Maytag spins with pulley off, not with pulley on

Washer Repair
1

I have a 1-belt Maytag washer that was making a horrible noise before it died. Now you can hear the motor struggling to move but something is bound up.

The motor is fine (spins with no belt attached), the pump is fine (took out, inspected, spins freely).

Without a belt attached, the main drum spins freely when turning the pulley clockwise. Trying to turn it counter-clockwise locks it up, like the brakes are engaging. With a belt attached, it won’t spin. It looks like the belt is putting counter-clockwise tension on the pulley and it’s not turning at all.

Is this a bad transmission, or something else?

3

Assume you mean belt, when you say pulley. The brake is always engaged until you go to spin. Main pulley rotates CCW. This should cause the cam at bottom of transmission shaft to push upwards on the pulley. Bearing on other side of pulley pushes against brake rotor and releases the brake so transmission and tub can freely rotate. If brake is not releasing, you may need to install a new thrust bearing kit. If it is releasing but basket won’t spin, there may be clothing stuck between the tubs.

http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-thrust-bearing-kit-12002213-ap4009132.html

Eric

4

— Begin quote from fairbank56;868643

Assume you mean belt, when you say pulley. The brake is always engaged until you go to spin. Main pulley rotates CCW. This should cause the cam at bottom of transmission shaft to push upwards on the pulley. Bearing on other side of pulley pushes against brake rotor and releases the brake so transmission and tub can freely rotate. If brake is not releasing, you may need to install a new thrust bearing kit. If it is releasing but basket won’t spin, there may be clothing stuck between the tubs.

Whirlpool 12002213 Thrust Bearing Kit - AppliancePartsPros.com

Eric

— End quote

Thanks, yes I meant belt, I corrected it. There are no clothes stuck inside, I took the agitator and inner tub out.

It spins freely by hand with no belt. With belt, it doesn’t move at all. I can get it to spin on the "spin cycle" with a lot of chattering noises, but the motor hums and won’t spin on agitate cycle, and it overheats and shuts off.

5

Well, I’m confused. Tilting the machine back and looking at the bottom of the pulley, turning it CCW is for spin and CW is for agitation. Think we are just visualizing it differently. Looks like you have a bad transmission.

http://www.appliancepartspros.com/whirlpool-ht-trans-s-35-6615-ap4373431.html

Eric