I have an eight year old Maytag Performa top loader that is going out of balance rather easally. I am no appliance repair tech but doing some searching on my model it seems like basket springs and the snubber ring are the common issues for this. I bought both the spring kit and snubber online for $20. You have to remove the springs to get to the snubber anyway, I will just replace it all. This should be fun inside an apartment and no hand truck. LOL

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Livin’ Life From The Blindside

Oh good a Washer thread!!

Two weeks ago we were sitting in the living room (Sunday) reading the paper. Mrs Rule had thrown in a load of wash. I see all this water running down the driveway. What the heck!! Go out in the garage and the washer decided not to stop filling

Now my garage could be on an episode of Hoarders. There is no attics or basements here to store stuff. So even though the floor as a slope, it damned up in areas. What a mess!

Was a 13 year old Kenmore/Whirlpool. I know how to fix it but it was like 100 degrees out there so I said forget it.

We normally shop around, compare and all that. Went to Lowes spent 20 minutes bought a new one and delivered it on Monday morning! It has bells ,whistles and sings to you.

It will pay for itself in 30 years of water saving.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Must be that time of year. Mine is throwing oil on the clothes. I researched & it's either the trans. seal or the trans. Need special wrenches to get it off so repair man coming at 3 today. Anywhere from $180 to $385. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! Cutting into my reloading supply fund!!!


BW

If you can fix it, fix it.
We had an old washer that broke down, rather than fix it I took the wife out and got her a new one.
Low and behold, thanks to whatever goobermint dept, it's called a "water saver/energy saver".
Yeah, watersaver my happy heinie, this freakin thing sucks at actually cleaning clothes, leaves enough suds that I can save on soap next time I wash 'em too, fills up just enough to MAYBE cover the top of a small load, takes over an hour to do a load, and has so many "safety features" it won't work if there's a person within Ten yards of it.
Called the store we bought it from and they told us all new washers are like that.
Took the thing back, drug ours back in the yard, got the parts and a six pack and fixed the old one.
I dread the day it breaks down for good.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

I dont want to hear it. Ours just went out and I am waiting for home depot to deliver our new one. About a $1,000s counting a extended warranty! It was very old and theresa didnt want me to mess with it any longer. Too bad my uncle died, he was the general manager over speed queen factorys.

I don't mind working on washers or most any other appliance, but I HATE working on toilets and I have one I need to replace the fill tube and float in the tank. The flush handle needs replacing too but it is so dang corroded that even after I poured Coke on it to try to eat away some of the corrosion I still can't budge the nut......................aaaaaaaarrrrrggggg!

Fix it if at all possible. New washers are really bad. I keep my now 25 year old maytag running by just shoving in more parts. It has been very reliable as I doubt I have put in $25 worth since I bought it.

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SWCA 1646

I had been repairing our old Whirlpool-OJT-for years, and finally, the transmission quit. Replacement part was 200.00 + so we went looking and found a feedback by someone who said that they could afford whatever they wanted, but that the ones with all the computer chips were a repair nightmare waiting to happen. Then they went on about the Roper washer they ended up with. Turns out it is a Whirlpool in a plain rapper, and is simple, and more than adequate for all fabrics. Long story longer, we ended up finding it at Lowe's on sale, and with the Vets discount, took it home for less than 300.00. We've had it for several months, and are very pleased. Read the reviews, take a look, and you might be impressed; we are.

My mother just had to have one of those new HE washer/dryer setups. For some reason she was dead set on the LG brands because she likes her LG phone. $1500 later she had a matching set of LG HE machines. Mom wanted the top loader without the agitator because some moron on one of those morning/home improvement shows said that the agitator hurts your clothes, etc. I went to visit her a few months back and used that machine....I hated it. You had no manual control of anything. You selected the clothes and soil type, it did the rest. You had no water level control (it selected that via a sensor) and not temp control. It took 1 hour to wash a load of clothes. It takes half that in my normal machine....which I am trying to fix. Sure the machine might use less water, but it costs 3x as much as my normal washer. That is a lot of water use my friend to make up that crazy price difference. Her LG machines were matching so the dryer knew what the washer had done so when you put the clothes in the dryer you just pressed start. You had no time or heat temp control at all. I will stick with a basic washer dryer, I just can not see paying $1k for a washer.

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Livin’ Life From The Blindside

My Fridgidaire set was $400 new and they are purring along with no hicccups after 15 years. And my shooting pard owns an appliance repair business........lucky on both parts.

