Refreshing My ‘69 Maytag A106

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drummerboy928

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Messages
146
Location
Chicagoland, Illinois
Hello all, Today I started diving in to my Maytag A106, with the goal to change the transmission oil and get it back to agitating correctly. I posted last year that I was having issues with it struggling to agitate, and without much time, experience, knowledge, or parts, I decided to leave it, and let it sit until I gathered enough to start rebuilding it, so to say. As of writing this, both inner and outer tubs have been removed from the machine, and parts are being cleaned up. Both the tub nut, and tub mounting stem came out without much of a fight, and I am very pleased to say that I have not had to cut, chisel, or otherwise destroy something just to get it out of the way. I know most people may question why I would rebuild something so BOL, but this is by far the furthest I’ve gone into one of these machines, and thought it best to start here, so if I do mess something up, i’m not hurting a one of a kind machine. I unfortunately do not have much time during the week to work on this, so progress may be slow, but I will keep updating as time goes on. In the meantime, I will post some pictures of progress so far.

- Henry

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Agitator bushing?

The one question I have, is about this bushing, or seal looking component that I will picture below. While removing components (I don’t remember exactly when I noticed it), I saw that this was torn. I’m not sure if it’s a seal, or just part of what locks the agitator down, since it’s a press fit agitator, but it unfortunately broke at somepoint. Is it extremely important to have this component, or will the machine operate fine without it? I’m worried that it will cause water to go places it’s not supposed too, but if it is just a bushing to help lock the agitator down, then I may run without it, as I’m not sure the part number or how easy a replacement for it will be to find. I know it’s not the main shaft seal, as that was still under the washer, and in one piece. Included are a picture of it by itself, as well as where it goes in the agitator shaft.

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Thank you for confirming that for me. A new one will be ordered ASAP. I apologize if any of the previous posts seemed to ramble. I’m very excited and also very nervous. I appreciate the help very much!

- Henry
 
Refreshing a Maytag A106

It does look like this machines in pretty good shape so it’s a great candidate for servicing, I would be tempted to drill a hole in the transmission and pump a half cup of marvel mystery oil in the gearbox that really frees up old transmission oil without having to go through a complete tear down, you can either tap the hole and put a plug in it or seal it in other ways to keep the oil out when the transmission spins.

I have added marvel mystery oil to old whirlpool belt Drive transmissions many times and it really rejuvenates the old oil in the transmission, it’s easy to do on a whirlpool because you can just pump it down into the vent hole, but if you don’t have water in the transmission there’s really no reason to take it apart.

John
 
Marvel Mystery oil is basically a solvent with mineral oil. It's not designed for long term use.

Maytag was still using the older style transmission oil in 1969 that easily thickens and gels up with time, even sitting with zero use. A complete tear down, detailed cleaning, and new (better) oil is the only way to tackle this job correctly. It also allows one to determine wear of the internal parts and make calculated decisions.
 
basically a solvent with mineral oil

Agree.

The reason for the tear down was to correct the sluggish agitation.

Old Maytag trans oil is some of most thick tackiest stuff I've come across. Takes a a while time to clean out the crank case and gears even using raw gasoline.
 
Agreed Maytag use some of the nastiest oil I’ve ever seen in a washing machine and Of course it’s better to change the oil but it’s an awful lot of work for a washer. That’s not gonna last that much longer.

If you do take the transmission apart, be sure you change the O-ring on the input shaft. In this time period They were known for getting hard and leaking oil.

A washing machine transmission is about one of the least stressed transmissions out there. You don’t have problems with high operating temperatures or high speed operation. It’s nothing like an automobile engine or transmission. This is why you almost never see worn out, bearings, gears, etc. in a transmission. They’re just not going to fail in any type of lifespan of a washing machine.

John
 
"A washing machine transmission is about one of the least stressed transmissions out there."

Depends on the transmission. Besides agitator dogs and motor coupler replacements, DD's generally require a neutral drain kit at some point in their life. Many went to the scrapper for that reason. Some got a new transmission installed only to have a noisy washer from sloppy cut gearing.

Amanatag transmission was junk. GE's model T transmission was so junky they permanently discontinued it after a few years. The Norgetags were "meh" at best. I personally think Whirlpools VMW transmission is (intentionally) under designed junk. Those plastic gears are just too small for its intended use.
 
Reply #9

Many of the drivetrains that are used in HE machines were really only designed for a portable or compact machine. The VMW design is based off of the World Washer platform which dates back to the early 1990’s, that design debuted for the South American market once the belt drives were discontinued in 1991 in South America. Surprisingly, it worked well for a compact machine but was quite noisy and obnoxious in operation.
 
None of the failures

Have anything to do with the oil Used nor were they caused by the oil degrading, I was not suggesting that washer transmissions never fail.

Yes, many direct drive washers are replaced when the transmission fails, but at least the owners had the option of fixing them probably not one in 100 Maytag washers were repaired when the transmission gives up when they were older it was just too costly even back in the day, it just wasn’t done very often.

Used appliance stores that sold lots of used washing machines never bothered with Maytag because they were a pita to fix this is why most rebuilding shops only really sold GE filter flows and belt drive whirlpool and Kenmore machines and now whirlpool and Kenmore direct drive washers today.

John
 
Transmission Removed!

Today I got the last few components removed (Belts, pulley, and brake assembly) And was able to get the transmission pulled up and out of the washer. So far, everything has been going very well, and I got a chance to clean up the inside of the machine some since everything is out of the way. The brake package got a little scuffed up, since I used the Vice Grip technique, but it’s not too bad and should still function all correctly. I have new oil ready to go in, and some gasket maker/sealant ready to go, I just need to make a trip tomorrow morning to get brake parts cleaner, and a good container to drain the old oil into. I’m super happy with how this has gone so far!

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Reply #13

I forgot to mention it above, but I have a new O-Ring ready to go into the machine, as well as a new spring washer. I also have a NOS groove pin, but that’s mostly just to have for the future, and don’t plan to use it in the machine since I don’t plan to remove the agitator shaft, as I’ve heard it’s a PITA.

For future reference, should I need to rebuild another Maytag transmission on one of my other Maytags, would any O-Ring work in place of the 210286, or is there something specific about this one compared to others?
 
The factory o-ring is made from neoprene, other than that, nothing special about it as long as the spec sizes are correct.

When the transmission top is off, twist the agitator shaft to check the upper sleeve bearings. If it's hard to turn, you may have to remove the shaft. The agitator shaft itself doesn't show signs of rust or water intrusion from the top so that's a good sign. The bearings could still be trashed if the upper sleeve bearing got starved from crazy thick oil not being channeled during spin cycle or low oil if it leaked out at some point from the lower seal.
 
Splitting the case

Today I dived the rest of the way into the transmission, which included separating the case halves and getting all of that old fluid out of there. I drained the fluid into a container with line markings on it, and, other than being very old, gummy, and dark, the correct amount of fluid came out, and it does not appear that any water had made its way into the transmission. I’m not sure how freely the upper agitator shaft is supposed to spin, but I can spin it easily with just my thumb and pointer finger holding it, without a lot of force needing to be applied. I did order that new washer for under the Delrin pin, so I will be replacing that while I am in the transmission as well. Going to take the case parts and gears to work later in the week and get them all cleaned up with some of the solvent we have there, as it’ll remove the rest of the oil without damaging the components.
 

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