Maytag Motor Carriage Spring Positions

[matthew]

Greetings, I have been reading posts for some time on this site, but I just joined today, to post a question about something that I have not seen referenced before, and which I hope somebody can answer for me.

I have owned and repaired several vintage Maytag top load washers, and I still don't understand the rationale and suggested practice for installation of the motor carriage springs. There are three positions on the "newer" motor carriages, but there are typically only two springs used. Two of the locations are on either end of the carriage, and one is about an inch apart from one of the other positions.

On my oldest machine, an A106, the motor carriage has only two spring positions, and the glides are plastic/rubber disks. On the two newer washers, LAT5000AAW and LAW9304AAE, the motor carriages both have three spring positions. When I acquired these machines, on one, the springs were installed "outboard," as in the A106, but on the other, the springs were close together, and the outside position was unused. Both of these washers use square plastic glides, which I believe is the updated style. I suspect one may be installed wrong, but I don't know which...

And so, my questions:
Is the spring positioning on the carriage related to the type of glides used, wheels vs. square?
Should all the newer style, square-glide setups have the springs installed the same, both close together on one end of the carriage?
Is any of this model-specific?

 

[matthew]

Maytag Motor Carriage Spring Positions

I was hoping that by now someone would be able to answer the question I posted earlier.
Can anyone help me with this?
If the motor-carriage spring positions don't actually matter, and either of the two primary configurations work equally well, perhaps someone knowledgeable about this can let me know.

 

[qsd-dan]

As you mentioned above, the earlier motor carriage had both springs installed outboard. Beginning with the 12 series machines in the mid 1980's, the motor carriage had a major redesign and both springs were installed on the left side and another set of holes for the addition of a third spring on the right. In the past, I've fooled around with moving the second spring from the inner left side to the outer right and back again. I didn't notice a change in agitation or spin performance. Give it a try yourself and report back.

Round rollers vs Square Glides.

The rollers and square glides have the exact same diameter and either one can be used during the entire span of 1961-2006 rolling motor carriage design. The square glides were an update, probably because the rollers would eventually develop flat spots after many cycles since they only rotate a quarter turn or so during the clutching phase.

Where the rollers become superior to glides is when imperfections in the motor carriage are present. The glides work great as long as the tracks are clean, well lubricated, and mirror smooth. Overtime, dirt accumulates, lubricant dries out, and the tracks (if not the entire carriage itself) can develop corrosion due to the presence of water/moisture. The rollers handle these imperfection better than the glides by simply rolling over them. The glides will "hang up" in any of theses scenarios.

Fun Fact: Maytag introduced the spring loaded rolling motor carriage in 1961 but didn't use silicone lubricant on the rollers/tracks until March, 1968.

Sad Fact: The 205000 spring and glide kit has been discontinued by Whirlpool and garbage quality aftermarket kits are the only choice available now. I've played with aftermarket kits in the past and frankly the quality sucks. Spring tensions are the main area I have my beef with because they're are wildly all over the map!

 

[swestoyz]

The 205000 spring and glide kit has been discontinued

The end is nigh. Of all the parts to discontinue Whirlpool picked this kit. This and several Neptune parts seem to have hit the NLA list. Not surprising that we are hitting the 15 year mark of the sale of Maytag to Whirlpool; I suspect items that are not profitable or high volume items will quickly be done as well.

Ben

 

[qsd-dan]

Yeah, it's crazy how parts were phased out. In 2006, I expected parts for all machines built before 1996 to be immediately discontinued but many of them were available for another 5-10-ish years. Now that common parts like the spring and glide kit are being discontinued, it's a big shocker. Most of us knew this was coming though.

 

[matthew]

Thank you very much for your reply, and detailed response to my questions about the Maytag motor mounts. Your input will help me, as I begin the restoration of one of my machines.
I may run into other mysteries as I do additional work, and knowing I can seek help here is very reassuring.

 

[qsd-dan]

knowing I can seek help here is very reassuring

That's what we're here for