Thread Number: 77996
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Stuck Agitator on A207 |
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Post# 1020187 , Reply# 1   1/5/2019 at 10:35 (1,909 days old) by Pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)   |   | |
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Post# 1020191 , Reply# 2   1/5/2019 at 10:42 (1,909 days old) by Gatsby (Virginia)   |   | |
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I forgot to say the A207 is a Maytag |
Post# 1020196 , Reply# 3   1/5/2019 at 11:14 (1,909 days old) by bendixmark (Winchester Mass)   |   | |
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Have the machine agitate with a full tub of very hot water that usually works. |
Post# 1020199 , Reply# 4   1/5/2019 at 12:53 (1,909 days old) by hippiedoll ( arizona )   |   | |
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Somebody did share a tip with me, about removing a stuck on agitator...
I had tried the, stuffing towels down in the agitator barrel & pouring boiling water on them (didn't work for me). I ended up getting an email from a member here who said to take a hairdryer and set it on the highest heat setting. Then turn the blow dryer on and put it down into the agitator barrel and let it sit there blowing & heating the barrel up, for about 5-10 minutes, then take the blow dryer out and grab the agitator by the bottom skirt and give it a few tugs, it should pop up & off. My blow dryer actually overheated and turned itself off at around the 4 minute mark which was good enough because the agitator did come out. And believe me, before the blow dryer tip, we tried everything we could think of and the agitator wouldn't budge. I can't remember if that was on the Harvest Gold or Coppertone 806 now? Keep us posted and let us know how this works for you. :o) |
Post# 1020204 , Reply# 5   1/5/2019 at 13:32 (1,909 days old) by Gatsby (Virginia)   |   | |
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Holy moly, Hippiedoll! Thank you!! I will try and report back. Ive been scrolling through threads on this forum and freaking out at the stories and worrying this agitator could cause me another gut ulcer!! |
Post# 1020213 , Reply# 6   1/5/2019 at 14:01 (1,909 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa)   |   | |
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They can be on there pretty tight. Even with the hot water soak and additional boiling water, we had to make a puller to get ours off:
www.automaticwasher.org/c... |
Post# 1020215 , Reply# 8   1/5/2019 at 14:23 (1,909 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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OK....here goes....
pull the filter out..... using two ratchet tie downs, and you sort of do a criss cross, some run it under the 2 blades of the agitator, other times down through the barrel, and through the slots and back up.... across the top of the machine.....lay down to folded towels on each side....and a 2x4 across the opening..... now, run the ratchets, again, criss cross if possible....over top of the 2x4.... ratchet snug, with a bit of tension.....sometimes when pulled tight enough, the agitator will pop off, other times, allow the machine to fill half way with hot water with some tension.... make sure hot is hot, like 140 or more....not bath water hot.....if you have to, boil 2 or 3 large pots of water on the stove and pour in there.... rarely will one never pop off at this point.... |
Post# 1020222 , Reply# 10   1/5/2019 at 14:32 (1,909 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)   |   | |
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I tried the hot water method and the hairdryer method (thanks HippieDoll!) and they didn't work. A member suggested using a slide hammer, which I tried. It didn't work. After a month of frustration, I ended up putting a cutting blade on my angle grinder and destroyed it. It came off then! LOL!
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Post# 1020224 , Reply# 11   1/5/2019 at 14:34 (1,909 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa)   |   | |
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Post# 1020227 , Reply# 13   1/5/2019 at 14:55 (1,909 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon)   |   | |
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This tub nut and the stem are REVERSE threaded. Righty loosey, lefty tighty!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO pdub's LINK |
Post# 1020254 , Reply# 14   1/5/2019 at 19:37 (1,909 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)   |   | |
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Post# 1020263 , Reply# 15   1/5/2019 at 21:03 (1,909 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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Boiling water first, then a heat gun [ it gets much hotter than boiling water ], then a puller if you want or just break the thing off [ there are still plenty of replacement agitators out there ] The basket lock rings we always just break off with a cold chisel [ a new one comes with the mounting stem kit, We have done this job hundreds of times.
The reason these agitators get so stuck is mineral build up from using too little [ or cheap ] detergents, look at the mess under the agitator in replay #10.
If your lint filter has a mineral build-up you are abusing the washer and you have much less than ideally cleaned clothing coming out of your washer.
John L. |
Post# 1020302 , Reply# 17   1/6/2019 at 06:48 (1,908 days old) by Gatsby (Virginia)   |   | |
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Disregard my belief the bearing sleeve was missing; it was there all along - inside the bearing - of course!!! |
Post# 1020311 , Reply# 18   1/6/2019 at 08:00 (1,908 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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Yay you got the agitator out and the machine apart, the big problem now is how well the agitator shaft cleans up, if it is too rusted and pitted below the agitator spline area it will tear up the new seal pretty quickly and the machine will leak again, you may need another transmission to make a lasting repair.
