Rebuild of Maytag Transmission and Transplant into LAT 9800 AAW.

[beekeyknee]

Here's the tub bearing still in the tub.

 

[beekeyknee]

Here's the tub bearing removed from the tub and cleaned. The bearing is removed from the tub by elevating the tub with a couple of 2x4's on each side to protect the porcelain drain tube. Puting some turbine oil around the outside of the bearing where the rubber part contacts the porcelain should help remove it. Put a clean cloth over the bearing, put your foot on it and push down while rocking your foot around in a circular motion with gradually increasing pressure until the bearing is pushed from the bottom of the tub. Be patient and don't push hard all at once to keep from damaging the tub.

I cleaned the bearing by first knocking away all the loose particles of dirt and metal shavings I had made cutting off the mounting stem by using a stiff toothbrush brush. Then I dampened the brush with kerosene or other light solvent that isn't harmful to rubber and cleaned the outside of the bearing, used a lint free cloth and polished up the rubber with Pledge. Rubber protectant (Armor All) could also be used too, I guess. After the outside was clean I very carefully wiped out the bronze inside of the bearing with a microfiber cloth. Be careful not to mar it's surface.

 

[beekeyknee]

Bottom view. Pull the rubber back away from the bronze bushing on the bottom of the bearing and saturate the wicking with turbine oil. This is for the old style (fat) bearings. Depending on the age of the bearing it may absorb more or less oil. When the absorption slows down the wicking is saturated and no more oil is necessary. Then put a film of the oil on the inside of the bearing and on the outside of the new spin tube and insert. I put in a new spin tube for good measure. Your old one could be reused if it's not very worn and fits smoothly inside the bearing without any slop between the inter bronze piece and the tube. It should spin inside the bearing like wet ice, gliding on the film of oil. Likewise the tube should also slide easily over the trans. neck with no slop or binding at all. The trans. neck should be polished with a very fine emery paper and wiped completely clean with a lint free cloth until it has a bright satin look to it. The neck, tube and inside of the bearing all have very close tolerances and have to be contaminate free to operate properly for a good spin. If you have the new type bearing apply a coat of oil to both the inside bronze surface and the outside spin surface of the tube and slide together.

 

[beekeyknee]

Bottom view with new spin tube inserted.

 

[beekeyknee]

Off topic, but this is the technique I use to fill an old style (chubby type) tub bearing if you're not going to disassemble the machine. Put 18 gauge needle on hypodermic syringe and fill with turbine oil. An 18 gauge needle base is light pink.

 

[beekeyknee]

Inject bearing with 6 or 9 CC's (ml) of the oil depending on how old the machine is. Clean pulleys, put in new carriage glides if worn and clean and re-lube carriage and glides with poly-lube. Replace belts if glazed, frayed or cracked. Put washer into spin let it spin until the bearing heats up. This should bring spin speed back up.

 

[beekeyknee]

Tub's out. Not too bad considering it's from 1976.

 

[beekeyknee]

Trans. neck with old spin tube still on.

 

[beekeyknee]

Trans. neck with spin tube off.

 

[beekeyknee]

Trans. neck and tube cleaned up. This is the old tube. See how shiny it is? Like I said earlier, I could have probably used the old tube but I elected to go for a new one for hopefully longer wear.

 

[beekeyknee]

Place machine on its side to get to the drive pulley. Legs can be removed for cleaning and removing possible rust at this time also.

 

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Remove rubber oil cap.

 

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Remove screw, lock washer and stop lug.

 

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Spin pulley off counter clockwise. Brake rotor bearing is underneath. Take note of the way the bearing was on. Flat side faces the bottom of machine (upward) and the rounded side faces the pulley (downward). The bottom of the bearing naturally fits over the concave shape of the pulley’s hub.

 

[beekeyknee]

There's the brake.

 

[beekeyknee]

Take off the brake retainer clip and bolt. If you have the old type brake package you can check the tightness of the hex head bolts that hold the brake together at this time. I thought it was probably wise to do before I started banging on it.

 

[beekeyknee]

Remove brake. It's nice to have a brake package tool for this, but if you don't have it, it can be done with some vice-grips and a hammer. It kind of bungs up the edge of the brake, but I suspect some layers of rubber rapped around the edge of the brake before hammering might protect it. I'd be willing to try it if I didn't have the tool. I was lucky. I got mine for $10.00. The position of the tool in this pic is for tightening. Reverse tool direction to loosen. The transmission will spin when you're removing the brake

 

[beekeyknee]

Brake off. Radial bearing underneath between brake and damper

 

[beekeyknee]

I use some unorthodox ways of doing things sometimes. I've usually never gone wrong. I soaked the radial and brake rotor bearing in kerosene, turning them while submerged to remove the old grease and put them on a paper towel to dry over night. Then I put the bearings in a double boiler with some new grease and just heated the grease to liquify it a bit and turned the bearing while submerged. This re-impregnated the bearing with new grease. The brake rotor bearing can be packed by hand but the radial bearing is too tight. Not completely sealed but too tight to pack by hand, in my opinion anyway. Take the bearings off the heat and let cool over night. Then dig out and store away in a Baggie for reuse later. If a person had a vacuum chamber or Seal-A-Meal I suppose one could place the bearings in it with some grease to suck out the air and displace it with grease. If the bearings are very worn just replace them. The radial bearing has little or no play. The brake rotor bearing isn't as tight but should spin freely before greased. Of course the kerosene procedure should all be done with neoprene gloves on.

 

[beekeyknee]

A picture of the underneath side of the damper with the brake off. See the damper pad sticking out between the damper and base? This machine was getting ready to go bad.