Maytag wringer not working

[jackson1299]

I was so excited I bought a 1967 Maytag wringer washer yesterday. Unfortunately we transported it on its side that was the only way to fit it in my car to bring it home. I didnt realize your not suppose to do that. Once we got home to unload it the head came off and my husband put it back on. I tried using it today and everything works except the wringer isn't working. There is a small puddle of oil on the floor below the wringer head. I am freaking out please tell me I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on this beautiful machine and I broke it. Please help

 

[tomturbomatic]

What about the little turquoise pedal and hose? Are they intact and were you either standing on the little pedal or did you have one of the washer's wheels resting on it? That is the safety for the wringer and it keeps the wringer from operating unless the pedal is mashed down to force air against the little diaphragm in the switch.

Congratulations on your beautiful machine.

 

[jackson1299]

It doesn't have a pedal

 

[ea56]

If it doesn’t have the pedal either its one of the last models before the safety pedal for the wringer was installed for this machine, or its missing.

If its missing look at the back of the leg that the wringer sits on. If there is a hole that has threads like for a bolt then find a stove bolt the same size as this hole and screw the bolt into it just until it stops, it doesn’t have to go all the way in. This is how we over rode the safety pedal for the wringer on my Mom’s ‘69 Maytag Model EL.

Now see if the wringer will work. If this doesn’t fix it its possible that the gears for the wringer and the top of the leg where the wringer fits into it aren’t meshed properly so the gears connected to the transmission can drive the wringer.

I hope that this helps. Once you get this bad boy up and running you are gonna love it! The model J that you purchased is my favorite.

Good Luck!

Eddie

 

[jackson1299]

It doesn't have a pedal it's a J2L

 

[ea56]

All the Maytag Wringers had the safety pedal after a certain date, which I believe was the 1969 models. So if yours doesn’t have the threaded hole on the back of the leg that the wringer sets on then in 1967 they weren’t making the “safety” models yet.

Also, if the model number is just J2L and not J2SL, (the S indicates safety if it also has a pump there will be a P in the model number too) then its not a safety model that would have been equipped with the safety pedal. In that case the gears between the wringer head and the hole that it fits into are probably not meshing properly so that the transmission can drive the wringer.

Hopefully someone here can tell you how to properly fix this. I personally never had this problem. But if I did I’d probably try removing the wringer head again and reseating it to see if I could get it to seat properly so the gears meshed.

Good Luck.

Eddie

 

[ea56]

Also, looking at the photo of your Maytag Wringer the wringer rolls are apart, they need to be together for the wringer to work. Its been almost 50 years since I last used my Maytag model J2L, but if I recall correctly you need to turn the lever on top of the wringer over the turquoise bar to bring the rolls together. Try this and see if it doesn’t work. And of course, I hope you are aware that the lever on the side of the wringer is what controls the direction of the wringer rolls. The position its in in the photo is the off position for the wringer rolls.

Eddie

 

[jackson1299]

We figured it out the roller popped out of place! It must have happened while we were driving home. Thank you for the help

 

[launderess]

Leaking of oil and wringer not working are two different things.

Maytag built these washers like tanks, they will run for months or even years with little to no "grease" (that is what it it is not oil), and or grease that has totally liquified due to water getting down past seals and or just otherwise deteriorated. No, it isn't best thing for power unit or wringer gears, but never the less.

If you didn't get an owners manual with machine suggest downloading copy from library of this site. There you will find complete directions for operation including setting and resetting wringer tension. This and how to lift rollers apart for storage of machine, then drop them back and reset tension for use.

Maytag designed their wringer heads so rollers could lock apart when machine is not in use. This prevents rollers from sticking together and or developing flat spots. Unless or until rollers are dropped back into position they won't work properly.

Wringer head is designed to be easily lifted out, removed and put back. Again you need owner's manual to explain how this is done in detail. Also wringer head moves into certain positions that "click" into place. This allows wringer head to move over washer, between rinse tubs, etc..

*DO NOT MOVE WRINGER HEAD WHILE GEARS ARE ENGAGED AND ROLLERS MOVING*

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?76397

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?75642_11

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?34718

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?24933

 

[launderess]

Leaking oil....

Again Maytag packed power unit and wringer gears with grease, lots of it. Over years of use grease will begin to break down, and in case of power unit water seeps down from tub. Either way grease liquifies into "oil" and can leak out.

Always tip or lay Maytag wringer with face (area with name decal) facing down. Laying unit on any other side or tipping in those directions can cause "oil" to leak out via weep hole.

You moved your washer improperly and thus "oil" leaked out. How much remains is anyone's guess, but you should still be able to use washer for months or years. However if heavy use is planned sooner or later power unit will need to be removed from washer, opened up, old "gunk" cleaned out and packed with fresh grease. If you're lucky and have a local repair person that can do this procedure it may be expensive, but doable. Otherwise you'll have to do the job yourself.

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?77029

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?41892

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?60401

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?80671_3

 

[jackson1299]

Got the wringer rollers fixed and I was so excited to finally use it today until I pulled the knob to start the agitator..it worked for 5 seconds and then all the sudden the agitator stopped spinning. The washer then started smoking! I immediately unplugged it and pushed the knob back in. I took some of the clothes out thinking maybe I overloaded it. I plugged the washer back in and I heard it kick on but now the knob won't pull out all the way to start agitator again. I don't know what happened or where to go from here

 

[launderess]

You really should down load or otherwise obtain copy of owners manual for Maytag wringer washers. Much seems intuitive, but there are differences between washing with a wringer machine versus an automatic.

Maytag wringers washers you fill with water, add detergent or soap, start agitator, then start adding laundry. You only add enough items that can flow freely, that is things should tumble from outer sides of tub towards center.

See:

A smoking motor could mean something is binding gears so they won't move (which explains why your agitator isn't working), so the bound up motor will start to smoke.

You can find copy of service manual for Maytag wringer washers here: https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~1375~Maytag~

From my copy of a later service manual:

Motor:

Over heating, smoking or blowing fuses..

Over loaded - Check clothing load. Should circulate freely in water. Washer should be filled to water line.

Binding condition at some point in washer - Check drive pulley of power unit with belt removed to determine if it turns freely. Repair washer if necessary.

Low voltage

Power unit binding or over loading motor -

Inadequate lubrication because of oil leak or water in gear case - Replace worn or damaged parts. Repack with new lubricant.

Worm wheel damaged or worn - Install new worm wheel.

You may have just overloaded motor and it needs to cool down and "rest" before resetting. Leave things alone for a day or so, then plug in washer, and try to engage agitator, if you still cannot pull knob all the way out or in, you'll have to get underneath washer to see if everything is in order. For that again you'll need repair/service manual.

At risk of being Captain Obvious, are you sure washer was working before it was sold and transported to your home? If it worked before transport, or at least sometime in past with previous owner, then it could be something done during move has caused issues.

 

[e2l-arry]

Unit locked up

I've been where you are. It was a broken piece of meter in the Power Unit that jammed the gears. You might try manually turning the motor pully backwards. Sometimes that allows whatever is causing the gears to jam will dislodge. That is only a test. It won't fix anything. It will be certain to jam again. The only repair is to completely teardown the power unit, remove the loose piece of metal, determine where it came from, and replace any gears or parts that are damaged. Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.