Maytag Atlantis MAV9750AWW

[awesomemariofan]

Hello,

We owned a Maytag Atlantis for about 13 years now, and recently it stopped working. The washer for years had a very bad out of balance problem, but when it stopped working it would agitate, but not spin. We tore it down and tried to inspect what the problem was. We decided to purchase a new thrust washer kit, which unfortunately did not fix the problem. We then narrowed it down to the transmission, and purchased a used transmission (which ended up being in a non-working condition when it arrived). This one was returned and we disassembled the old transmission and repaired it ourselves by purchasing a new center gear, and fixed the out of balance problem by replacing the snubber ring. We also gave it a good cleaning. I have attached some pictures that we took of the transmission disassembly.

After reassembly however, the tub had a slow leak out of the bottom of the washer when it was filled with water (even on tiny water level). We replaced the tub seal after seeing that it was almost disintegrated, the leak still continued. After tightening the screws on the seal a bit, it seemed to worked fine (we even left it with water overnight). After a few weeks though, it started to leak again, and upon disassembly it showed that for some reason a couple of the screws had become loose and could not be tightened. We thought that it was a problem with the seal and requested a replacement from the seller we got it from. After installing this new seal the washer still has the same slow leak. I'm not sure if I should just leave it alone and use it as is, or if I should disassemble it again and check if the screws can be tightened more? (Is it possible that they can be under or over tightened?) I really would like to get this washer in working condition again to fully restore it since it works very well, but I'm not sure if I want to spend money on another tub seal and give it a third attempt.

Another detail, if it helps, is that the original transmission was an older model number which I can't find any information about on the internet. The triple lip tub seal which we purchased said it could only be used with a high torque transmission (which I assume is the new 35-6615), however we have it installed with the old one currently, and I am not sure if it is high torque or not. I can post the model number of it and serial number of the washer if it would help. It seems to be working fine so far however.

If anyone can help with fixing the water leak I would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance,
John

 

[norgechef]

Bolts wont stay in?

That's quite odd. Maybe consider replacing the entire bearing and plastic housing, along with the spin hub. Make sure all three seals are in place. Any one of the 3 could be broken. I would check the seal that goes on top of the spin hub to start. I have had several of these machines and never had this problem. if the screws cannot be tightened you need to replace the bearing housing, seals, and spin hub.

It is always advised that you replace the bearings and seals with a new transmission. The 'high torque'' thing only refers to the older models which are being updated to the dual drive transmission from Norge transmissions. These had a different bearing design and several large components in the agitator which were eliminated when Maytag came out with dual action agitator models.

However in 2005 the spin hub was revised to include a built in seal nut, eliminating the need for a separate seal nut on top of the hub.

 

[norgechef]

The model you have already has the dual drive transmission, so you can disregard the high torque thing.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Hey,

Thanks for clearing up the high torque transmission! I was confused since it was a model number I couldn't find anything online about.

Regarding the seal, it seems to be the tub seal that is leaking - as the water is dripping from the metal plate below the tub instead of the transmission. Could this still be the spin hub leaking?

I was thinking of disassembling it, checking the screws to see if they had come loose, and then using some silicone to seal it below the tub. (Since it seems that you can't unscrew the seal and put it back on due to the self threading screws, and we already replaced it with a completely new kit twice.) The kit that we used did include the entire seal kit (the plastic piece, the rubber seal and the spin hub), and we tried the tighten the screws a good amount to prevent it from leaking. Another small thing is that the isolator gasket on the washing machine is gone (we never replaced that yet), but from what I seen that shouldn't affect the tub seal, since it goes between the inner tub and water normally goes through it anyway.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[norgechef]

The only thing that I can think of is that the bolts might be stripped out. I would not continue using it until you resolve the problem as water could end up making its way into the transmission if one of the seals is broken.

I agree that it sounds like a tub seal problem. Maybe it somehow moved out of place during the repair?

I would say try replacing the bearing, along with the new updated hub and seals and see if it makes a difference. Unless you are installing the parts wrong I can't see why this would happen, unless the bearing housing itself is broken, or the tub is cracked.

You can find repair videos on you tube that show in detail how to replace these parts which are very informative. Just search for ''performa washer tub seal''. Performa washers look a little different but have the same parts as the Atlantis. Just to make sure you didn't miss anything. Watching those videos helped me repair various parts on mine.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Hello,

Sorry I'm getting back to you so late - this morning I got a chance to remove the agitator/inner tub and check out the seal.

The screws do not seem to be obviously loose (ie I put a screwdriver on them and lightly moved it a bit, but the screws seemed good). I didn't actually try turning them though to see if they were stripped since they seemed fine when we first installed it and didn't want to risk over-tightening them. It also does not seem like it moved during the repair, however I will use a flashlight and check to see if there are any cracks in the tub.

