Atlantis loud knocking/rumbling noise during agitate

[scram69]

This unit started making a very loud knocking/rumbling noise during agitation, but is quiet during spin.  I pulled off the front cover and manually rotated the main pulley both CW and CCW and could see no visible obstructions.  So I called the local appliance guy - he came over, checked it out, and proclaimed it a bad transmission.  Apparently, he doesn't "do" transmissions on these units.

Searching through the forums, it seems like my issue is similar to this one:
http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=3121.15

Fortunately, the transmission on this model is still covered under a 10 year warranty.  Good thing, 'cause it's not cheap:
http://www.repairclinic.com/SSPartDetail.aspx?s=t-MAV6200AWW-%3d%3dc239i1472816&PartID=1472816

My question is: assuming I can get Maytag to pony up for the part, how difficult is the replacement?  I found the manual on line, but the removal procedure (page 7-15) is pretty vague.  I would be very grateful for any more specific guidance...

Thanks-

Model MAV6200AWW

[Repair-man]

If you can get Whirlpool to turn loose of the part to you, good luck. Their past policy was to only release in-wartranty parts to an authorized servicer.

In the rare event they will ship you the part, the instructions are inside the box and are somewhat easier than the manual shows. There is one snag here however...unless you can magically manufacture your own special tools, as one other poster claims to do, you will be spending upwards of $150 just on certain Maytag tools to do this one job.  It might be better to let WP send out an authorized servicer who has the right tools and will guarantee the labor. You still only pay for the labor and it will be around $200. This beats a new machine price..

Tranny Kit w/seal-

[scram69]

Repair-man

Thanks for the advise.  Sure enough, you are right about the part - in this case it's a Maytag Atlantis, and Maytag only covers the part when work is done by one of their authorized technicians.  So I've got one coming this weekend - we'll see how that goes.  If he agrees the part is covered and he can do it for ~$200, that works for me!

[scram69]

Update - authorized tech showed up.  Fortunately, he had a tranny in the van, since no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tell the damn robot on the phone that the problem was a bad transmission.
Bottom line - Maytag has a new flat rate for service: $129.00!  So I got a new tranny, tub seal & bearing, thrust bearing, and he even scraped out the brake stator for one low price!  Hope this helps anyone else with one of these machines less than 10 years old and making noise during agitate.  Call Maytag first!

[Repair-man]

Maytag had nothing to do with the favor you got...it is Whirlpool now that owns Maytag and no one from Maytag is hardly even employed there any more. Except for Dale Reeder, a Maytag boss who went over to  the head of A&E Service (Sears)

I used to do the same thing for my customers when I was  still employed at Maytag Customer service. Even though the book recommends a certain price, I would always do it for the basic $129. service fee. I was sorely disappointed in Maytag at the time anyway, as were all of the other fellows I worked with. We felt that this tranny issue, along with the Neptune fiasco and other service issues we won't go into now, were causing  the company to lose its reputation. Since we were  corporate employees, it was a real slap in the face since we bore the brunt of the customers frustrations when we went out time and again to service a failure that should never have occurred. Sad to see a great company fall on its face after 100 years

'Scuse me for ranting, but Maytag has a lot of apologizing to do yet...