Maytag J2L

[ea56]

“I use it when I have a back up of laundry and want to get it all done quickly. “

Boy ain’t that the true! Nothing gets a great big stack of laundry done faster than a wringer washer. Granted, you may have to stand over it pretty much constantly for 60 to 90 mins, depending upon how many loads you have to do, but once its done, its done. And cleaner than most any other machine will get the laundry. Plus, for me anyway, its kind of meditative. The repetition of movement is zen like.

And if you’re lucky enough to have a good clothesline, with lots of space, its even better.

Eddie

 

[bradross]

Don't fret none!

I transported mine in the back of a sedan with no problem. Of course, removing the wringer is necessary. If you don't know already, you turn the wringer control lever so that it's sticking out (180 degrees from the "Off" position) and then it's ready to lift out. If, by chance, it's seized - which is actually quite rare - perhaps spray some WD-40 into the gap between the wringer head and the post. Have a rag or plastic ready to wrap around the greasy post that extends down from the wringer head.

Regarding leakage, the area of concern is the horizontal drive shaft, which goes from the central power unit (transmission) to the wringer post. There is a 1/4" breather hole on the top of it - if you slide a finger along it you'll locate the hole. As a further precaution, you could wrap a cloth or some plastic around this area, or tape it.

 

[justjunque]

Thank you, Brad!

Very helpful information!
I'm relieved that removing the wringer isn't a big complex operation!
I'm assuming you just reverse the process to reinstall it.
And I'll be sure to put something around the area of the potential oil leak point!
In more good news, I just found out that work is letting out a couple of hours early today.
I'm going to call the seller and see if I can come see it today instead of tomorrow.
Even if I don't pick it up until tomorrow, I can take care of the purchase today, so I don't have to worry about someone else snagging it.
Send lots of positive thoughts my way! Please!

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Another update

Well folks, I'm the proud (?) owner of a Maytag J2L.
The question mark is for the unknown mechanical condition.
The inside of the tub looks to be in great condition; just dirty.
The outside of the machine looks decent, but dirty.
There's a small amount of rust in a few areas, just below the black rubber piece that fills the gap between the tub and the skirt.
Other than that, just grimy from decades of storage.

To answer the pump question; there is, in fact a lever with "on" and "off" markings on the bottom of the right side. So, we have a pump.
And, as suggested earlier in the thread, the gooseneck was in the tub.
Well, part of the gooseneck.
The part that screws onto the drain hose is still screwed onto the end of the hose.
The aluminum-looking curved tube is somehow pulled out from the female end.
It still has a flare to the one end of it, so I'm not sure how it got separated.

As for the oil on the left rear leg...it is there.
But, so is a bunch of residual oil, with dirt stuck in it, all up around the wringer itself.
Is it possible, when the machine was being put into long-term storage, someone could have slathered some of the moving parts with some kind of oil, to keep them from seizing up, and it just ran down onto the leg?
Everything looked relatively clean on the underside.
I mean, dirty, from storage. But nothing underneath looked overly oily.

I still have the transportation dilemma to face.
Seeing it up close and personal, I'm sure it would easily fit in the Explorer.
Hopefully, I can take the wringer off without any drama.
The wringer swivels freely, if that's any indication.
And, I would lay it front side down, and hope and pray that nothing bad happens.

Just think. Once I get it home and start messing with it, I'll have a whole new slew of questions for you all!
And so the fun begins!

Barry

P.S. I also just took a closer look at the model decal.
All along, I've thought it was called a "Gyrator" washer.
I only just realized that it actually says "Gyratator".
So much to learn!

 

[launderess]

Congrats!

My J2L is older than yours (has red wringer release bar...), and has a pump.

My thought is when pumps became available owners of J2L wringers had them installed as an after market upgrade, and or had the thing installed before it was delivered from appliance store.

While gravity draining is all very well, the addition of a pump meant those in apartments and or whose laundry areas lacked floor drains could use a Maytag wringer.

Grease around wringer/rollers.

There is grease/lubricant on the bearings for rollers. Shouldn't be so much as to leak out causing a huge mess. Would have to see pictures....

It could be that the washer was at some point laid down incorrectly and grease/oil leaked where it shouldn't and no one bothered to clean it up totally. Fact there is "dirt" caked on with oil leads one at least to believe this may have happened.

Didn't see mentioned, or maybe one missed it, but did you test to see if the agitator came off easily?

 

[launderess]

Regarding oil leaking out...

As others have mentioned oil leaking isn't a mortal illness with Maytag wringer washers. Just means sooner or later the thing will have to be stripped down and transmission cleaned out, and fresh oil added.

