Save the WU-1000

[tombombadom]

Hey everyone!

Been here at my house for almost 2 years now. I resurrected a vintage Maytag WU 1000 by replacing its belt. It's been relatively trouble free and always cleans superbly.

However it's developed an increasing level of noise in the past year or so. Yes I know these machines are noisy to begin with but the longer it runs the louder it gets. Like a whirring sound. It sounds like somthing with the pump.

I guess my question is, is there any fix for it? Like rebuild kits or anything like that so I can keep this beast running?

It's not leaking, always cleans great It's just noisy. Especially draining. But the foreign whirring I'm hearing is with the pump running in either direction.

It's all the way at the other end of my house and I can hear it loud and clear.

I looked at new ones and first off no one has them in stock, 2nd of all I've become so use to the reverse racking, I don't like how any of the racks look in the new ones. And 3rd the reviews I've seen on TOL models haven't really impressed or wowed me. Leaving me to want to give the very trusty venerable current maytag every chance I can.

I have to really say they really had their stuff together in the mid-late 80s. Pry about the golden age before everything started getting cheap.

Or do I need to just suck it up and accept my 30 plus year old TOL unit is slowly dying? Don't worry I can take it.

All little things no one warns you about home ownership...

 

[reactor]

"dying" RR

Tom, it sounds as if your bearing is going out. I have had two RR's with that problem. Both were stored in unheated, damp barns.

On one of them, I purchased and installed Maytag's bearing replacement kit. Very easy to install and it solved the problem. On the other, I replaced the entire pump assembly...even easier to do.

I am afraid I may have purchased the last remaining NOS belt drive pump in existence. That was about four years ago. I did an exhaustive search and found only one online. It was a new OEM pump in the original sealed Maytag box. I don't recall the exact price I paid but it was in the neighborhood of $200.

It is possible there might be some others out there if you know where to look.

Before you do anything heroic....remove the wash tower, wash arm, pump cover and remove the filter screen so you can see the chopper blade. Make sure no object is caught and possibly rubbing against it, creating the noise. Check the pump impellers as well.

As a last resort, you can try to clean and lubricate the bearing assembly. It may temporarily quiet things down a bit, but will still ultimately likely need to be changed out.

If all else fails, hang onto it and look on Facebook Market Place for another belt drive Reverse Rack, they are not uncommon. The low line models often show up and you can purchase one to serve as a pump donor. (We have a couple right now in the Tennessee area.)

(If you do decide to ultimately get rid of it let me know and I'll buy it from you.)

Barry

 

[tombombadom]

I found a RR a couple hours from me in Iowa. I sent a message about it. It's avocado colored, would it still be the same pump andball?

 

[tombombadom]

Not really seeing a smoking gun

Got the cover off the pump. There was a bit of water in there yet. Which I believe there was supposed to be. Didn't really see anything jump out. I dont feel any play in that impeller or anything. Not sure where to go next besides clean it real good and try it. And maybe go get the other one as a parts unit.

 

[combo52]

Noisy pump bearings on a Maytag belt drive dishwasher

There’s not much point in taking your pump apart unless you can find a pump rebuild kit, there’s no chopper in this dishwasher that something could be caught in.

I have a good lightly used pump assembly from a Maytag dishwasher that I will sell and shipped to you for $120 including shipping if you like, get in touch if you want.

Otherwise buying a spare dishwasher is a reasonable way to attack this problem.

John L

 

[tombombadom]

I think this will work

I found another one a couple hrs away. It must be BOL I don't see a rinse aid dispenser on it. The next picture is my current one. Gonna try putting it back together and see what we got.

 

[qsd-dan]

The last updated part# for a pump was 901459, obsoleted 11/27/2007. Older Part#'s were 900901 and 901655 incase an NOS pops up on Ebay (save the searches for each part# and it'll send you an email when one pops up).[COLOR=#666666; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 15px;"> [/COLOR]</span>

 

[combo52]

Avocado Maytag reverse rack dishwasher

It looks like you found a good low use machine, it should be good for a part donor.

Looks like it’s coming out of a late 60s kitchen it was pretty high-end and pretty low use, the Hotpoint cooktop sitting on the floor to the left of the dishwasher is a pretty neat cooktop.

Can’t quite tell what the double wall oven is to the right of the dishwasher might be a Tappan.

If you can save the whole Maytag dishwasher when yours gets tired someday you can just switch the door off of yours on to the avocado one.

John L

 

[reactor]

donor machine

Do you have the relay block behind the lower access panel of your machine, Tom?

These were used by Maytag before they put the relays on the circuit board. The older WU1000's used these. Should you decide to just change out the door assembly you will need to relocate the relay block and mount it to your donor machine.

If that donor machine doesn't work out, you might as well go ahead and remove your bearing, it may just be corroded. Clean it then soak it in penetrating oil. I've revived even locked bearings before. That will get you by until you can find another donor or pump-rebuild kit.

Be careful when removing the wash impeller. Don't hold it by hand as you attempt to remove the mounting screw, but hold it stationary by grasping the belt pulley on the bottom of the pump as your loosen the screw. Although your impeller looks good, they sometimes get brittle over time and can break without undue force (as I have found from experience.)

Have fun!

Barry

 

[tombombadom]

I have decided to go with a new unit in place of this one. The fact parts are virtually non existent along with the state of our world has led me this direction.

I feel swapping parts is ultimately just a stop gap measure.

So with that said, I would like to either sell this unit or sell parts from it if they aren't too hard to remove. If they are small enough I'd be willing to arrange shipping. Maybe keep someone else's maytag going for a while. Pickup of the whole unit would be by Rockford Illinois

This was a hard decision but I feel this is the best for me. I sure do appreciate all the knowledge shared to me here in the last couple years of keeping this thing going.

 

[reactor]

hard decision

Difficult decision, I know, Tom. It seems you mentioned once that yours has the lower remote mounted relay block, is that correct?[this post was last edited: 3/4/2022-17:38]

 

[tombombadom]

Yes it does.6 relays are on it I believe.