LAT5004BGW Maytag Washer - Instructions

Drum on the Maytag washer was not spinning is a true rotational pattern. Adjust or replace the centering springs.

How-to-description
I had to hack saw off the centering springs eye bolts since they were rusty and not adjustable. If you have to cut the old eye bolts as I had to, be careful... the spring will jump up an inch or two very quickly and you want to keep your hands clear. It makes a load noise and my wife asked "what happened". Not a big deal, just be aware of the spring returning to a normal state.
Place the new eye bolts in position and tighten the nut with 4 turns. With duck tape I held the eye bolts in place from under the machine. Had my son push the drum towards the replaced spring to shorten the length of the end of the spring to the eye bolt. Stretch the new springs with a long screw driver, one end against the washer body, and the other end near the handle. Pulled down on the scrw driver until the spring can hook onto the eye bolt. Before cutting the old eye bolts I measured the length of the eye bolt from the spring to the frame. Adjust the new eye bolts to the same length after the spring is stretch onto the eye bolt. Overall a simple project, cost $40 for me and the best advice is using the long screw driver to pull down on the springs.

I deduced the lid switch was the problem.

I removed the two screws holding the control panel on. Pulled the control panel back.
Disconnected the ground wire of the lid switch.
removed the two top clamps that hold the panel to the top of the machine.
Pulled back the casing (outside of the washer) and placed it on it's side on the floor. Here I could reach the switch. Removed old, installed new and reversed the process.

The part that gave me the biggest problem was setting the casing back on to the frame. You have to slide the front part in at the bottome, then lean back the rest of it.

Determined the tub seal was bad and ordered the seal and tub bearing. Removed the front cover with two phillips screws and unbolted the top to lift back. Removed the agitator with 1/4" setscrew on side and lifted out. Using punch and hammer, broke the inner tub nut loose (clockwise is off). Lifted out the inner tub, unscrewed springs from the bottom and removed; then removed the bearing with a little prying (had to raise the tub slightly and tap the center splined shaft to push out) and lifted out the outer tub. Outer tub had few rust spots about to penetrate, so sanded off rust, primed with etching auto primer and sprayed enamel topcoat to prevent further corrosion. Reassembled in the same order.

When done, there was still a loud noise on the spin cycle, so obtained a spin bearing and brake assembly (need to replace both most always). Tilted the machine on its back and removed the pulley, then put a special wrench on the brake assembly and broke loose (counterclockwise) with a 3 foot extension after placing a 2x4 section in the tub between wall and one of the bases for the spring arms (to keep the tub from turning). When the brake came off it was full of water and corroded from the leaking tub bearing previously replaced. Reassembled in reverse order and replaced two belts on the bottom for good measure. Works perfectly now and is very quiet.

In my estimation, the repair should have included both the tub bearing/seal and the spin bearing/brake assy from the outset. Could have used a chain visegrip wrench instead of special tool to remove the brake assy - whatever is available. The tool costs a lot and will never be used again.

Put blocks under the washer where the leveling leg was needed and screwed the part into the washer. Then it was just a matter of moving the washer into place and leveling. Pretty easy.

I want to mention only the difficult parts.
The removal of the retaining ring/nut (which is under the agitator) . After 10 + years, it was very hard to move this part and it was eventually broke it to remove it. WD40 was used but not effective (to much calicum build up). You must turn the cone shaped piece (located under the inner tub) clock wise to get it to remove. A spanner wrench was not used to remove this. I used a punch and a tack hammer. We could not remove the old tub bearing (closest to the shaft), so we just cleaned it up with emory cloth and used the new tub seal/outer bearing. Spins great but have not been able to check the water leakage problem yet.
Caution: there are two dark colored ring (very thin) that go back on top of the rubber collar. These must be reused. These are hard to see. I pushed the old tub seal/bearing out with the end of a 2x4 (very slowly and carefully). I put the tub up on two of the 2x4's, for clearance off of the floor and used the third to knock the old bearing out. Old machine are very messy.