Testimony to how well engineered and built these machines are, they will run for quite some time with low oil levels, gunk, or sludge in the gearcase/transmission. State of various parts after such treatment would be the question, but at least back then things were just simply rebuilt.

 

[justjunque]

Hi Launderess

Thank you for the input!
I did not check to see if the agitator came off.
Nor did I take any pictures.
I will certainly do both once I get it home.
I'll probably start a new thread once I'm actually in possession.
Then, it will be a case of "how do I do this?" as opposed to "Should I buy this?"
I'd love to procure an original owner's manual for it.
I'm going to ask the seller if there's any chance he has it, since his parents bought the machine new, but I won't get my hopes up too high.

Barry

 

[launderess]

IIRC

Original owners and service manuals are available from this site for download.

That and or just search fleaPay; there are always a few on offer.

 

[justjunque]

Thank you.
I have seen where downloads are available.
However, I'm one of those folks who likes to have an original hard copy of a manual.
Agreed, the bay is probably my best shot; unless the seller has the original laying around somewhere.
There are a few on there currently, but they're older versions.
I've seen the correct one for this era machine once. Someone was including it with the J2L that they were selling.

And now for another noob question.
Before I even attempt it; what is the correct way to remove the agitator (or Gyratator?) from this machine?
I'd rather ask beforehand than to have to ask how to fix it after I do something wrong and break it.

Barry

 

[e2l-arry]

J2LP

To remove the agitator just grab it by the post with both hands and give it a pull up. Hopefully it will come right off. If not, well . . . we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. GREAT that it's a pump model! You should be able to reassemble the goose neck assembly. I seem to remember seeing them "new" on Ebay and they were bagged unassembled. Can't be any more that 3 or 4 parts to assemble it. The pump makes things easier and even more fun. My Grandmother had her Speed Queen wringer in the kitchen with no pump. Had to empty into a bucket then empty the bucket down the drain or out the window. Heavy work for an old gal!

 

[justjunque]

Thanks Larry

Well, it's official.
It resides in our laundry room now!

A couple of details to mention, just to see if this sounds right.
When I removed the wringer before trying to transport the machine, (fortunately, the wringer came right off as intended), there is oil in the center the tube that the post fits into.
Should it be filled with oil right up to the top like that?

Second: I forgot to wrap the tube underneath, to further insure that oil wouldn't leak out of there, even though we transported it front side down.
Interestingly enough, some oil did leak out onto the back side of the skirt.
But it didn't leak from the breather hole. It seems like it came out somewhere in the area of where the tube to the wringer passes through the skirt.

Just taking a quick, uneducated look around at the underside, I can see that it's going to need a new belt.
I'm really hoping that's something that even I will be capable of doing by myself.

The first thing that I'm going to work on is seeing if the agitator will lift off, and getting started on the much needed cleaning.
I'm sure I'll be back with lots of questions!
I'm so appreciative of everyone's help and advice!

Barry

 

[e2l-arry]

Hey Barry

Don't fill the wringer shaft with any oil. Whatever is in there will do all the lubricating that's needed. The wringer shaft is actually packed with grease, not oil. Maybe yours has somewhat liquefied over the years, but it should be fine. You can only re-pack with new grease but doing an overhaul and I doubt that's needed. As others have said, a little oil down the rear leg is pretty common on these and they can run for YEARS like that. I'd clean it up the best you can and then see how it goes once you start washing with it.One thing to know about these machines is once it's plugged in, everything behind the scenes is in motion. The power unit and the wringer. the agitator and wringer move or stop moving by a system of clutches that engage or disengage the mechanisms. Don't let replacing the belt intimidate you. It's really easy and self apparent once you loosen the motor bolts to remove the old belt. Slip the new one on, put tension on it and re-tighten the motor bolts with a socket wrench. I'm betting you'll be washing with it in no time!

 

[justjunque]

Hi Larry

I'm just wondering if, like I had speculated earlier, when this machine was going into long term storage, maybe someone absolutely loaded the moving parts with oil, with the thought of preventing them from seizing up.
I'm just thinking maybe there's not supposed to be this much oil in there.
Especially now that you inform me that it should be lubricated with grease, not oil.
I mean, there seems to be a lot of oil in there!

I'll try to get a picture of where the wringer mounts, before I reinstall it.

Barry

 

[justjunque]

Pictures of grease/oil on and beneath wringer

I don't know how good these pictures are, but here's the mess.
And, despite my better judgement telling me not to, I couldn't resist plugging it in.
And, that revealed the first mechanical issue.
The agitator doesn't stop when the knob is pushed in.
Is that terminal?
I'm guessing it's not something that I'm going to want to take on myself.
Also, I can just about lift the machine off the floor by the agitator, and it doesn't want to come off.

