Maytag washer transmission pulley locks up and won"t spin

[mattlwoo]

My wife noticed last night that the washer wasn't spinning in the final spin cycle of the load she had just washed. When I looked at it this morning I found the pulley on the transmission spins up on the threads of the shaft to a point, where it locks up.  I took it off and looked it over and found nothing, probably cause I don't know what I'm looking at.  Anyway I replaced ot and tried it again.  It spun for a time, then locked up again.  I could force it to spin a quarter turn with a screw driver, but it won't stay spinning.  Can you tell me why it locks up and why the shaft would be threaded?  Thanks!

Matthew

Model LAV3600AWW

[mattlwoo]

Since putting the pulley back on I have ran the machine to make sure its agitating and found that it agitates all the time. I have no spin cycle.  The pump is fine and the motor drives the belt for it just fine so I am not sure wehter its the brake assemby or the transmission.

[mattlwoo]

I keep trying to figure this out.

We tightened up the pump belt but I can still squeeze the belt together, meaning there is no 1/4 inch gap-there's no gap.  The drive belt is much more loose and actually sits with no tension between the the drive pulley and the motor pulley.  I think I have also come to understand why the agitation works but not the spin.

Please correct me if I am wrong-The agitation occurs because the drive pulley spins against the drive lug that is held on at the bottom of the shaft by a washer and screw.  The motor pulls the beltscounter clockwise to achieve the pull and this drives the transmission to cause the agitator to move in its many varied ways.  The pulley is supposed to be pulled in the opposite direction by the motor during the spin cycle causing the pulley to "walk" up the threads and push on the brake assembly.  The pressure placed on the brake assembly causes the brake to reelease allowing the pulley to also spin the tub.

If I am right, my problem lies in that there is either to much play in the belt(how would I fix this?) or the brake is locked up and the pulley can't create enough pressure to cause it to release leaving the shaft to spin without the tub.  How should I proceed to fix this?

Thanks.

[Repair-man]

This is the standard Maytag Dependable care transmission...your problem is not in the brake, but most likely from seized tub bearings. If it were atranny problem, it would not agitate, so you can also rule that out. If there has been any sign of leaking under the machine, chances are the bearing is frozen. In 36 years of servicing this product, I have only had 1 brake failure, so this is not an issue. However, replacing the tub bearing and boot seal is a major teardown, requiring a spanner wrench to remove the basket and the boot stem to do the repairs. The large tub springs also have to be removed so the tub can be lifted out for the bearing replacement.

You can download the Dependable Care washer manual and see how this all works. I doubt you'll want to  do this yourself, and be prepared to spend $250 or so to have someone else do it for you.

[mattlwoo]

There are no signs of leaking.  Can the belts be stretched out from wear?  It just doesn't seem like the motor gets enough of a pull on the pulley due to the lack of belt tension.  I understand that the tension will build as the cycle continues, but I can't see how it would even get started with the slack that is in the belt.  As you cansee I'm very much in agreement with your last statement, I don't want to undertake too much more than what I can already manage.  Thanks for your reply!

[jumptrout51]

Belts are cheap. Go ahead and change your belts. Next week do what Repairman said and you will be washing and spinning again.
Sounds like you need belts anyway.

[mattlwoo]

Thanks for all of your help guys!  I changed out the belts and nothing happened.  SO on Tuesday I went and got the spanner wrench and parts and changed out the bearing and the seal.  It rocks a bit more than I remember, but its working like new!  Thanks so much!