MAH5500BWW Maytag Washer - Instructions

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.

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.

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.

Bought the parts and just inserted them.

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.

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.

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.

The replacement was not complicated. It took me more time because the details are not in the videos and I had to do it twice because I didn't get the seal on correctly the first time. I used the Neptune videos available on you tube for the basics. Use the "inspecting front door lock wax motor" video for a start, but be sure to take off the top front crosspiece also for easier access to the spring that tensions the seal retainer cable. You don't have to disconnect any wires, just lay the door lock assembly gently to the left of the washer. The old seal comes off very easily, using the front loader door seal video. My washer was an early one without the drain tube so I had to get the drain tube and clamps separately and drill out the tub nipple to the left below the seal. I used the biggest drill bit I had that fit inside the nipple. The tub is plastic and very easy to drill. Most of the plastic shavings will come out toward you if you drill slowly and don't push too hard on the drill. I also used my shop vac to try and get out any other shavings. I used dish washing liquid as a lubricant to help put the seal on and used too much. It doesn't take very much. The spring that tightens the inner seal clamp/cable was very hard to attach and it did require two locking pliers [vise-grips] and quite a lot of effort. You have to hook one end of the spring to the cable that wraps around the seal, hold the other end of the cable with locking pliers, the free end of the spring with locking pliers, and stretch the spring to hook it to the free end of the cable. There are some other methods described in various forums and one of them might work better for you. When I was an auto mechanic we had a special tool that helped attach springs like this on drum brakes. I was sure wishing that tool was still in my tool chest but it was not. This was the most difficult part for me, getting the cable and spring all in place and stretching the spring without dislodging the seal and having to start all over.I didn't get the seal aligned correctly the first time and had to do it over after putting ever thing back together and washing a load of clothes. I could have avoided that by carefully inspecting the seal before I put everything together. When you put it back together the end of that red or green nylon line that looks like weed eater line goes under the soap/bleach dispenser bezel on the top so you can manually open the door if the wax motor goes bad and it won't unlock.

Following the information on the web it simplified this repair a great deal. Disassembled the front of the machine, then pulled it out from the wall, removed the rear panel. Removed the belt & pulley and knocked the shaft loose from bearings. Removed the tub and using the brass bar drove the rear bearing out first then removed the seal and front bearing. The seal has to come out first so the plastic spacer can be removed, used the brass bar from the rear of machine to drive front bearing out. Cleaned up all parts and reassemblied. Replaced the motor isolators and drive belt with new since I was in the machine that far. Removed the soap & bleach tray and cleaned up all those parts. re-assembled and washed a load of rags to test machine. Sounded like a new machine. Sourced the new bearings from a bearing supplier they are 6200 Series bearings, Rear 6206-2RS; Front - 6207-2RS. Had I not made this repair I would have been buying a new washer & dryer so this job for a little over a hundred bucks saved me thousands! Thanks to PARTSELECT for all this information!!

I had pretty much the same experience as others. Difficult parts were 1) removing the inner tub, I used the blunt side of an axe with a 4x4 after several hammers would budge it. 2) removing the old bearing, like others I had to cut them out using a Dremmel with a steel cutting disk from Home Depot ($15) Wear eye protection as sparks are flying! Cut out the inner race and the bearing fell out, then cut V notches in the outer race, trying not to cut into the bearing seats on the tub although I did have a couple small cuts, then hammered it out from opposite side. Installed the new beaings and metal sleave between (what is the sleave for?). I tapped both bearing up against the seat shoulder but with the sleave in between there's not enough room and the new bearings turned real hard as the sleave is binding them. (Minor panic). A couple taps with hammer and chisel on the inner bearing from opposite side to push it out created enough room and the bearings turned real easy. Suggestion; plug the drain opening in the bottom of the outer tub with a towel or sponge to prevent pieces of the old bearing from falling in there. I saw one ball roll down in drain, so I tipped the machine on its side and several balls washed out plus pieces of the old bearing. I had a towel laying over the top but that wasn't enough, needs to be stuffed down in the opening. Re-assembly was easy and the machine runs perfect. The wife is very impressed. Total investment approx $85 (kit, bearings and cutting disk) plus about 8-10 hours vs $800 repair or new machine.

Repair was simpl, took about 3 1/2 hours +. Used on line video for dismantal information & reassembling. Hammered out old bearings and seals. Installed them with big bolt and old bearings, I used the old bearings as pushing tools for new bearings. The large bolt and nut pulled the bearings in to place at the same time. Installed seal and reassembled machine. I moved from Jester to King at home.

Thanks to Partselect's accurate parts' lists, and installation video, along with others' posted installation trials, gained confidence to attack problem on my own (coupled with repair (or should I say, "replace")men's advise to trash machine). Bearings had basically disintegrated, causing inner tube to be out-of-alignment, and rub against outer tube. Would just like to add to what others' contributed, that I found Plumber's Tub Drain tool to work very well at knocking-out larger front bearing (was perfect fit to ID of bearing). Had to Dremel cut out rear bearing, but quite accessible from rear of machine. Otherwise, alot of cleaning from 13yrs. of useage. Thanks for everyone's assistance!

Using online disassembly instructions removed and replaced front and rear bearings. Then attempted to install the seal kit that was purchased online from partselect. Com. Was supposed to receive both seals plus lubricant so that no matter which seal I needed I would be covered. The kit I received had 2 seals that were identical. . . I needed, as it turned out the early seal kit, but unfortuneatly I had 2 revised kits. Of course I tried to assemble one but it just won't work. The seal kit must be the correct one. I didn't give up. I ordered another seal kit online from appliance partspros. Com and received both kits as advertized. . . One being the early version plus a small packet of grease along with all the other required loose parts and was able to complete the repair. The second time around proved much easier because of the experience factor.

Followed the instructions that were supplied with the Lip Seal Kit, for removal of the inner drum. As expected, once into the project, I found that the bearings that are part of the outer drum, were bad. Reading other installation blogs, prior to starting, I knew the bearing sizes, 6206-2RS & 6207-2RS, and I purchased the bearings, from Motion Industries, before starting the project. Taking a hammer and long 1/2" socket extension I was able to remove both the inner and outer bearings form the outer drum. (Bearings were all but seized up) Once I had cleaned up the aluminum hub which is part of the outer drum and where the bearings mount, I was able to start the process of installing the new bearings and completing the project. Timing could not have been any better to take on this repair project because the aluminum hub was showing major signs of corrosion on the inner side of the hub. I was concerned that the new lip seal would not seal off the inner drum from the bearings/outer durm. This project was competed on 8/21/12 and so far and 6 loads later I have not found any leaks.