Barry

 

[bradross]

Not bad shape at all...

compared with many others I've seen.

Regarding the agitator control knob - hmmm...that's a bit of a mystery. The only thing I can think of is that the cotter pin has come out of the linkage to the power unit. Check to see if it's present. If not, mystery solved.

And the situation with the wringer post - it does look like a little excess oil there, which could be mopped out.

The agitator removal can sometimes be a challenge, especially when the previous owners have not been diligent about removing it after each use. After filling the tub half-way with REALLY hot water, try removing it (wearing rubber gloves if the water is too hot to handle.) Hopefully you'll be successful in removing it without damage. When done, ensure that you wipe a film of Vaseline over the splines of the drive post to ensure easy removal in the future (as per Maytag's instructions.)

 

[launderess]

Stuck agitator

Sadly this is a fairly common occurrence when getting a used Maytag wringer.

Maytag clearly and expressly told owners to remove the agitator when laundry day was done and leave it off until next use. This and to occasionally put a bit of either Maytag grease or Vaseline on the post for lubrication. Sadly not everyone followed that advice and or after last use put the washer up without taking off the agitator.

What happens is you now have the thing stuck onto the post, glued as it were by hard water minerals, soap/detergent residue and lint.

Here is how one dealt with the issue:
https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?67108

Other members had the same problem and their solutions are in the archives as well.

Sometimes just soaking long enough with very hot water will loosen things up enough that one (or a few) good tugs upwards will get the thing off. If not then you'll have to come up with a cunning plan.

Strongly suggest downloading from the library a copy of the Maytag wringer service manual. There you will find answers to most of your questions including how to trouble shoot the agitator knob not working properly.

No, that situation isn't terminal per se, but needs to be sorted.

Pulling that knob in or out merely engages or disengages the agitator. Motor continues to run long as machine is plugged into outlet. In order to work the wringer you need the machine powered on, so you can't unplug to stop the agitator.

It is also very important not to move the wringer position while rollers are engaged.

As mentioned the wringer gear post is packed with grease, not oil. So it sounds like whatever was in yours has begun breaking down and liquefying. Not huge issue as lubricant is lubricant. IIRC the service manual does recommend from time to time applying a bit of Maytag "grease" to the wringer post, but this would be done infrequently. Cleaning things out and repacking with fresh grease means taking machine apart, and we're not on that right now.

Maytag really over built and designed these washers. They can take reasonable amounts of abuse and continue to work for years. This include low to nil lubrication in gears/trans. Yes, sooner or later things will wear down because of it, but things can then be rebuilt.

 

[e2l-arry]

J2LP

It's LOT cleaner than most I've seen. I wouldn't be too concerned with the wringer post. I've seen a lot that look like yours. I'm thinking maybe someone thought it would be a good idea to spray some WD-40 or other lubricant around the wringer seams. Just clean it up with any spray cleaner or good old hot water and soap. Looking underneath you should see the agitator shaft just connects to a little lever on the power unit. Pulling the shaft out engages the agitator clutch activating the unit. Pushing it in disengages it. It's pretty simple really. Let me know if you get stuck. I have a detailed picture of it somewhere. The hot HOT water trick is the first/best way to try to unstick the agitator. If it stays stuck I'd use it that was for a couple of washes then see if after some usage time it becomes un-stuck on it's own.

 

[justjunque]

Brad, Launderess, and Larry

Thank you again.
Regarding the linkage to the agitator:
The cotter pin is in place, and things move when I operate the control knob.
I decided to just plug the old girl in, and let her run for a while.
I intermittently engaged and disengaged the agitator.
At one point, I noticed that it wouldn't stop when disengaged, but it would slow down.
I was playing around on my phone, and sort of ignoring the running machine for a couple of minutes.
When I did look back at the agitator, it had stopped!
Maybe something just needs to work itself back into proper order after being dormant for several decades.

As for the hot water method with the agitator removal:
I believe I'll wait until tomorrow, and wheel her outside to try that.
Not knowing if the tub will hold water without leaking, I would rather test it outside.
And, we've had incredible heat and humidity today, and some thunderstorms that moved through with torrential rain.
The tub is easily the best looking part of the machine!
I'll try to remember to attach a picture with this post, as well as one of the serial number.
Can these washers be dated by the serial number?

I think I'm pretty much done with the grease and grime removal for tonight.
I know I'm going to be mighty sore in the coming days!
This is more elbow grease than I've spent in a long time!

Barry

 

[qsd-dan]

Can these washers be dated by the serial number?

Born on November, 1966.

 

[justjunque]

Thank you, Dan!

I was kind of hoping the washer and I would have the same "born on" date.
Well, year anyway.
Missed it by one. I'm circa 1967.
Oh well.

Barry