Maytag A606 (serial # 596342YH) agitator removal

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oldschool

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My trusty 34 yr old Maytag is starting to show it's age. After the initial fill she just doesn't want to agitate. Yes I can turn the drive pulley at the bottom but it's very hard and stiff. Motor trips out on overload. Motor and belt are fine. Tranny just too stiff to be driven by the motor. I'm figuring that the lube in the transmission has become very thick and stiff. No dripping or leaking lube anywhere. There is no set screw in the side of the agitator. I'm assuming that this one just lifts off however I can't get it to lift off. Tried a slide hammer (gently) hooked on the lip down at the bottom center of the agitator just before the agitator flares out at the bottom. Any and all help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I have purchased a new Maytag but I'd like to keep this one for my sometimes oily, greasy shop rags and clothing. BTW. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find a site dedicated to the restoration of a vintage washing machine. The internet is an amzing thing.
 
Going to try some ideas after doing a search

I found some threads here and I'm going to give them a try. Hot (boiling) water into some towels tucked into and around the agitator to soften the gunk that must be binding the female part of agitator to the male drive shaft. I may fill the tub with hot water to let it soak if the towel thing doesn't work. Is there anything I can add to the water for a soak to soften the junk binding the agitator to the shaft?

BTW I'm using the slide hammer method for a little persuasion.
 
TIGHT MT TRANSMISSION

It sounds like the top agitator shaft is tight in its bearings. Very little oil gets to this bearing coupled with the fact some moisture my be getting the bearing other than replacing the com-pleat trany, I had some luck turning the whole washer upside down for about a month or so to let some oil soak into the bearing area. with it upside down turn the main drive pulley ever once in a while to see if it has loosened up any. Mean while enjoy your new MT washer if its a top load model it should give you at least 20 years of great service.
 
Will the washer spin? If it doesn't, there's something else wrong as the trans is taken out of the equation during the spin cycle.
 
To answer some questions..................................

on the AGITAMER. Sounds good. Finding one to borrow though might be difficult. I have ideas of an inner tube appropriately sized diameter wise and air instead of water. Of coarse not to exceed the rated pressure for the tube while in use. Finding one with the schraeder stem not on the inside diameter would be a problem. I'm thinking something to control that dynamic release too if it should break the agitator loose. It's on pretty good. I got a little more agressive with the slide hammer. Might have budged a little???

Turning the machine upside down sounds good too. Makes sense. If that would be the case it would at least help me diagnose the problem.

Lastly, yes, the washer will spin. It doesn't want to agitate. Again I can turn the drive pulley but it's very tight.

What I'd like to do is get the agitator off and get into the meat of this thing. Get a good look at the bearing "combo52" spoke of. Freshen everything up. Get into the transmission to do a complete cleaning and relube.

Well, I've got the water boiling to soak the towels I've placed around the agitator. See if that helps me get the agitator off. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks for the responses!
 
I looked for an Agitamer for almost three months and never found one.I finally gave up and hammered the old one off.It was broken anyway.I replaced it with a different one similar but has side arms on it that help the rollover of clothes.
 
Good news. Agitator off. Next hurdle.

Used the towels/boiling water around the agitator. Let sit for about 5 mins. then got a little more aggressive with the slide hammer. Took some aggresive work with the slide hammer but she gave it up.

Next hurdle. Found alot of corrosion and old detergent growing on the center shaft assembly. Looks like I'm going to need a spanner wrench and some good penetrant. Probably soak it for a few days if not longer. Found the snap ring. Looks like it's going to take some muscle to break the nut,if you will, loose. Problem I see is not much room in the tub for leverage.

Any suggestions or experience?? So far I'm batting a 1000.

TIA
 
"What I'd like to do is get the agitator off and get into the meat of this thing. Get a good look at the bearing "combo52" spoke of. Freshen everything up. Get into the transmission to do a complete cleaning and relube."

If you want to get that involved, click, read, and study this link. Begin at Post# 358604. The previous posts deal with the older style Maytags.

 
Great link qsd-dan. Just what I was looking for.........

Now, I could do some research, but I'll take a shortcut with the help of this forun. As I break down the tub retainer nut and seal assembly to get to the transmission, will/are these seals still readily available? Being a mechanical contractor and a vintage car enthusiast I would like to replace the seals upon reassembly. Just seems like the right thing to do with 34 yr old seals. If they're not available what's the likelyhood of developing a leak after reassembly using the used seals with a good cleaning? There are no leaks now or any in the 20+ years I've been using this machine. I always said when it came time for a new one I would save this one for my heavy duty cleaning my shop towels and clothing. (Oily and greasey)

Again thanks for the help
 
are these seals still readily available?

Yep......for now. They won't be in the near future though as Whirlpool has obsoleted just about everything. Now is the best time to be tackling this job! If you need any specific part#'s, let me know and I'll look them up on my microfiche slides.
 
Sounds like a plan qsd-dan

I'll break into it as soon as I get a spanner wrench. See if I can locate one maybe a little cheaper than the $30 one referenced in the link. Thanks for all the help.

I'll keep youall posted.
 
I'll break into it as soon as I get a spanner wrench.

You'll also need the brake tool. You'll probably want to rent that one as it's rather expensive to buy new.....if you can even still get one!

 
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MT transmission tear down

If you want to tear this apart you will need a new seal mounting steam kit. You don't need the spanner wrench (since you hre used to working on cars this is a piece of cake} just take a cold chisel and crack the tub lock nut ring in two. A new one comes in the seal kit and it usually won't unscrew any way after 30 yrs. Its best to just get a good doaner trans from an 80s MT unless you really want to spend a whole week of your time trying to fix this most trans pts are NLA for this washer. You don't need a brake tool to pull the trans out it just lifts out of the brake assembly when you remove the bottom drive pulley the brake stays in place.
 
Just to be clear about rebuild..............

I figure to get to the root of my washer's binding problem, I'm going to have to break it down. When I see where the problem is, then I can get after it. For the time being, I'll track down a spanner wrench to at least give me some access to the bearing/transmission. Before I crack (break) the the tub lock ring I'll wait til I have the correct replacement. I'm seeing some spanner wrenches on ebay for 10 bucks plus shipping.I'll check my local appliance parts shops here also.

When I get this broken down and get an eyeball on things I'll be chiming back in here looking for some help. Thanks guys for all the guidence
 
Found some parts but questions on $$$$

I've tracked some parts locally and took a peek at ebay but what a price spread!! I checked out the Tub Bearing Repair Kit 204013 and the Mounting Stem & Tub Seal 22204012. Ebay vendor prices are the lowest at roughly $75 for both kits. Local pricing and a couple online big part suppliers is the higher price at roughly $160 total for both kits.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and figure that the lower cost parts are offshore manufactuered and the higher more like factory replacement??? Clearly with the big spread I'd bet there is a question of quality. However, if a less costly part will do, I'm all for it.

I'd ask if anyone might suggest a reliable vendor with reasonable pricing. You can email me if you like. I haven't noticed any vendors mentioned in any of the posts I've read so maybe you guys don't do any advertising for them here.
 

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