I followed the supplied directions to remove covers, unbolt tub springs, and expose the area needed to replace the damper pads. I cleaned the area with acetone and applied a rubber adhesive (not supplied). I used tire patch compound because that is what I had on-hand. I positioned the pads and after they had dried 1/2 hour, lubricated them with the supplied grease. I reassembled the washer and it is now smooth and well behaved.

My daughter found the video on youtube, which showed step by step repairing procedures. I just followed it and fixed my dryer in 15 min.

I ordered the switch, which is what most people told me the problem was. I didn't have a multimeter, so I couldn't test the current one.

I removed the two screws from above the lid switch, removed the control panel screws on either side, and used a flat screwdriver to pry the top off by popping the clips.

The switch was easy to reach, and I compared the old and new switch after removing the paddle assembly. The new switch has three prongs, whereas my old one had two, so I put the gray wire terminal onto the bottom prong. I set everything down, plugged it in, and tested it, but still no spin cycle.

After some further research, I realized the problem was with the spin solenoid under the washer, or the red wire that leaves the lid switch and goes to the spin solenoid, also called a wig-wag solenoid. (This is a belt driven model, not direct drive.) It's not too common that the solenoids fail, but it is rather common that the wires break inside the insulation on this model.

Moral of the story is always ohm through the switches and wires before ordering replacement parts. (Remember, never ohm through a live circuit.)

removed back of control panel to find that a mouse chewed the air tube. tried to splice it with a barb connector, it did not work. Ordered part received it 2 days later and installed it. I would recommend buying parts from these folks!

By doing the work yourself, not only gives you the good feeling you did it yourself and works just like it was when it was new and to know there's part's you can still get from part places like these! Like I say to my wife ( if they meaning a repair shop can do so can't I ). Course changing a motor in a car that's a different story, I'll let someone else to do that. To do the repair I took off the front cover of the washer exposing the tub, motor and other things. But the very first thing I did is unplug the power ( I hate the bad storys that if I only turned off the power ? ) then I took off the cover over the motor and changed the switch. And all in reverse. And plug power back in. Started up just fine.

That would take forever to write in everything you have to do, but I did go to a website that had the steps you must do to complete the repair. You can google tub seal kit and mounting stem and the brand of your appliance and i'm sure you will come across the steps to complete the repair. I would advise you to first order a spanner wrench it makes the job much easier and you really can't complete the job without it. So do that first and then take the machine apart if you suspect it's a tub seal leak and then order your parts. if i had a spanner wrench available to me from the beginning it would have gone much smoother from the start.

remove front, 2 screws hold top down, 1 screw holds adgitator on, hammer and punch to remove stem nut (clockwise) used wd40, lift tub out, hammer and punch to remove stem (clockwise), pull seal off, put liquid soap on seal and reverse process, no more leaks!!

descovered blown fuse on lid switch assembly. Checked out info on Parts Select.com they reccommended the lid switch assembly. I bought it putting it in was very easy! Problem solved!

Removed washing machine front cover (2 phillips screws on bottom half of panel). Then removed two bolts that hold the top in place. Lifted hinged top, removed tub cover which is held in place with plastic mounting tabs. That was it. Put everthing back together approx. 15 Minutes.

The first thing I did was look at the diagrams for my specific appliance on the parts select web site to locate fastners. I removed the front panel(2 screws 4" from floor on front panel), then removed the corner bolts of top panel(found under in front). Next I removed the 4 screws on the control panel (on top). I located the screw holdling the fill injector to the top Lid. Then I removed the clamp holding the unit to the regulator. Assembled the unit and placed it in position. First attaching the fill injector to top panel, then clamping the hose to regulator, then replacing 4 screws in control panel. Next the two corner screws in corners under the top panel. Replaced front panel and 2 screws. Then had a trail run and no water leaks any where.