Maytag Washer with balance issues

[Jaytag]

Maytag washer, is very off balance during spin.  Legs are leveled, when I raise the lid and hold in the switch, I can see the tub is off balance.  Any ideas on how to fix the issue?

Model LAV3600NAW

[magician59]

Pull the front panel off and see if there is a broken or disconnected spring.

[Repair-man]

Legs may be level, but always place a level on the cabinet top front to back to see if the level is really "level". Also, check for the presence of water in the upper ring on the spinner basket... if the liquid  is gone, you will experience balance issues. Turn the machine to spin and let it come to speed before raising the lid to stop the motor. There should be a slight swirling noise emanating from the top ring in the tub at this point.

The presence of oil under the machine or  inside the cabinet where the tub assembly rests indicates transmission seal failures. This also can cause the tub to get off balance and stay that way.

[Jaytag]

How does the front come off on this one?  No screws in the front.

Thanks

[schaffersapplian]

bend down, grab the bottom left corner of the front panel and pull hard towards yourself. repeat on right side.

[JWWebster]

Or just shove a putty knife down on the bottom on each side, the base on the newer models is held with spring clips. We don't need no stinking screws. LOL! I just worked on one the other day with the top all scratched up from somebody trying to pry the top up.

[AJ]

Your service manual.

http://www.servicematters.com/maytag_library/docs/16010373%20(16001145).pdf

[Jaytag]

Thank you ever so much.  Pulled off the front cover, was not easy.  Upon leveling up the legs it hasnt had any issues on first cycle go through.  Next cycle will be towels.

I did find now that there is an issue with cold water coming in it is very slow to fill.  Possible lime build up.

[Jaytag]

Wow this washer has issues.  Ok so it went through was cycle fine, when it went to spin drain, the motor was struggling hard, it cut off mid drain.  I reset it, cut off again, set it to gentle and put it on again, motor started to smoke.  I shut it down.  Where do I go from here?

[schaffersapplian]

It could be something as simple as loose connections to the motor. But most likely the tub bearing has gone bad.  Try this.

1. Unplug the washer.
2. Pull the machine forward, and tilt it back against the wall (use a couple of 2 x 4's to help hold it up.
3. Remove the 2 belts.
4. Spin all the pulleys underneath the washer and check for resistance. If the motor is hard to turn, your motor is bad.  If the pump is hard to turn, the pump is bad.  If the transmission pulley turns clockwise, that is agitate, that should be fairly easy to turn.  Turn that same pulley counter clockwise. This movement will take pressure off the brake and allow the whole transmission to turn. If it's very very  hard to turn, your tub bearing is shot.

---> You can try to isolate the issue by removing the belts, and trying the machine. If the motor works, you know its OK. Then try just one belt on the machine, either the drive or pump belt. Try and see which component is giving you the trouble.

Does your machine have an oily spray on the inside of the cabinet around the height of th bottom of the tub?

[Jaytag]

Belts are off.

1.  Motor pulley turns fine.  Turned motor on with belts off and ran, sounded a bit loud, but ran.

2.  Pump pulley turns ok

3.  Big Pulley clockwise turns freely no issues.

4.  Big Pulley counter clockwise - spun it a bit, like winding a clock it sprang back.  Then turned it again was able to move the tub round, the transmission part with the big M moved.  It was hard to turn but did turn.

There is no oil present anywhere in the cabinet.  It is very clean.  Amazing the washer looks brand new. 

I am so amazed that once I got it home and hooked up and leveled I didnt have the balance issues the previous owner had.  And now......

[JWWebster]

Put a new motor on there.

[schaffersapplian]

That, for the most part is a great washer. It may even be one of the last one ever built.  They stopped production on the "Dependable Care" line in December of 2006.  Every one in the plant signed the inside of the very last one, and it went to a museum somewhere.  I'll try and find a pic.

[Jaytag]

Anyone have a part number for the motor, would it be 62307680?  I wondered if it may be the motor, but was  hoping for a cheaper fix.  I will go ahead and order new belts as well.  My worry was that if I got another motor on there and it was something else, then I would ruin another motor.  But since it does turn counterclockwise though, harder to turn than clockwise, you think I am good with a new motor?

[schaffersapplian]

Its a hard answer to give ya.  I can tell you this though. I have worked on thousands of these machines, and in the past year, on all my service calls (average 9 a day) i have changed   1 motor on a Dependable care unit. That thing was humming with the belts off becasue the motor windings were shot. Now with that, I have changed 20 or 30 Tub Bearing in the last year that were giving the same symptoms that you are having.  I have also diagnosed another 20 or 30 with bad tub bearings that the customer decided to buy a new washer because of the price. Here is the part number for the motor 12002353, and this is the belt set-12111213 (both belts in one bag)