Maytag A606 Agitation Issues

[HerdingCatts]

Our beloved workhorse Maytag A606 washer has recently stopped agitating. Instead, the tub spins clockwise and flings water out. Changing the belts solved it for about four days (after-market was unfortunately all I could find this time) before I walked into the laundry room to a wet floor and the smell of burning belts. The washer was again not agitating and spinning clockwise, flinging water out. The motor has also recently become squeaky on spin down, but that's another story.

Next, I rebuilt the motor slide mechanism with a factory kit, and it now moves freely. The first run with a small load all went well. Second load, the problem returned. Then, even empty, no dice. When the tub spins clockwise, the motor is not happy, and I get the burning belt smell. The damp dry cycle spins the tub counterclockwise as usual and works great. The transmission has not been noisy, and all was well until it wasn't. The agitator is not loose and feels the same in the tub as it always has. Swapping the old Maytag OE belts back in didn't change anything.

It's looking like a transmission issue, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. Especially since the machine never knocked, got louder, or did anything weird prior. All was well until it wasn't. The timer appears to be going through the motions.

Any ideas where I should go next?

 

[qsd-dan]

Make sure stop lug and associated parts are there, adjusted correctly, and working properly.

 

[HerdingCatts]

Thank you very much! That will be my next stop!

 

[HerdingCatts]

I'm afraid something has come from together in the transmission, or I have a bad bearing somewhere. The brake rotor bearing is good and moves smoothly. Investigating the stop lug, I found that the drive pulley does not have any spring-back action. If you run the drive pulley all the way up, it does not drift back down. The drive pulley is completely static unless you turn it.

 

[swestoyz]

Hum. Technically when you screw the drive pulley up the agitator shaft it will push up on the brake rotor, allowing the tub and transmission to spin. As soon as you release the threaded pressure from the pulley, the brake rotor spring will push the rotor down, forcing the drive pulley to screw downward on the agitator shaft.

If the pulley isn't returning I wonder if the brake rotor is stuck open, or is sticking open intermittently? Might explain the odd behavior and why the belts are roasting. This isn't something I've seen happen nor could I imagine the rotor getting stuck, but stranger things have happened.

 

[HerdingCatts]

Hmm, that is an interesting thought. The drive pulley is definitely not getting forced downward on the agitator shaft. How would I go about investigating the brake rotor?

 

[qsd-dan]

I wonder if the internal spring broke? They do get weak overtime and cause the inner tub to index during the wash cycle but I haven't heard of one breaking yet. This may be a first!

If this is the original brake package, it can be disassembled (you'll need to remove it from the washer).

Here's how to disassemble it without injuring yourself if the 200 pound spring isn't broken.

Replace every other brake drum retaining screw...one at a time... with 1 ½” long 8-32 machine screw and snug them against the drake drum. Remove the four remaining brake drum screws and then alternately the four long machine screws just inserted. The idea is to lower the brake down evenly to avoid bending it. As the screws are loosened, the brake spring will reach the limit of its extension. You will run out of spring pressure before you run out of screw thread.

 

[HerdingCatts]

I'm pretty sure it is an original, and it does look like it could be carefully taken apart. Is it possible to rebuild it by replacing the spring if it is broken, or would I be looking for a new brake assembly?

The weird thing is, in the spin cycle, the washer is strong, and the brake does seem to be working at the end of the load. If the brake were hanging up, wouldn't the machine struggle?

 

[qsd-dan]

The internal brake parts used to be available separately but later on, Maytag built a seal brake package unit and discontinued the parts,. Parts were still floating around until 2008-ish. They're impossible to find now. Whirlpool recently discontinued the brake package in the last year or 2 making the whole process even more fun. On top of that, used ones on Ebay are going for $200+ when they were under $100 new.

The brake spring holds the inner tub from spinning. The clutch material may have failed, too. It's hard to tell without opening up the brake package and inspecting the parts.

If you post a video of the washer spinning at full speed then naturally spinning down, we could tell you if it's operating properly or not.

 

[combo52]

Interesting problem

It’s very doubtful that the break assembly has anything to do with it, it’s either something in the transmission or the stop. Log is not adjusted right

I’ve never seen a bad brake package on a Maytag. The spring definitely never gets weak. Maytag put a stronger brake spring in in the 90s to comply with UL regulations for faster braking so sometimes people feel like the older ones the spring has weakened but that’s the way they were made.


We’re still recycling Maytag’s every month that have perfectly good brake packages and dampers in them. There’s just no demand for the parts so I don’t even bother taking them off but if somebody needs a brake package, I’ll be happy to sell them one or a damper for that matter.

John L

 

[qsd-dan]

Do you have clearance between the stop lug and pulley?

 

[HerdingCatts]

I have a video of the damp dry cycle. It was too big to attach, so here it is as a link:

.

The agitator does seem to wallow around a lot lately, and I believe the terrible sound at the end of spin down is the motor; that's a recent thing too, and bearings are probably in its future.

I also noticed something weird last night. When I stood the washer back up after working with the drive pulley and brake package, a bunch of really fine carbon dust fell out all over the floor. I'm guessing brake or clutch dust.

The A606 has been on and offline long enough in the last month that homeland security is threatened (clean socks and underwear, lol). Last night I stuck gold on Facebook and found a lady locally with a meticulously maintained Maytag Dependable Care washer/dryer pair (90's vintage) that she was looking to sell to a home that would appreciate them. We are going to go buy them today and make the A606 the standby to give us the luxury of time we need to fix it. Luckily, there is room in the laundry room for two pairs. I planned to make the laundry room look like a vintage laundromat (I already have the wire clothes cart), so we are off to a good start, haha!

Thank you all so much for your help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! I plan to join the group as a paid member and stick around. The A606's journey with us is definitely not over. I just need to straighten out the house for a minute, and I just might need to take you up on that brake package offer, combo52.

 

[qsd-dan]

When I stood the washer back up after working with the drive pulley and brake package, a bunch of really fine carbon dust fell out all over the floor. I'm guessing brake or clutch dust.

Probably dust from the aluminum damper. There's 3 damper pads that need to be lubed every 20-ish years. When that doesn't happen, lack of lubrication causes friction in the area and rips the damper pads off of the base. The aluminum damper then grinds into the base during the spin cycle, causing the aluminum dust.

The A606 has been on and offline long enough in the last month that homeland security is threatened (clean socks and underwear, lol). Last night I stuck gold on Facebook and found a lady locally with a meticulously maintained Maytag Dependable Care washer/dryer pair (90's vintage) that she was looking to sell to a home that would appreciate them. We are going to go buy them today and make the A606 the standby to give us the luxury of time we need to fix it. Luckily, there is room in the laundry room for two pairs. I planned to make the laundry room look like a vintage laundromat (I already have the wire clothes cart), so we are off to a good start, haha!

Nice score, these should keep you going while repairs commence on the 606. Watch out, it's addicting saving and using these washers and dryers. Nothing like this is built to these standard today. We'll eventually have to convince you in getting some top of the line pre 1980's units that have lights!