Maytag SAV515D Washer how to replace belt

[jhernandez1514]

The belt broke.....is there a diagram as to how to replace it?
Also it's very noicy when it was spinning...Someone told me they
thought it was the brake pads?  What do you think?

Model SAV515D

[JWWebster]

The belt just mounts right on the motor pump and tranny on the very bottom no tools needed. You need to turn the pump I suspect the noise was it tearing up and that is what breaks the belt.

[Repair-man]

Bad news for you!!


Your belt broke because the infamous triple lip seal failed, freezing the spin bearing. This is an Amana made machine with a Maytag label on it. The service manual is on this forum under manuals>Maytag>Laundry>page 3.

Replacing the belt is difficult enough, but special tools are required to do the tub seal and hub. The tools alone will set you back $100. The current replacement part number for the bearing and seal kit is W10116790

[JWWebster]

so kiss that machine goodbye if it ain't the pump

[Repair-man]

Actually, JW on this machine I usually find the pump stem melted as a result of the heat buildup that burned the belt. I forgot to include the cost of a new pump in the estimate. For sure it will also be damaged.  Good ol' Maytag went nuts there after Len Hadley left as CEO. Some of the Amana hybrids are simply a mess.

They got folks to buy it by emphasizing the Energy Star rating. Big whoop! Look at the energy savings vs. repair cost now!!

[JWWebster]

What I can't get is why they had pot metal attached to stainless steel. What happens when liquid detergent acts as a catalyst aginst these opposing metal? The  pot metal deteriorates and the washer leaks but the stainless steel tub is a beaut ain't it? Can you say recall?

[Repair-man]

The problem with this design turned out to be water infiltrating the seal, along with sand and residue on the bottom of the tub. Changes in the triple lip seal also included some plugs that are used to plug holes in the bottom of the spin basket. This was done in theory to prevent water from reaching the seal at all. The engineers think that there is a protective bell of air under the agitator, surrounding the seal now that the plugs are in place. They also did away with the large plastic filter disk that Amana used to place under the spin basket that acted as a sand filter.

Failure of this seal was largely due to actual bearing damage from poor design tolerances on the machine base and milk stool assembly. These too were re-designed mid stream. Too little, too late. My advice is to avoid any Maytag top loader with 2 panels on the front, which indicate the Amana platform.