A103 Maytag Washer - Instructions

First I took the door off. Undid two screws that held the top door on. Took the tub out. Make sure you have a spanner wrench. So much easier.

This washer was purchased in the early 1980s and is different from the one in the video and other repair instructions. You can recognize this earlier model by the agitator design. It only has the 4 paddles that start at the bottom and does not have the auger design on the upper part of the spindle as the newer ones do. While I was able to get the agitator to pop off by threading thin ropes under it and using a four-foot board as a lever, that was the end of my successful efforts. Even with the special tool and a five pound hammer, the lock nut would not budge -- even after overnight soaking in WD40. Yes, I did recognize the reverse threading. My next attempt would have been to heat the lock nut with a butane torch, but I gave up at this point and purchased a new washing machine on my way to pick up the torch. Would be curious to know if anyone else has had success with this older model as I saw other differences in the design that suggested that it may not have been compatible with this kit.

Could not complete because sent the wrong part (just a seal instead of the tube) several times, in spite of talking on the phone for hours. Eventually gave up and ordered from another company.

Then found agitator shaft was rusted to spin shaft. Worked on that for awhile. Motor then burnt out. I quit and bought new machine. I had ordered a top end seal from you guys. I trashed the machine before your seal arrived. Called you. Nice lady said she would send an E mail so I could return unused seal. That message has not arrived yet.
Pat Wehling

Loosened the set screw and removed the agitator, found nothing wrong. Replaced the agitator and tightened set screw, no more wobble.
This is a mid 1970 Maytag and a workhorse.Had three kids wash over the years, now "kids" in their late 30's and early 40' and washer is as good as new (except a little rusty)

First time I had a problem with it. Sometimes just look for the simple things !

Part select refunded me for my part that I ordered very fast.

Great Company to deal with!

Raise the top off of the dryer with a flat blade screwdriver in each front corner of the dryer. Disconnect power to the dryer. Remove old switch and install new switch. Test door and proper operation of dryer.

Remove 2 screws from bottom of front panel, swing panel out and lift off. Remove 2 hex head screws from inside front corners. Lift top to expose injector in left rear corner. Remove clamp, remove injector from air break box then use screwdriver to pry the lip back through the hole in the tub. Carefully squeeze the lip of injector through the tub hole. Silicone grease or liquid detergent may help. Then reattach the injector to air break box and reassemble washer.

Viewed the very helpful video on your website, that spelled out all the steps to follow. The key point is to not forget the spanner nuts are left handed threads - even after noting that from the video, started the removal in the wrong direction, then caught my error and moved on through the disassembly process. In my case, I took time to deal with a lot of soap buildup cleanup in the outer tub, and even cleaned and put rust inhibiting paint on a few spots to try to get a little longer life out of the old machine. This repair cost far less than replacing it, and should get us several more years of service.

key to repair is to watch the video on mounting stem/tub seal as seen thru parts select. However, they use a nice new, clean,sanitized washer that may not reflect a 23 year old washer like mine. They give you the basics and it is invaluable to watch if you have never done this before. I strongly advise you buy a real spanner wrench made for your make. You may never need it again but it makes it much easier. Trying to use a punch or using a dremmel to operate on your large 'nuts' is, well, nuts! Get the wrench, just part of the cost of repair. See ebay. The first thing I noticed different between the video and my real life unit is the water hose connected to the washer, at the top of the tub cover. This did not exist in the video, but it is the way on my unit. So I did not disconnect it, just folded the top out of the way and tied it up. Then of course my real gripe with the video is that I have the old time band around the tub and the barrell, holding them together. They do not mate up very well and are not easy to put back together properly. In fact, installing the stem seals was easy and it fixed the original leak. I might add when you buy the replacement parts, you actually get 3 new parts. I suggest you use all the new parts in the package. You paid for them, you need them. Again the video only talks about replacing the very bottom seal, never mentioning the other parts they sold you in the bag. It is easy to figure out how to replace the other parts, they look like the ones you took off to get to the very bottom seal. Use all the new parts, regardless. So the only real issue is putting the band back on to hold the tub to the drum. We did not get it correct the first time and the unit would not spin, I had the top down too far. You could smell the rubber burning from the drive belt. They forgot to tell us about that!! Bums. So we loosened up the band, raised up the top piece and got it to spin. Of course, we did a large load, filled the water to the highest level allowed and when the unit hit the spin cycle, we got a leak from under the band. Thx video. To fix that we decided to never use the highest water level. So far so good. I can tell you the engineers failed on the design to mate up the cover to the tub. Other than that this can be done by us goobers, just take your time. And good luck. I must also thank my helper, neighbor John . for his added wisdom and support.

I replaced the 3 screws because they were rusty. Then I replaced the Drain pump

Install belts.

First I bought a Maytag spanner wrench on eBay, you have to have it. It was $12.00 including shipping. Then when the parts showed up the next day followed the video and had it done in just under an hour from gathering my tools and cleaning up. The video was perfect and I had no troubles what so ever. The quote from the repair services was $280.00 and I did it for less than $90.00

Chalked the transmission with a pipe wrench. Removed the brake with grabbing on to it with vicegrips and hammered on the vicegrips to remove the brake. The new brake spun on after the first two brakes didn't. Working great now!

Based on info from website, sounded like it was the Belt Kit that needed replacing. While waiting for the Belt Kit, decided to take the Agitator out to have a "look-see". OMG! There was liquid fabric softener gunk so thick in, around, underneath the agitator that the unit could not get traction. The burning smell was the gunk getting hot as the agitator tried to work. After a thorough cleaning of the agitator and anything relating to it's ability to agitate, my Maytag is performing like it was brand new! I'm keeping the Belt Kit, because my washer is older and I've heard from friends and family that have purchased the new water restricted units, absolutely hate them; like the "low flow" toilets, instead of flushing once, you now have to flush 5 times. They are washing more smaller loads and double rinsing each load to get their clothes clean and free of residue. I'm a 69 year old woman who finds your website and your marvelous contributors an absolute Blessing!

Removed wet close and removed 99% of all the water with a simple sifon hose and sponges. Diconnected electric and water supply hoses. Layed washer on its back. Removed front of washer. Disconnected hoses to water pump and checked for blockage. None. You need to capture the risidual water from the hoses and the pump if you are working in an area that cannot tolerate spills. Pulled pump out (three screws) put a screwdriver and blocked the pump impellar and rotate the punps pully. Pully rotaded freely so the pump is bad. The two belts were pretty worn out so I replaced them also. Hooked up everything in reverse. Adjusted the tension of the belts as required. The drive belt for the pump should be pinched to 1/4". Checked the moter glides also. Put everything back together, checked for leaks and did a load of wash. Everything good. Dismanteling and diagnostics and clean up took about 30'. Assembly took another 30'. Purts fit perfectly.