6494-LWM-423 Amana Washer - Instructions

Water was leaking on the floor during the wash cycle and especially during draining of the washer. I removed the front panel at ground level and watched while draining after a rinse.

I t was obvious that water was spraying from a hole in the rubber end of the hose (the hose is a fused assembly of a plastic section and a rubber section).

So, I finished draining, removed the hose (required pliers to squeeze off a hose clamp).

Upon inspecting the hose, it was also apparent that the hole was caused by rubbing against a support bracket for the motor. This should not happen, but it did because the plastic standoff supposed to keep the hose away from the bracket was installed 180 degrees backwards.

So, I simply replaced the hose and turned the bracket around to the correct orientation.

Everything worked as planned and my repair cost was much less than if I had called someone out.

Removed the front of the washer, then lifted the top up and held it up with a prop. Pulled the agitator straight up and started the disasembly. Using the photos in the hub and seal kit was a big help. The large nut on the output shaft had to be cut off with my dremel tool and the hub removed with a wheeler puller. Assembly was pretty much straight forward. Primed the pump and started the machine for the stated time and was a sucess.

This is not a bad repair, but give yourself some time. I did not have to take the tranny and motor out, but the inner and outer tub and all related parts had to come out, along with the outer tub base. If you are replacing the tub bearing, you HAVE to order the seal kit. Don't try to skimp like I did, since you will need the seal kit as this is what causes that bearing to fail in the first place. We forgot how quiet the washer was after I fixed it, and it saved us from buying a new washer since we were ready to say the heck with it and buy a new pair. You might need an 1.5 inch socket to get the big nut off the spindle, but I was able to get with a visegrip and hammer. The nice thing about this repair is even if you screw it up, you won't have water all over the place because of the seal design. I just checked under the washer a few times for the first few weeks and all seems fine.

Took off the agitator, removed inner tub, exposing the hub drive. Found fusion between hub drive and agitator shaft. Rather than using a wheel puller as instructions recommended I got my masonry hammer and removed the drive hub in pieces. Removed debris from the tub. Installed sealant around lower seal as instructed. Re-assembled inner tub, agitator with new upper seal. Plugged in the washer, turned on the water. No leak. Happy happy.

After removing the agitator and drive bell by pulling on them HARD, I found that the lock nut and hub were corroded in place. I used grinding wheels to remove them which took over an hour. The internal and external threads needed to be cleaned up with tap and die and the splines had to be filed in order to get the new hub on the shaft. I did not use antiseize compound. The tub seal went on easily and the lock nut was guestimate torqued using a wrench made for water heater elements. The drive bell seal was very stubborn. It is normally pressed on with a special tool, but I had scrap pipe sections that fit the inner and outer press-points and used a large hammer to drive it into place. The washer does not leak any more. Total time was around four hours.

This washer leaked when it was about 7 years old and I replaced the seals at the bottom of the drum. That was a difficult repair but I'm glad I did it because the thing has run just fine for the 11 years since then.

This time when it leaked I started shopping for new washers, thinking it was the same thing. Just to be sure I opened it up to see if it was leaking somewhere else. The pump is right in the front of the washer and sure enough, it started dripping just a few minutes into the cycle. I hopped onto the interwebs and found Parts Select, they shipped me the new part and it arrived the next day!

First I removed the washer front (two screws). Then the bracket holding the pump came off by removing the two screws in front and loosening the screw behind then sliding it toward the back of the washer. The belt comes off once the tension slacks and the pump and bracket come right out. Remove the two hoses from the pump and four screws holding the pump to the bracket and you are ready to reverse the procedure.

If you care about your floor, be prepared to catch the water somehow when you remove the hoses. Be careful not to cross-thread the plastic when you screw the new pump on.

The toughest part was replacing the two hoses. One was held on by one of those clamps that you squeeze with pliers, not the screw kind. The space is kinda tight and a third hand would have been useful if there was room for it. I think I re-attached the bracket and pump to the washer to hold it in place.

I finished the whole thing in less than 30 minutes. It was super-easy except for the hoses. I would have bought a clamp that screws if I had thought ahead, but there must have been a reason for the manufacturer to use two different kinds of clamps.

I just realized it probaby took me as long to type up this story as it did to fix the thing. I just couldn't see spending ten times the money to buy a new washer!

