull the pin, remove the gear, remove the shaft and see the unknown. In the back of my mind were all of the comments about “less than desirable results” from some folks’ attempts to remove “that pin”, I pursued it with cold, hard, punch strikes using a single jack, still reticent about destroying the pin or bending/breaking something else.
Finally, I found a combination that was successful:
I cut with a jigsaw a block of hardwood with a half-round notch on one end of the block. The half-round cut was a copy of the outside diameter of the gear to be removed from the agitator shaft. By putting the gear in that notch, I was able to completely support the gear with the wood block and at the same time set the bottom of the block on a concrete slab. I drilled a hole in the radius of the block at 6:00 so the pin could pass into my block when it started to be punched out and set the gear in the radius with the pin visible at 12:00.
I hit accurately, with conviction, and each blow was solidly absorbed with no movement at all. Everything changed as soon as the torch came out. Even application of heat while staying a bit clear of the pin itself brought immediate results. I was super happy!
I was even happier when I saw the condition of the shaft and bearing. To my untrained eye, there appears to be 1 very light line on the shaft that you can barely feel with your thumb nail. The bushing looks used, not polished at all, rather a bit rough. I think I could use a metal filler (JB Weld) or the likes and emory any residual to tune up the shaft and hopefully replace the bushing that was mentioned as available on the net, earlier in this thread.
I appreciate any input the members might be willing to share to help me to complete a workmanlike rebuild.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Its a lot of work, but Im sure a machinist could press that bushing out and make a new one out of bronze and press it in, They could also turn that section of the shaft down if they had to make the I.D of the bushing over sized. Then they could make a bushing for the gear as well and cross drill it to accept the pin