John L. |
Post# 1020362 , Reply# 19   1/6/2019 at 17:50 (1,908 days old) by Gatsby (Virginia)   |   | |
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Here are pictures of different angles of the shaft. There was no crumbling rust. Verdict? |
Post# 1020415 , Reply# 21   1/7/2019 at 06:49 (1,907 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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The agitator shaft is too pitted to give you much life from the new seal and mounting stem kit.
Someone on this site experimented with filling the pitted area with some type of epoxy and sanding it smooth, I have never tried this but it looked like it might work, I have always just replaced the transmission with either a new one or good used one if you want the repair to last more than a year or so.
John L. |
Post# 1020428 , Reply# 23   1/7/2019 at 12:20 (1,907 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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It sounds like your husband's work with gun metal qualifies him to properly assess the smoothness of the agitator shaft. If he says it's smooth, I say ditch the idea of a new transmission. As you stated, one has to draw the line somewhere (although the pump and motor are easy to replace -- but I doubt you'll ever have to).
You can always keep an eye out for a donor machine or transmission if at some point -- more than a year from now -- you even need to revisit this, and disassembly will be a cinch if it's necessary. |
Post# 1020432 , Reply# 24   1/7/2019 at 12:37 (1,907 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa)   |   | |
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I'm in your same position, and in MY opinion, what you have is treasure, not trash.
A little bit of balance for the discussion - many people here on the forum are collectors, and many people either own their own appliance repair businesses, work for one, or know someone who does, giving them a different perspective on parts availability. Or, they have the space and connections to acquire and salvage parts machines to assemble the best of the best into their own machines, but you have to play the lottery that the used machine you buy for parts is in better shape than what you have now. All of that is not always available to, or practical for, the rest of us. New transmissions of this type have been NLA (no-longer available) for a very long time now. Replacement agitator shafts from Maytag (which used to come as a pre-made assembly with the top half of the transmission case and the small gear) have also been NLA for a very long time. Third-party (non-Maytag) substitute agitator shafts went into production when Maytag stopped, but those have ALSO been NLA for a long time. And there have been very few parts showing up on eBay or the like lately. You can try asking around at your local Mom & Pop appliance repair shops, but every single one I've talked to said they have zero spares due to the age of the machines. It's worth a try, but don't be surprised if you come up empty. I feel relatively confident saying all this, because I've been searching for months, and if these parts had been available, I would have bought them myself. :D We have a transmission apart from an A308, that has an agitator shaft in much worse shape than yours. Our plan is to restore and use it - following the procedure of building it up with a small amount of JB-Weld to fill the pits, and then polishing it smooth to maximize the life of the seals. Other than possibly a shorter life on the $50 seal, I don't see what you have to loose by trying with what you have, and after taking the machine apart this far, you certainly seem plenty capable of the filling/smoothing job that others have done! Good luck! |
Post# 1020436 , Reply# 25   1/7/2019 at 13:17 (1,907 days old) by hippiedoll ( arizona )   |   | |
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Post# 1020444 , Reply# 26   1/7/2019 at 14:15 (1,907 days old) by good-shepherd (New Jersey)   |   | |
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I'd give the JB weld, epoxy paint method a try if needed and see how it goes. In the meantime keep an eye on Craigslist for a new used Maytag Dependable Care washer. Personally, I would't put too much time or money into a standard capacity MOL machine. |
Post# 1020446 , Reply# 27   1/7/2019 at 14:40 (1,907 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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you might be better off grabbing a whole other machine.....or in this case, a matched set....
this one has the long stroke pitman transmission......as for most replacements only come as the short stroke orbital drive... just a thought at 200.00 for a pair.... CLICK HERE TO GO TO Yogitunes's LINK on Washington DC Craigslist |
Post# 1020448 , Reply# 28   1/7/2019 at 14:42 (1,907 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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another nice set.....this one would have the orbital transmission....
but again, at 150.00 for the set..... CLICK HERE TO GO TO Yogitunes's LINK on Washington DC Craigslist
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Post# 1020462 , Reply# 30   1/7/2019 at 17:04 (1,907 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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I know right!
he could have removed the hoses, carefully tie up the cord, install new belt, lube the glides, clean the lint out, grab the auto wax and buff this thing to a new shine, and wrapped it bubble wrap before he delivered and installed it.... or he could have just tossed these to the curb for scappers….a lot less headaches that way!....don't you agree.... I have been a buyer and a seller, so I understand things from both sides...especially with what CL attracts! |
Post# 1020481 , Reply# 31   1/7/2019 at 18:31 (1,907 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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Post# 1021075 , Reply# 33   1/13/2019 at 20:18 (1,901 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Post# 1021079 , Reply# 34   1/13/2019 at 20:37 (1,901 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)   |   | |
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Post# 1021092 , Reply# 35   1/13/2019 at 22:11 (1,901 days old) by LowEfficiency (Iowa)   |   | |
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