Older Maytag, Whirlpool, and Kenmore washers
Unplug the washer before you tip it or pull a panel. These notes cover two layouts that the old shop pages lumped under one badge list. They are not the same machine.
Whirlpool direct-drive and Kenmore 110
From the early 1980s into the 2000s, Whirlpool hung the motor under the tub. There is no belt. Kenmore model numbers that start with 110 used that platform. The plastic coupling sits between the motor shaft and the gearcase: two drive forks and a rubber ring. When the forks strip, the motor still hums and the basket does not move, in agitate or in spin. Both directions dying together points at the coupling.
Spin is a separate piece. The clutch is a band around a drum under the tub. Agitate can work while spin does nothing, often with a rubber smell during the spin portion of the timer. Listen before you buy a clutch. If the motor never changes pitch when the timer reaches spin, the lid switch or the timer contacts never asked for spin. If the motor does change pitch and the basket stays put, the clutch is the part that fits that sound.
The lid switch is a plunger at the lid opening. A cracked plunger leaves the motor dark even with the lid down. Look at the plastic. Do not tape the switch closed. It is what keeps a hand out of a spinning basket.
Many of these motors drive a small pump on the motor shaft. A cracked pump housing drips only while the motor runs. A rusty trail down the gearcase that is already there with the motor off is the tub seal, and the seal is what takes the bearing with it later.
Maytag top loaders from before 2006
Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2006. Top loaders built before that sale usually put a belt between the motor and the transmission. If you tip an unplugged machine and see a belt, or a belt already lying in the cabinet, you do not have the Whirlpool coupling. A motor that runs and a tub that sits still on this layout is the belt off its pulleys, or a belt worn smooth. Some of these cabinets used a second belt for the pump. Say whether you found one belt or two.
A Maytag plate from after the sale can be a Whirlpool-built machine wearing a Maytag badge. Use the model line in the photo to pick the paragraph above. The badge on the console is the wrong clue after 2006.
| Symptom | Layout | Check with the plug out |
|---|---|---|
| Motor hums, tub still, agitate and spin both dead | Whirlpool direct-drive, Kenmore 110 | Coupling between the motor and the gearcase |
| Agitates, will not spin, rubber smell | Same direct-drive | Clutch, after the motor is heard changing pitch at spin |
| Lid down, no hum at all | Either | Cracked lid-switch plunger |
| Motor runs, belt is in the bottom | Belt-drive Maytag | Belt and pulleys, not a direct-drive coupling |
| Drip only while the motor runs | Pump on the motor shaft | Pump housing. A dry rusty trail on the gearcase is the tub seal |
Send the plate, which row matches, and whether the motor hums. [email protected]