A612 Maytag Washer - Instructions

opened front of washer, removed motor, replaced glides and springs, installed motor and replaced belts. Installed new hoses and vacuum breaker. Its been a week now and no leaks or other problems.

Our Maytag (A308) washer is now about 29 yrs old. I put in a PartSelect water valve 3 yrs ago. When it started leaking recently I found the cuplrit to be a flexible hose to the outer basis. The front came off easily (two screws at the bottom) and the hose clamps required some cleaning. I recommend purchasing new clamps. Under 30 minutes to get it running again.

1. Unplug machine.
2. Removed front cover,(2 screws).
3. Removed top cover,(2 screws).
4. Remove hose at top (twist lock), loosen clap holding hose at bottom.
5. Reverse procedure, attach clamp at bottom, attach hose at top(twist lock).
6. Plug in machine, turn on (fill), check for leaks.
7. Re-attach top
8. Re-attach front.

Cleaned the cavities. Lubed them with olive oil. Inserted one ball on left side, while holding tension against that side to hold the ball in the lid and top indentations. Applied olive oil to right hand side indentation, and placed the new ball into lid indentation. Put lid down into closure cavity with ball, and with lid vertical, began pushing it rearward so as toslightly spring metal lid rolled edge and top metal away from one another UNTIL the new ball snapped into the hinge indentation in the machine cover. Done.

My washing machine would only run hot water. Told my husband and we were ready to call the repair man when I suggested we try to order a part. So I Googled "washing machine repair". Clicked on the first sight I saw and 'searched 'no cold water' amd immediately saw explanation of our exact problem. The solution explained that MOST of the time the problem was the water inlet valve. So I ordered the part. My husband put the part on the machine and the process would have taken less than 10 minutes however the clamp was so rusted to broke and that required a trip to the hardware store. But I suppose clamp-life does not exceed 20 years. So mission accomplished and a great big thanks to all those who explained what they did to solve the problem!

Removed top. Removed agitator and tubs . Replaced seals and reassembled.

The part I removed from the washing machine was hard plastic so when the flexible hose came I was a little unsure but because of the give and stretchyness of hose it was a simple fix.

Done in five minutes.

I unscrewed the bottom two front phillip screws. Lifted the front panel at a right angle then popped off downward. Used a 3/8 socket to unscrew the two screws inside in the upfront corners holding the top to the sides. Pulled off the top bleach line.
Lifted the lid upward until it rested on the back wall. Unscrewed the water fill tube connected to the top side panel which to reach the inlet valve area. wrote down which color of the four wires went where. Unscrewed the back plate and disconnected the valve wires. Reversed procedure for installation. Cleaned other parts while I was in there. Installation went quick and smooth.

Did repair as instructed by video, I'm 74 years old if I can do it anybody can!

First thing I had to determine what was wrong. The machine had worked admirably for a 1980 model but over the last few years cold water input had reduced to almost nothing. There was also a slight hum during filling but it had been so gradual I really didn't recognize it as part of the problem.
After checking that the cold water faucet, hose and screens were okay I removed the front panel to see how water flowed inside the machine. I suspected the inlet valve on the machine was not working correctly so I looked on PartsSelect and found similar repair stories. I ordered one and it arrived in 2 days.
Repair was simple. Turn off hot and cold water and disconnect hoses from machine. Mine were on snug so it took pliers to get a turn started. Lay them in a pan to catch drippings. On the back remove the single nut above the inlet valve and lift to remove the panel. Remove the two mounting screws for the inlet valve. If needed rotate the electrical connections on the new inlet valve to match the old and transfer the wires. Remove the small output waterline and transfer it to the new valve. Mount the new valve to the panel and resecure the panel to the machine. Snugly attach the hot and cold water lines. Turn on the water and after checking for leaks you're good to go.

There are two screws that hold the switch in place. And two wires connected to the switch. The most difficult part of replacement is to place the new switch and hold it in place to reinstall the mounting screws. The space to work in is limited unless you remove the front panel from the dryer, which I opted not to do.

Remove front panel of machine, 2 screws at
bottom. Remove 2 bolts at top front with nut
driver and whole top can be lifted to expose
all parts. Remove injector hose clamps and
clamp new hoses in place. I replaced both
injejctor hoses while open although only one
had small hole in it. This is the only repair
done on this coin-op machine in 20 years. At
this time I did replace both drive belts but they
could have run for more years, no cracks or
breaks in belts. This machine is in a 12 unit
apartment building. We have two on them,
same age. We purchased both coin ops new
in 1987.

Remove the power cord and water hoses. Lay the machine on the floor. Remove two belts (washing and pumping). Unlock the screw of pulley using a hex key. Remove the broken pulley from the motor. Place in the new pulley. Lock the screw of the pulley. Install two belts. Turn the machine vertically. Plug in water hoses and power cord. Level the machine.

I identified all the parts and ordered them. The injector hose kit was the assembly I needed to fix the leak. Looking at the comments from others that had previously made a similar repair, I decided to fab an angle bracket to hold the injector and the installation went very smoothly! All parts fit and the washer will hopefuly give us a few more years on top of the 25 already in service.

After figuring out how to open the washer I could not find where the leaking water had come from. I ran the washer without the front cover (cold water) and it didn't leak. When I finally accidentally blocked the intake on the tub did it squirt out inside the washer. It turned out that it would only leak with both hot and cold water combined was the pressure big enough to leak. The place it leaked was about halfway between the intake valve and where it entered the tub in what looked like a small plastic housing with slots. The functionality of this thing is still in question. I call it the Kazoo because it makes noise so you can tell the water is going in. I can see that it also holds back pressure so the washer does not fill too fast if the incoming pressure is too high, but I have my doubts about this. It turns out the intake hose is interrupted with by a jet inside a 3 inch black rubber tube (valve) that extends into the second hose. The water pressure expands the rubber (valve)and makes noise. The way I see it old rubber had maybe shrunk and lost its ability to resist pressure so it overflowed because too much water was coming through. The new piece I ordered was 3/8 inch longer then the one that came out. Maybe a planned obsolence part. (My wife wanted to buy a new washer and dryer at the first sign of trouble.) Anyway the repair was pretty simple. No clamps needed the old one is easy to undo and you just replace the kazoo. By the way while I was waiting on the parts to get here I just throttled the water pressure on the wall so it wouldn't leak. On this maytag washer you take off the screws on the front towards the bottom to start. I did not notice them untill I had damn destroyed the lid. After you remove the front cover there are 2 screws in the top front corners to remove and the the top pops off. They repair is easy understanding it took some thinking. Good luck.