Other than that, my only options seem to be purchasing a new seal or repairing this one with silicone. If I were to put silicone around the bottom of the seal under the tub would this prevent it from leaking? (I thought the top might not be a good idea because of the current of the water when it spin drains.)

Thanks in advance for your help!
John

 

[norgechef]

Silicone may stop the leak on the outside but it still might be leaking into the transmission/bearing etc. If its leaking out of the bottom it is most likely in the bearing by now. This will give a loud roar on the spin cycle if it goes bad.

I would recommend replacing the bearing/seal kit. Check to make sure the tub itself is not cracked at the same time.

 

[norgechef]

The outer tub I meant to say.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Hey,

I pretty much tried everything. I put silicone around the entire seal on the bottom of the tub, and tried tightening both the screws in the plastic part of the seal and the spin hub. Although it is better than before, it is still leaking. I checked the tub for cracks and wasn't able to locate any. I also rechecked where the leak was from and it still seems to be from above the metal tub plate. The kit that you referred to was the exact one that we got two of, both installed using videos from repair websites/youtube the same way. Unless you have any ideas, I think this will never be able to be fixed

 

[norgechef]

The only other thing I can think of would be that the seal that sits on top of the hub molded onto the stainless steel drum somehow went bad, or you installed a seal on the hub when it wasn't needed. Atlantis washers have a seal already in place on the inner tub but Performa models do not have the built-in seal. Take the inner tub out and check for the white seal. It wouldn't hurt. If theres two, that might be your problem.

Other than that I don't know what else to tell you. Perhaps the transmission needs to be replaced, or the main tub seal is crooked or disfigured in some way. Anything is possible.

 

[awesomemariofan]

I appreciate your help and will try taking the inner tub out again now. When you mentioned the seal on the inner tub, I remembered that there was an isolator gasket underneath the there that I did not replace, and it was pretty much disintegrated. Could this cause the outer tub to be leaking? This one did not come with the seal kit, only the one that goes above the spin hub was included.

One more thing to mention if it helps is there seemed to be a small amount of rust on the transmission shaft where it sits with the seal. This may have been before I replaced the seal a second time though, since the bearing seems fine and I don't notice any water leaking from that area.

If I were to remove the tub seal and reinstall it (since it may have been possibly installed wrong or crooked as you said) would I be able to tighten the screws again?

 

[lorainfurniture]

What are the first 2 digits of your serial number

 

[awesomemariofan]

Hi,

The washer is series 23.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Since I believe I have an idea now of what might be happening, I will be taking the washer apart one more time, but this time I will check exactly where the leak is occurring and attempt fix the seal. If I figure anything out I will post an update. Thanks everyone for the help so far!

 

[norgechef]

Hmmm

I would definitely try to find a replacement isolator gasket. That could be the issue. Although that is just a theory. I'm not sure exactly what difference it would make if this seal wasn't there. I wouldn't think much as long as the other one is there on top of the hub. Perhaps the new seal and bearing kit aren't compatible with this washer. Are they the same in appearance as the ones that were replaced?

A rusty transmission shaft is not good, but I'm not sure that would cause any issues with leaking. I would look more towards the seal. As long as the transmission shaft isnt crooked when it moves around the seals during the spin cycle, it shouldn't cause an issue. If the housing is warped from removing it to replace the gear it could cause the shaft to spin in an elliptical motion. This would tear up the seals pretty badly. Just a thought. Im basically thinking of any possible scenario at this point. Something must not be lined up right.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Figured it out, I can't believe it!

I took the outer tub off and set it into a bathtub, propped it up and filled it with water. I then seen an area of small hairline cracks under the tub, and that the area around the seal with silicone was completely dry. All this time I thought it was the seal because the bottom of the outer tub is normally covered when installed into the washer, which didn't allow me to see exactly where the water was coming from. So now my question is: what is the best way to fix a tub crack? Would something like silicone or epoxy be good?

Another side note: I accidentally spilled some water down the center of the tub where the spin bearing is, if I let this air dry will it be fine? I can put some more grease on it if needed.

 

[norgechef]

Glad you figured it out!

I would try some plumbers epoxy putty. Thats what most people use to patch holes or cracks in washing machine drums. I'm not sure about the bearing. I would leave it for a few day and make sure its still ok.

 

[awesomemariofan]

Thanks! I will get the outer tub sealed, then finish the restore this weekend and post some pictures here of the final result when it is complete.

I have two small questions left:
- I did try to tighten the screws on the tub seal a few days ago, and I'm worried I may have started to over-tighten one of them, however they do all still seem to be in pretty good. Would the seal still perform correctly?
- Just a side question: Is the MAV9750AWW the last Maytag Atlantis model ever produced? I can't seem to find any information for a model number any higher than that, and it seems to be manufactured in April 2004.

 

[norgechef]

I think the seal would be fine as long as the screw is able to go on tightly.

I think the MAV9501EWW energy star Atlantis is the only model released after the MAV9750. Either way they were both sold around the same time.