MHWE550WJ00 Maytag Washer - Instructions

The first step is to remove the retainer ring that holds the outside of the bellow in place.
To do this, Open the washer door as far as you can to get it out of the way. look underneath of the front of the bellow on the outside of the washer where it meets the door. Put your head almost on the floor and look up.
You will find a spring streached about 3" connected to a small diameter wire (1mm.) that runs all the way around the outside portion of the bellow.
Use a small screwdriver or other to pull and pry the spring away from the rubber bellow. Be careful not to damage the spring or ring. Once you have grip on it, pull it carefully toward you then up and off of the bellow.

The front portion of the bellow is now free and can be peeled off. Start at any point and pull the rubber bellow in toward the opening of the washer, it comes off easily.
When you get to the detergent outlet on the upper left side, grab the plastic tube and carefully pull the bellow from around it. There is no adhesive or clamp holding this in place, just friction. Remove the rest of the front portion of the bellow.
Push as much of the bellow into the washer as possible to get it out of the way.

Once this is off comes the slightly tricky part. Look up at the top right portion of the bellow that is still attached. You may need to feel with your hand but you should be able to see it. You are looking for the screw/nut end of a giant hose clamp. This hose clamp goes around the entire bellow and the secures it to the portion that holds the basket.
This is where the stubby screw driver comes in handy. There is not nearly enough room for a standard one and a nut driver or wratchet are too big. The nut will be pointing down and will need to be replaced the same way.
Loosen the hose clamp almost all of the way, not necessary to have the hose clamp come completely apart.
You can now remove the entire hose clamp from around the bellow by pulling it forward.
You will need to remove the hose clamp from the washer. To do this, squeeze it in from the sides about 6", don't kink it. Push it down toward the floor between the basket and the metal front panel. You will now be able to remove it from the top of the opening and be able to pull the bottom portion out.
Pull the old bellow completely out, very easy to do.

Time to install the new bellow. Figure out which side goes in and which faces out. The big hint is that the water inlet is on the upper left side.
You will notice at the top of the bellow on the portion that goes inside of the washer, you will find a small triangular shaped tab about 1/4" high. This is your centering mark. This will be at the very top. If you keep this at the top, everything will line up perfectly.

Slip the bellow over the edge of the portion that holds the basket where you removed the old one. I started at the top and worked left so I could install the detergent inlet tube. Pull this through the bellow carefully. It doesn't take a lot of force.
As you are pressing the bellow on this lip, you will notice that there is a 1/2" high back stop all of the way around. This is great because as you press it on, there is a positive stop and you can't go further than necessary. Continue to press it in all of the way around.

Now it is time to install the Hose clamp. Un bend anything that might have bent on the clamp. With the nut at the top or top right with the nut facing down to the floor while holding it vertically, squish it slightly inward, put the bottom portion in first then the top portion. Orient is as it was when you took it off. Slide it around the bellow. You will feel a positive stop.
Grab the stubby screwdriver and tighten down the hose clamp. I did about a medium force when tightening. It doesn't take a lot of force.

Now it is time to pull the remaining part of the bellow out of the basket and fit it into place. Press it around the outside portion of the opening so it hooks over the lip. This w

(1) First I unpluged the washer then I removed the water from the tube with a water vac.(2) Then I removed the three (3) screws that holds the front panel, using a Torx T-20 socket. ( this is a front load washer ). The panel is below the loading door.
(3) I packed towels under the washer.
(4) I slowly removed the cleanout in the front of the pump, using the water vac to catch the water as it leaked out.
(5) I removed the wiring to the motor.
(6) I removed the screw that holds the pump in place with a Torx T-20 socket.
(7) I pulled the pump forward so the clamps that hold the drain hose and discharge hose could be removed using the hose clamp pliers. ( they come off much easier then they go back on ).
(8) I tested the pump and found it would run but was making a lot of noise and running slow.
(9) To reinstall start with number (7) and work backwards to number (1) skipping (3) and (4).
Don Kramer
Wichita, Kansas

Don't know how they managed to get out of the washer tub, but we found a quarter, dime and penny in the "lint" filter (called the "Cap" in the PartSelect details). The penny managed to get into the impeller and took out 3 1/2 of the 4 impeller blades.

Replacement is very simple, about a 15-20 minute job Be sure the machine is unplugged for safety.Remove the three (3) screws holding the lower front panel and remove the panel. The pump assembly is a white unit about the middle of the opening (the original pump itself was black, the new one is white). Unscrewing the large cap will allow any residual water to drain out (we used a wet/dry shop vac to get most of the water out of the tub first). Following the wires going to the pump, there is a cover over the wiring connector that easily pops up and the connector can be pulled out. Directly below the unit is a screw with a Torx head that has to be removed, then two (2) hoses held with compression hose clamps that need to be removed with pliers. The unit will slide out of the base of the washer. There is a wiring harness in front of this assembly that can be popped loose on one side or the other to get the unit out.

Reversing the steps gets everything back in place.

NOTE: A notice came with my new pump stating that a tab needed to be removed on the wiring connector. It is easily removed by hand.

By the way - that was the most expensive penny I've ever owned! Pockets in jeans are now required to be turned out in our house before they are allowed in the washer!

Removed the top (3-4 screws at back). Flowmeter has 2 hoses with hose clamps. Removed with plyers. Simple electrical connector removed.

Reversed procedure. Running perfect now.

How did I know it was the flow-meter? Read the service manual as possible causes to narrow it down. Disassembled old flowmeter and cleaned. That fixed for awhile. Problem came back, could 'tap' on flowmeter to temporarily fix. This convinced me that was indeed the problem.