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Go big or stay home

Howdy,
I think I got this from the forum a year or two ago.
About a minute and a half into it it will make a person smile.
Enjoy.
Harlem Shake Washer - Ripped Video Source - Hotpoint Self Destructs - YouTube
Mike

Did you check to see if the nut and handle have left hand threads? I found out ours did when I replaced the handle.

Youtube has taught me how to fix my washer twice and my dryer once. The Maytag repairman is really lonely since youtube came along. I could probably learn dentistry on there.

Reminds me of the time my wife got a new washer and dryer and they didn't take away the old ones. No problem. came home from work got out the reciprocating saw and a couple blades and about 45 minutes later the scrap metal was out by the curb. About a hour after that the doorbell rings and a guy wanted to know what I intended to do with it. I asked "you want it take it" and in a flash it was gone. Made me very happy as one less problem to deal with. Frank

Keep the drum, they make great fire pits!

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Heck that's a lot of work!. Around here if you just put anything made of metal out at the curb. it's GONE! Night before trash day the scrappers come buy and pick up everything.

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Still Running Against the Wind

We had an issue with our Maytag Neptune washer the other day, found out that it was just a little off-balance which caused it to throw water outside the drum. I called a guy I know in the field and he stopped by for a beer and checked it out to see if it needed parts. He told me a bunch of stuff about washers and driers and basically told me to buy one made about 25 years ago and rebuild it with available parts. Most of the new machines are not designed to be worked on, pumps cost more than a new machine. Its seems when everybody else went out of business and now there is only one maker, I think its Whirlpool their new CEO said "What in the hell are we doing making machines that last 20 years" I want you to build a machine that lasts 5 years."
That was his recommendation, look around for a nicely used machine about 20-25 years old and rebuild it, the new machines have too many gizmos inside, transmissions are too complex and not built to take a beating. Oh they have all kinds of neat things like that Neptune of ours, the clothes are so wrung out you could probably put them on wet and dry them in a couple hours while wearing them, but too complicated...you just want your clothes clean don't you? They've been building washing machines that cleaned your clothes real good for decades, they just use a little more water than those today, I think mine uses about as much water as I spit in a day.

After many years and several modest self repairs, our heavy duty top load washer finally lost a main seal & bearing. It was leaking and ultimately started smoking. Bad.
I pondered fixing it again, but decided to finally spring for a new front loading washer/dryer set and we couldn't be happier. They clean/dry very well, use less soap, less water, and both are super quiet when operating. Gotta say...I like em.

I worked for Amana/Speed Queen in the 80's and own an old laundry pair made by them. Last year I had to repair the dryer and year before the washer. I told my wife last time that we'd replace them next time one broke but am now having second thoughts from what I hear about today's laundry quality and operation.
Amana/Speed Queen built good quality machines back then and same as commercial machines except for the coin box and added cycles. Biggest problem with working on them is they do require special tools for some work, especially washers. Other than that they're not too bad to work on as most can be done from the front not requiring them to be pulled out to work on.
I now plan on keeping mine alive as long as I can.

I have the same washer. Tranny went out on it. Luckily The part was under warranty and I had some appliance experience.

The hardest part for me was the springs.

I was in the same position about 8 years ago but decided to rebuild my 1982 Maytag top loader. The new washers are nice and use less soap, water, etc. They do wash and extract very well. But I decided to rebuild mine because it washes and extracts adequately enough for me. Apart from replacing the transmission I can fix everything my self. My sister in law has a nice front loader but she has to leave the door open when not in use or it develops a bad odor. Plus I don't think I could fix anything on it. In 31 yrs. on my Maytag I've replaced the transmission once, the belts twice and the fill valve three times.

Jeff

True. We need to leave the door open after use or it will start to get a sour smell and needs some bleach or vinegar run in it. They do run smooooth though.
As for the fix anything on it question? With any luck it will be years before I need to find out. I just may be singin a different tune if numerous silly problems develop that I need to pay somebody to handle.

The washer is all repaired now. It was not hard work, but it was a pain. It would have been nice to have the spring compression tool, but I do not do this for a living so spending the money on it did not make sense for a one time job. The washer has 6 new springs and a new snubber. It took half a day to do start to finish. I am washing clothes in it now and all is fine. I am glad it is all done and I hope I will not have to touch the machine again for another 8 years. LOL

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Livin’ Life From The Blindside