I did as the directions said that came with the kit. Except everything came off by hand until I got to the hub nut. Instead of waiting for another shipment and buying a tool I would have used once and never touched again I called SEARS and a technician came to my house because I did not have the hub nut hex wrench. He called it a spanner wrench. Once he used the tool to get off the nut I was in business. Until I had to put the nut back on. I ended up wrapping a towel around the end of a 12" adjustable crescent wrenc and litle by little smacked it with a hammer until the nut looked like it was all the way down. Just to put the nut back on my way took almost an hour alone. The directions said that a puller was needed to get off the adjutator shaft (unsure of correct name), but it came off with a little wiggleing. Once I put the new one on it would not budge off so a small puller would have been needed to remove it if I needed to again. And puting it back on was a chore in it self. I ended up using a hammer and 6" 1/2" drive extension with a 20 something MM socket on the end to force it down all the way. And the shat that the large seal goes over also requires a tool which is also not mentioned until you read the directions. I was able to twist and force on the new one with a little bit of included grease around the meeting surface. For the most part the directions were correct, but left out a bunch of nice to know things that the average person who is not mechnically inclined may not have figured out. Overall the whole procedd was pretty easy once all the tools were available. Suggestions I would make are to say in the advertisement of the seal kit that the Hub nut hex wrech (spanner wrench) and seal tool will be needed inorder to complete the removal and/ or installation. Which are sold seprately.

1st, I removed the top, back and side panels. Then removed the plastic parts off the top of the tubs. Next removed the agitator from it's hub. In the center of the agitator hub was a retaining bolt to be removed next using a 7/16" socket. Had to use a gear puller to get the agitator hub up off it's spline. Then there were four 1/2" socket size hex bolts to remove facilitating the removal of the inner stainless steel tub. Next was the toughest part of my task, the removal of the large hex nut holding the inner tub hub down. Since I did not have a socket large enough to fit the nut, I used a ball peen hammer to loosen it by striking it on it's hex flats in an angle that would tend to drive it in a CCW rotation. It took several blows but finally it began to loosen. Then removed it with my Channel Lock water pump pliers. Once the Inner tub hub was removed, the lower seal was accessible. Removed the old seal from the outer tub flange, and scraped off all the old sealant with a razor blade scraper. Then installed the new seal according to the instructions supplied with the new hub and seal kit. Re-assembled the washer, ran it through a cycle while it was still out in the garage to ensure the leak was fixed and was happy to find that indeed it was. Everything went fairly well if you overlook the slight cut on my right thumb I suffered while re-assembling the covers. It wasn't too bad, a band aid fixed it up.

I removed the six screws that held the control panel to the washing machine and then tried to unscrew the timer knob counter-clockwise to remove it,but it turned freely and wouldn"t unscrew as it should because it was broken inside. I laid the control panel down and used a hammer and a punch and with a few good taps on the metal shaft that was on the inside of the timer (hitting back towards the timer knob) it let go and then the knob turned off easily. I then slid the timer knob plate off the shaft. I removed the two 1/4" nut screws from the timer unit with a nut driver. Next I unplugged the electrical plug by lifting the tab on the top and pulled the connection apart. I put the new timer in with the two nut screwsand plugged in the electrical connection. I then slid on the timer knob plate and screwed the knob on. The control panel was put back on with the six screws and the machine worked perfect. Something that you must not forget......unplug all appliances before working on them.

I followed the instructions that came with the hub and seal kit, which were pretty well written but not terribly detailed. Once I got into the job though, I felt confident that the instructions told me all of the important information--the rest was common sense. If you're reasonably handy you can pull this off.

The instructions call for some specialty tools, which I was able to do without by using the following:

• Drive Bell:
The old drive bell slid right off without a puller--I think I got lucky on this one.

To install the new drive bell I used a long 1/4-20 bolt, nut and fender washers. I spun a nut way up the bolt then slid the fender washers on. I threaded all of this down into the transmission output shaft until it bottomed out. Then I turned the nut down to push the washers and drive bell down until it hit bottom. Then I backed out out the bolt and washers and installed the shoulder screw.

• Hub:
I used a generic wheel-puller I already had to get this off and it came off with little effort. I put the old shoulder screw back into the top of the shaft for the point of the puller to sit on so it wouldn't mess up the transmission output shaft or threads (obvious, I know but a bad thing to overlook).

Drive Bell Seal:
• This calls for seal tool #293P4. I'm sure the seal can be installed by hand but it happened that the two extension tubes from my Shop-Vac were exactly the right diameters to seat the bottom and top parts of the seal.

• Lint filter:
The instructions just say "remove lint filter" but it was pretty stuck on and seems pretty fragile so I took it easy. I used a small scrap of 1/8-inch plywood to slide under the edge until it popped off.

The instructions say not to use the four rubber washers on the bolts that attach the inner tub to the hub if the machine has a stainless tub. Mine has a stainless tub and the original bolts had rubber washers on them so I used the new washers when i reinstalled the inner tub.

I found the 3M-800 Scotch Seal industrial sealant at a local appliance pats distributor. I researched it and it seemed like a specific enough product that it wasn't worth risking the whole job to use something I already had like Lexel. I learned that the reason it doesn't come with the kit is that it requires Haz-Mat handling, which would probably double the cost of the parts kit. One set of instructions I read from Maytag said that "the customer can use the machine after 15 minutes". But the sealant tube says it fully cures in 1 - 3 days. So I squirted out a ribbon on a piece of paper when I did the job so I could monitor the drying time and split the difference, allowing it to dry overnight. Seems as though that's long enough.

