MAH5500BWQ Maytag Washer - Instructions

Wow! Thanks to the customer info/hints already posted the repair went super smooth and was relatively easy to accomplish. $70.00 for an easily replaced part sure beats $1,000+ for a new washer. Super fast shipping reduced down-time significantly!!! From start to finish the job took less than 30 minutes. Thank you so much.

Despite the reviews by people who installed this part themselves, I knew that any type of repair was beyond my ability. I enlisted the assistance of a cousin who is a trained, professional appliance repairman. Despite not having instructions, with his experience things went well until he found he did not have the unique wrench that would have made life easier, but he was able to adapt and use the tools he had at hand. Unfortunatley, after more than twos hours attempting to install the wire around the boot, he realized that he could not do it alone, I had to help him and together, we were able to install the wire. It would have been helpful to have step by step instructions and a list of necessary (or at least useful) tools.

Basic disassembly as described earlier.Some tips I found helpfull. Use vice grip pliers on spring.it will keep a grip on the spring hook and you can exert more force to pull the spring.Th bellows was very sticky and hard to slip into place. I put a litle silicone lube ( stuff you use for pool pump gaskets )on the bellows. It made it slip into place easly.

Off with the door. Off with the front panel. Lift the top and you are looking at the boot. Remove the boot retaining wire . Remove the boot and reverse the procedure. It's a snap.

Download machine service manual from internet. This makes dismantling easy and prevents damage to component parts.

Dismantle as per manual and remove old bellow - easy.

Re-install new bellow on tub rim - EXTREMELY difficult. The spring that tensions the wire that holds the bellow in place is extremely powerful and in attempting to stretch it it often slips off the tub rim taking the bellow with it so you have to start all over again. It took me 2 hours to realise I would never be able to do this alone. With the help of a second pair of hands this was accomplished in 20 mins with some difficulty.
The rest of the installation and re-assembly was done without difficulty.

Removed the door and front panel with ease. Then came the spring and cable. People who say it was easy are not telling the whole story. Removing the spring was okay except for it flew across the room. Putting the new cable on with a pair of needlenose pliers did not work for me. I had to get a spring tool like you use on brakes on a car. Once I had the tool and secured the cable in place with a piece of wire I got the spring on. Everything except the spring took about 15 minutes.

Disassembled washer as per directions with seal kit. Removed inner tub. Cut both tub shaft bearing in half; punched out from outter tub. Installed new bearings using .5 inch threaded rod, washer and bolts. Installed new seal on inner tub shaft. Installed inner tube. Re-assembled washer.

I followed the video which I might say is somewhat misleading for the Maytag Neptune washing machine. This is the one with a recall due to mildew and mold build up on the Door Seal (Bellow). First to take it apart you really need a 8mm socket in order to get into tight spaces. Once you start using the socket everything will come apart quickly the last being removing the old Bellow. I found this is easy if you just roll the spring toward the front using a screw driver. Once it clears the front of the Bellow, the cable will fall off along with the spring. You can now remove the old Bellow. The next step is to insert the new Bellows on the rim of the tube. I started by attaching the drain hose at the bottom and then from the video, started at the top make sure you have it center correctly and worked down one side pushing the Bellows on the rim and then do the same thing to the other side part way. Alternating from one side to the other until you reach the bottom. The Bellow is now on the tube, NOW the hard part. First, the old spring was stretched. I bought a new spring at Home Depot. I next took the cable and placed it around the tube with the ends at the top. Make sure to thread the cable carefully so it is in place. Watch out for plugs and the drain at the bottom of the tube. I attempted to attach the spring by myself using a long nose plier and a Grip plier but just could not stretch is far enough by myself as shown in the video. I next took a 16 ga insulated wire you could also get at Home Depot and attached it to each end of the cable and twisted it together in the middle with pliers so it was tight and cut off the excess wire. I attached one end of the spring through the right eyelet on the cable and using the grip pliers and BOTH hands on the grip pliers pull the spring and threaded it through the left eyelet. Hold the spring in place I now pushed the stretched spring against the back lip of the tube. I removed the 16 ga wire buy cutting off the ends and carefully pulling it away. Next, I just followed the video. I pushed all the tabs on the Bellow in to the holes on the tub and then screwed the parts back in reverse order. Good Luck Al

The video was great. The only problem was getting the spring back on. It was way too stiff, so I put it in a vise and stretched it a bit. It's a bit fussy but your site made it go pretty easy. thanks

Replaced the pump as per video.

