I replaced the drive belt today, since the old one seemed stretched. It was having trouble spinning the water out of a cycle, and a lot of belt dust had accumulated under the machine.
I ran the machine with the new belt, and everything seemed fine. Then, the machine wouldn’t spin to drain the water again. After looking at the machine, I found that the top part of the pulley had broken off of the motor and the belt slid off, finding itself caught beneath the pulley, spinning and carving rubber from the belt.
I’ve taken the washer apart, and have the motor in my hands. The problem seems to be the pulley, which has broken off, but has not been removed completely from the center spindle. Can anyone tell me how to get the pulley off of the center spindle? (and how to put a new one on). A new pulley and a new belt should do the trick (thank goodness I bought the lifetime belt warranty!)
Thanks for the links. I’ve ordered the pulley and am awaiting the part. The one thing I am still not clear on is how to pull the old, melted pulley off the motor spindle and put the new one back on.
Anyone have any write ups or pictures of this task?
Thanks again for the links. I have a dremel, so I’m going to go that way and not invest in a pulley puller. I’m sure I’ll regret it, but I’ve just about reached my patience level with this thing.
One thing. Does it matter which direction the pulley goes on the spindle? I imagine it does, so here’s the way it looks. The new pulley has one side that is longer than the other. I assume there is a reason for that, but I have no idea which side is "up"
If anyone can answer this, please tell me if the short or long side is put on closest to the motor? I don’t want to muck this up. As I’m sliding it on, will it stop automatically at the correct point, or will I have to mark it first on the spindle with a marker?
A picture would be helpful, but any info is better than none. Thanks!
PS, the part has no directions sent with it, like some of the links have implied. Disappointed! :mad:
I want to say thanks for this thread. I had the same part break on my Maytag washer. The appliance store said that you had to buy a new motor, as the pulley is not available separately. Thanks to Denman for the link. I avoided buying a new (used) washer from craigslist and have the part on its way.
For reference, if you need to pull off the pulley, the gear puller would work best. The shaft of the motor has a polygonal spline that seats -very- snugly within the pulley. Without a gear puller or some other method to secure the shaft while working, you cannot pull hard enough on the pulley to free it without damaging the motor. I used several lever methods to try to get it free, ultimately just cut through it with a small sawzall and a fine blade.
Also, if you go to Denman’s link, look at the complete motor assembly. In the information there is a part number for the pulley only; it is not listed in the main list. # AP4024152
This thread was a lifeline for me. The only place where I could find information about replacing just the pulley. The guy at Midwest Appliance in Chicago said they rarely sell replacement pulleys, which leads me to believe that a lot of entirely good motors, and even washing machines, get trashed.
I took some pictures, first one shows a cross section of the old pulley that I cut off with a Dremel. Take a look at it, and realize that cutting off is the only way. A gear puller is going to have a hard time with that setup.
Cross section of old pulley, still on motor
This next one shows the new pulley installed, but not all the way yet!
Not all the way on
The last one shows it fully in place. Like someone suggested above, I used a socket to tap it into place with a hammer.
Success!
This was for a Maytag model PAV3240AWW. New pulley and belt, and good as new!