I did the job step-by-step and it seems to have worked. The first load is running right now and so far it's dry as a bone.

One thing I noticed is that some of the parts seem to have been updated over the original ones to improve performance. The drive bell and associated seal have a more sophisticated mating relationship that seems as though it will provide a better seal than the original.

Good luck

Unplug the washer
Took off the front with nut driver to two fasteners at the bottom.
Took off two tub springs using channel lock pliers.
Tipped the tub back for more hand room.
Took brake bolts off with box end wrench.
Put Screw driver above brake clamps and pried down to make the old brake pads drop down below the seats and then take brakes off. You might have to use a screw driver to expand the brake clamps so they will release the brake. (brake clamps look like a pulley but the edges will spread some bit.)
Twisted large screw driver between the brake clamps and pushed new brake in as far as would go while beside (to the left or right of) the brake seat.
Pried brake clamps down and rotated brake around until it is lined up with the brake seat. Then pried pads up into the seat.
Re-twisted large screw driver between the brake clamps to separate them and pulled the brake pad back to within 1/8th to 1/16th inch of the back. This lined up the bolt hole.
Inserted the bolt with rubber grommett into the brake pad hole and twisted it counter clockwise and tightened with wrench. (If the bolt would not thread, then you have to adjust the brake pad forward or backward until the holes line up.) Tighten the bolt until it is firmly tight.

There are three brakes. Each is installed the same way. The one in back required a little cross legged contortion for me to reach around both sides of the motor and two front brake pad mounts. The key is lining up the bolt hole in the brake pad with the mount. I pretty well had it figured out after the second pad install. Time for me.. 4 hours. Cost, leg cramps, sore muscles from awkward positions, and the joy of not having to buy a new washer.

Return the springs to the tub on the front. Close front panel and return the two fasteners with the nut drivers.

How did I know I needed the brakes? When in agitation mode the tub spun the opposite direction of the spin cycle. When the agitator turned the opposite direction, the water inside went into a very strong vortex and sometimes sloshed out the top or around the top edges When there were a lot of clothes and a high fill level in the tub. We also had trouble with straps winding around the agitator. The tub spun so quickly that the water without agitation was driven to the top outer edges of the tub by centrifugal force.

First I thought hoses could have been clog, turned out that the flow valve was bad
One screw to take off the value holder itself, removed the two hoses that bring hot and cold water to the valve, removed the water line that brings the cold and hot water to the washer (nothing more than a hose clamp) Was then able to remove the valve holder. Simply unbolted the value from the holder, replaced with new valve and reversed processed to re-install.
Pretty easy, about minutes

The Speed Queen people were nice enough to provide a swing out door on the back of the machine to access the mixing valve. I had to pry it open because they did not supply enough slack in the hose that attaches to the mixing valve. The hose clamp securing the outlet hose to the valve was difficult to remove as the screw was positioned by someone that assembled the machine with no thought given to if it would ever to be taken apart.

Be sure to unplug the machine before attempting this repair. I unplugged the dryer instead and was greeted with a shower of sparks as I removed the valve. Luckily there was no damage to me or the machine. I needed some lubricant to slide the hose onto the new valve. There was some Linatone oil for my dog's coat handy. It did the trick I buttoned the machine back up and it works as good as the day I bought it.

It might be wise to replace the gaskets between the water hoses and the inlet valve. They are just standard garden hose gaskets. Replacing the strainers on the faucet side might be a good idea also. I took a video of the Speed Queen in action and will post it to You Tube. "They Don't Make 'em Like This Anymore"

The washer is four years old.
This is the second time I needed to replace this same drain hose on this same washer since I had the machine
There is only my wife ant myself maybe, 2 -3 medium size loads per week - why I would have two drain lines develop the same problem in almost the same location in two years is disconcerting
There must be a design problem with the clear plastic hose - Suggest Maytag go to a thick walled rubber hose
The hole is alway inside the washer on the bottom just after the hose bracket - I suspect that something rubbing causing a small pin hole to develop - when the condition first starts it is very difficult to located -There will be water under the washer
Run the washer and discharge the water - to locate

The replacement must be made through the lower front removable panel - and is easier to do if the pump return hose is also disconnected from the pump

Be very carful with the thin wall replacement hose - very light weight plastic - do not pull across the floor of washer - it could easily get damaged

Your company did a get job getting the part to me - The Fed Ex track system was great
I could tell exactly where the delivery was al all times -

I replaced the 7 springs holding the tub in place. To do this you have to take the two front bolts out the holds to front panel on the machine. Remove the front panel and you will see the bolt in each front corner holding the top in place. Remove these. Then remove the 8 bolts at the bottom of the three remaining sides of the machine. After removing these you can move the sides out of the way enough to remove each one of the 7 springs holding the tub in place. Then one by one replace the springs and put the sides back on in the order they were removed. Hopefully, if you are having trouble keeping your machine in balance in the spin cycle, this will fix your machine as it fixed ours.