Followed the PartsSelect video for the seal replacement, which was step by step and spot on, I just had to add the bearing replacement part myself. Once it was dissembled I drove each bearing out by tapping them with the hammer and drift. My model had no bearing retainer ring. I did not remove the outer drum from the washer. Clean the aluminum hub real well, scrape it with a utility knife to remove corrosion, wipe with a solvent soaked rag, etc. I disagree with other methods ive seen while researching, like a wire brush in a drill, because you will remove aluminum material from the hub and the bearing wont fit as tightly as designed. tap in the rear bearing til fully seated. I did the rear first because gravity then held the spacer in place. Set the spacer in place, noting that one end is "flared" to a larger diameter, so it seats against the larger race of the front bearing. Align and start the front bearing in place. The spacer needs to align with the bearings so it bears against the inner races of the bearings. So to hold it in place I rolled up a piece of light cardstock, slid it thru the spacer and bearing, and as it "uncoiled" it aligned the spacer. Pretty well. I did have to tap the spacer a little with the drift after the bearings were in, but just a little. After that, back to the video for the seal and reassembly. Only other comment I have is to locate the bearings early. I ended up going to grainger for one and Napa for the other. And no one could seem to cross the "DU" part of the original NGK bearing. The DU means it just has seals on both sides. Pretty standard stuff. That could have been easier. Also hold off ordering extra parts. I have found PartsSelect is really quick getting stuff out. I ordered an inner drum because i heard from other research that that could cause the banging noise. My banging noise was from one bearing disinegrating and the balls breaking up inside the hub. Shipping the drum back cost 70. UPS wanted 160. So that could have gone better, but I didn't want to let the machine sit too long. Next time I'll let it sit a couple days.

Removed tub replaced bearings. Put in new seal. Be aware drawing on instruction shows seal cup instaled from wrong side of seal. Other wise went well. Got bearings from McMaster Carr.

Moldy bellow was the reason I replaced the bellow. It tried cleaning the bellow numerous time over the last five year, but once the mold sets in, it's a losing battle. A highly mold resistant bellow would be nice. The available video was invaluable. I would not have purchased the parts if I had not seen the video. I spent a few more dollars for additional parts, because once I got started I did not want to find a bad part and then not be able to complete the repair in one try. Since the bellow was moldy, I expected the door boot drain hose would be moldy also, so, for a few more dollars, I replace it also. Worth the effort. I took me, just under two hours to complete the job, with the help of my wife. I'm some may be thinking, what did she do? She cleaned the parts I took off, so they were clean, well at least cleaner, when I put them back on. This washer was nearly ten year old and had never been apart. I could have finished the replacement bellow in less than an hour, but I took some time to clean inside the washer while it was apart. That's just the way I roll. Fitting the bellow to seal properly was not as simple as the repairman made it look on the video, but that was because he had done this before, probably many time over. He knew what it felt like to fit it and snap it into place. Once I got the feel of seating the bellow, it went smoothly. The boot cable and spring are a bit tricky to hook, as anticipated; I read some previous experiences. So, I thought about how I was going to secure the spring in order to stretch it to the other cable hook. I decided to use two pairs of vice grips to hold the spring and cable hook end. I have two small to medium sized vice grips, which worked perfectly. Otherwise, it is very difficult to pull and hold a pair of pliers closed, at the same time. I sit at a computer most days and am not used to a mechanics world. Use your brain when you don't have the brawn. Job done, no leaks.

Followed instructions that came with replacement part, good as new!

I removed the rear access panel, used a nut driver and pliers to remove the old hose. I tried to connect the new hose with the spring clamp on the pump end of the hose. I gave up on that after a few attepmts because the clamp was very hard to manipulate with standard pliers. I used a standard screw type hose clamp (2") that I had instead. The tub end was easier because a standard hose clamp was used there already. The washer no longer leaks, and I saved a lot of money by doing the job myself!