A108 Maytag Washer - Instructions

These Maytag people know how to build stuff. I was impressed with this valve. Built really smart. After a gazillion years (about 16 or so) the valve started making a funny groaning noise and the cold water flow was very slow. Took about 15-20 minutes to fill the tub.

the inlet valve is located on the back of the washer where the hoses are connected. In fact the hose connectors are part of the valve.

To replace this valve, start by unplugging and turning off the water spigots, unscrew the two hoses from the valve. (you need a towel here, but that'll be obvious soon enough.)

Unscrew the single screw at the top of the valve bracket (the bottom of the bracket is held in place without screws.) Remove the screw holding on the sheet metal and pull the bracket out as far as you can without stretching things. Write down what colors of wire are connected, then pull off the electrical connectors.

The valve outlet is a skinny (compared to the inlet hoses) rubber hose that has a clamp to hold it in place. The clamp needs to be loosened with a 3/16" nutdriver a plier would probably work, but may be hard to get in there. Now slide the clamp further up on the hose, dislodge the rubber hose off of the old valve. Now it's free.

Reverse the steps. Believe it or not, that is all. It works great and this washer probably has another 10 year left in it.

Clamp was already in multiple pieces so easy to get off.

Got clamp from partselect.com in 1 day which was great.

Removed two PH screws from front cover then pulled bottom of front cover outward and down to remove.

Caution for those doing this: take a piece of 220 or 240 grit paper and sand all the edges of the clamp. Trying to put it on without doing so will result in countless paper cuts in hands.

Before putting new clamp on be sure to use either some soap or silicon lube on the rubber V seal between upper and lover tub.

Also need to put some 1/4" to 3/8" spacers at three equally spaced places beneath the upper tub and the lower tub. If this isn't done the upper tub will drop down too far inside the lower tub and the inner lower tub, when it starts to spin, will rub on the underside of the upper tub = cause the main drive belt to smoke and tub to "freeze up"

Spacers I used were simply 3 pieces of multi strand sheathed electrical wire 3/8" so that I could bend them down at an angle and put them out once clamp was in place. Wire pieces need to be about 4-5" long.

Assemble one bolt in clamp and thread around tub in CCW direction.

Position one bolt of the clamp in right rear corner. this is important so that when tub goes out of balance, there's clearance for the clamp bolts and they don't contact the cabinet.

Make sure before threading clamp arount tub that the screw that will end up in the front left corner has a hex head on it so that you can apply some clamping "muscle" with a socket wrench.

I had trouble getting the front left screw inserted in the clamp (its only 2" long) so I used a 3" bolt to make the preliminary connection to pull the clamp semi tight. I planned ahead and got a light wire coat hanger to use as a "tie-tie" in the event that I had to remove the 3" slotted screw to revert back to the 2" hex head screw. Luckily when I removed the 3" screw I was able to quickly pop the 2" hex head back in and tighten completely.

Before putting front cover on, do one load with front cover off to make sure that upper and lower/inner tub don't rub each other.

If ok, turn power back off and put front cover back on.

Note: Would advised ordering the rubber V-seal if you are ordreing the clamp. If you buy the seal there are four bolts in the lid that let you lift the lid to work on the tub, clamp and seal MUCH more easily. Sticky part is getting water fill tube in top left rear disconnected so that new rubber v-seal can slide over tub.

Note also that in order to get to front left lid bolt that single bolt holding diaphram onto front left upright must be removed so as the let diaphram assembly drop away to access front left lid bolt. The two bolts in the rear can be accessed from the top very easily. Also need to disconnect the bleach fill tube in order to lift the lid (right side lifts up to vertical position)

Replaced the 2 belts according to instructions received with the belts. Very easy repair

Used toothpick for a year to push switch acctuator far enough to engage switch. Broke my foot and found time to order part thru PartSelect. Went from cast to boot and received part 2 days after ordered. Had difficulty with foot and getting to switch. Went back into PartSelect and figured out how to dis-assemmble panels thru the diagrams. Time on my job doesn't, just that their service and expertise that is available to everyone is there to use. Broken bones or not, I will always get my parts and advice from PartSelect. Thanks to PartSelect.

I was told that it might be a clog in the tube.. we check the tubes that wasn't it Then I Google it and was told it might be the drain pump. I was just glad that Part Select had what I need because my machine is over 20 years old. We change the pump and now I hope I get at least another 20 years out of my machine. I will always use part select to get my parts. Thanks

The instructions that came with the damper pads were pretty clear. I moved the washer to the garage so I had room to work and lay it over on it's back when I needed to. Of course, some water came out of the washer so have some towels.

There was a bit of a problem with unscrewing the nuts on the eyebolts. I expected a nut and a backing nut, but in fact the "backing" nut is attached. Took me a little while to figure that out.

The hint about the electrical tape was useful to be able to screw the nut back to the original position.

The only real problem was in putting the adhesive on the metal. It was too messy and hard to see, so I put the adhesive on the pad and when the glue was tacky, I placed the pad carefully on the metal. Getting the back pad properly placed required a mirror inside the cabinet. I let things dry for 2 hours before I put on the silicon grease.

Make sure all the electrical connections are in place before screwing the top back on. The hot water electrical connection came off during the work and I did not notice it until i was checking the operation of the washer...had to take the top off again and use long handled needle nose pliers to put it back on.

The washer works fine now....no squeaks.

The job is a little bit of a hassle, but just follow the instructions. It is within the capability of anyone who can turn a socket and poke a hole in the cap of the glue.

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.

My washer filled up and wouldn't drain at all.

I tried checking the fuses, then read that the belt could be broken or worn. I checked under the hood and the belt was broken right in two. I drained the washer manually then ordered the new belt.

I was able to replace the belt in no time with no effort at all.

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.

Went on the PartSelect website, input the problem, and got the Water Inlet Valve as the diagnosis. When the part arrived, I viewed the short video on replacing the Water Inlet Valve and just followed the instructions. It could not have been easier. After turning off both the hot and cold water and pulling the plug from the wall socket, I removed the screw holding the bracket and valve to the machine; removed the 2 screws holding the valve to the bracket; removed the wire harness ends from each solenoid on the valve; replaced the valve with the new one and reattached the wire harness, followed by reattaching the bracket to the valve, and assembling to the machine.

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.)