The flowmeter is just a simple vane that moves as water flows across it, and sends pulses each time it rotates. If it 'sticks' then the computer doesn't think any water is coming in - hence the error. Tapping on it would 'unstick' long enough to confirm problem.

Unscrewed door screws from washer lifted the door up a little removed door. Unscrewed screws from the glass side and f door remove hinge replaced with new hinge screwed glass door back together. Attached door back to washer screwed screws back in done

Opened the front panel with 3 crews T-25 or socket wrench. Panel comes off right away.

Look for the leak. Determined it was the hose. Use power pliers to remove the clamp.

The small clamp was easy. The big one I had to use my yoga to get to it. It probably would had been easy from the back panel but moving the machine requires brute force.

Once the hose was out I found some bra under wires which is what probably punctured the hose.

Removed the front filter and found a bunch of nails.

Assembly was much easier and placed clamps so that if needed it would be a lot easier to remove and replace.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

Removed bellow clamp (used screwdriver to pry clamp open). Removed Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp with socket set. Removed Bellow. I had purchased new clamps as I didn't know condition of the old clamps. The Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp was in good condition, appeared to have an anodized finish - was not corroded and the tightening screw pointed forward where as the new clamp appeared to be galvanized and the tightening screw paralled the clamp. I assumed the new orientation of the tightening screw was to make it easier to tighten with a screwdriver, but space is limited and I had good success removing the old clamp with a socket set so I elected to reuse the old clamp. Plus, I liked the finish of the old clamp better - it had zero corrosion on it after several years, almost a decade, of use.
Reinstalling the bellow was the hardest part of the repair - it is just tedious and patience is required - I took a couple of breaks seating the Bellow to the outer tub. There was a tab on the Bellow which went to the top to insure the Bellow was properly aligned. After I seated the bead of the Bellow all the way around, I slipped the Bellow to Outer Tub Clamp over the Bellow and tightened it down - continually checking the seating of the Bellow. I then put the Bellow over the water inlet tube and seated the outer portion of the Bellow. I needed additional hands to help hold the outer clamp in place - my wife helped - and I used pliers and plastic pry wedges from a tire patch repair kit to pull it open and slip it over the Bellow - I didn't want to use screwdrives as I was afraid I would damage the Bellow.

Like most folks, my daughter has tossed the shipping bolts after her puechase, I moved her the first time w/o any thought to it but commercial movers won't do that, they will chg. you to have it done and it's not cheap, akin to an appliance repair. This kit contains all four bolts/spacers, (2) upper and (2) lower. Hard to tell from the decription but a sweet gal on the help desk assured me of it. Got it fast and got them installed in minutes, easy to do and wrote a big note on the back of the washer to save them!! No idea why your owners book says "do not reuse".

1st I removed the front retaining ring. You do need to get down near the ground to see the retaining ring. I used two pairs of needle nosed pliers to pull the ring apart (which has a spring in the middle) and then removed the ring.

Then I pushed the bellows into the washing machine drum, pulled the water inlet valve from the bellows, and used a short flat blade screwdriver to remove the retaining band (upper right of the bellows) After doing this it was a simple matter to remove the whole unit.

I did find it was easier to remove the washing machine door.

The installation was a simple matter of reversing the above. I had no problems with this repair. I would STRONGLY suggest, unless you are one of those gifted 3 handed people, getting an assistant to push the outer retaining ring into place as you separate the spring.

Simple, easy repair.

Remove the lower front cover there are three small torx type screw. The pump is the very first thing you see. Have a wet and dry Vac available you will need it. The drain pump and the drain lines contain a lot of water. Unscrew the big white drain plug at the pump and clean up the water, remove the front small mounting screw and disconnect the two hoses in the back of the pump with pliers and follow the pre-printed steps in reverse. If your machine is more than six years old you will have to use a utility knife and remove a piece of plastic on the electrical connector that is from the washer wiring, if you force the connection on it will brake, look at the connection and the plug and attempt to plug it in before you install the pump. It is easy just be-aware of the connector.

I found a you tube video with step by step instructions. Very easy to follow. Repair would have been quicker had my kids not been at home. I had to have my boyfriend help me put on the outer bellow spring clamp, as I was not strong enough. Washer works great.

1-Unplug washer
2-Remove the bottom of the front washer cover 3 screws
3-Locate pump and loosen pump drain cover turn to left just a little enough for water to start draining.
4- Suck-up water with wet/ dry vac. Remove 1 screw holding pump.
5- Flip pump electrical cover up and disconnect wiring from pump.
6- Remove 2 hose clamps. The outlet was not to hard to remove, but the intake was not easy to get the pliers on.
7- Install new pump. See instruction to install. I didn't have to remove any ribs to install the connector as in the instruction sheet that came with the new pump. Also I didn't think it was very clear instruction.
8- Last installing the spring clamps. The outlet went okay, but the inlet I never could get on. I could not get the pliers on the clamp. I fooled around at least 20 min. trying to get the clamp on. I went out and bought a 3/4 to 1 3/4 stainless hose clamp with the worm drive design. That is what took so long.You may want to get new hose clamps before starting.
Other wise I did okay.

remove 3 screws of top panel at rear. slide top to rear 1/2 inch and lift up. disconnect wire to flometer, remove clamps on hoses and remove, reverse to install. did not fix problem. ck'd screens at fill valves. ordered new fill valves--problem solved. solenoids must not have been opening up all the way.

I followed the repair blog by the poster most liked...