MAYTAG SAV3655AWW leaking; high pitch whine/other bad noises in agitation and spin cycle - ApplianceBlog.com

***rpeter46*** · #1 April 4th, 2009, 05:38 AM

Hello-
Your forum is really great!!

I have a Maytag SAV 3655AWW serial #13686558ER. It has been leaking a little for 8 mos-however, it didn't make it to my to-do list until it got worse

!

-Agitation cycle
It makes a constant high pitch whine. If you're a star wars fan, it's reminiscent of the warning sound in the landing bay of the death star when the emperor lands ( AHHH-oooooooooo!) If you don't speak Star Wars, just think about a loud higher-pitched "bad-bearing" type of sound.

-Spin cycle
Similar sound, but slightly worse, and it seems to pulse slightly with the water pumping out.

-Worst part
Ever since the washing machine has become unusable, my children and I have noticed a loud, irritated sound eminating from my wife when she pays $30 to do 5 load of laundry at the laundromat! This is the real problem for me, and the reason this project was finally elevated to the to-do list.

Please HELP!

Thanks, Paul

***Jake*** · #2 April 4th, 2009, 07:14 AM

Hi Paul,

Does the leak seem to be coming from the water pump or the main tub seal underneath the outer tub assembly?

With the sounds its giving off, that sounds like a main tub seal leak, #13 here is your main tub seal/bearing kit that you will likely need to replace.

Here's #13 for your model(Hub seal & bearing kit.):
Manufacturer part#W10116791 is RepairClinic item#1258432

Here's the service manual for your model:
www.applianceblog.com/manuals/amanawasher.pdf

It says Amana, but Maytag bought Amana back in 2001 and for these SAV models its identical to the Amana washers.

Here's a good thread Susie made as well:
http://www.applianceblog.com/mainfor...ead.php?t=9861

Its a big job to replace this, so if you don't have at least 8 hours to devote to this project, I'd suggest having a reputable appliance repair shop do it for you or buying a new washer.

Jake

***rpeter46*** · #3 April 4th, 2009, 09:41 AM

Jake,
I'm going to go downstairs and run it to find the leak right now. But before I forget to ask- what is the value of this model machine in your mind? Not just monetarily, but before I bother to fix it with a major repair, is it a worthy repair candidate? I'm confident that I have the mechanical aptitude to repair it myself, and right now I can't imagine buying any medium-big ticket items that can be avoided. But I don't want to waste my time and money either. What do you think? I value your honest opinion. BTW, how old is this thing? It's second-hand to me(another testament to my cheapness).

***Jake*** · #4 April 4th, 2009, 10:36 PM

From the serial# it looks to be a 2004 model.

How often do you use it? Daily? Many times a day? A few times a week?

Jake

***rpeter46*** · #5 April 5th, 2009, 06:06 AM

Jake,
My wife uses it 1-2 times a day.

Yesterday I pulled the front panel off and could find no evidence of the water leakage that we had noticed. I threw in a load of clothes and waited and watched. The noises that I witnessed hours earlier didn't duplicate themselves. I did discover that the leakage was not from the machine's internals. It is the result of excess foam when the machine dumps into the house's plumbing. The foam runs down the plumbing and also down the machine hose and makes a puddle on the floor-good news.
I'm on my third load of laundry and haven't heard any more of the high-pitched sound. Just like bringing a car to the dealership

! Upon careful inspection of the gear while running, the "loudest" sounds only eminate from the electric motor/water pump. They're probably normal level sounds for this machine. Under one large load, during the back and forth agitation cycle, the tub did "squeak" consistently every time the tub hit the end of it's counterclockwise motion. The only other thing that I saw was a little bit of dust from the belt-the little bit of wear seems to be at the top and bottom of the belt where the pulley wears on it. Nothing that looked unusual or excessive. I will continue to do more laundry and wait for the sound to show up again; I know it didn't fix itself! But in the meantime, my wife's LOVING this...

***Jake*** · #6 April 5th, 2009, 08:32 AM

Ok, thats good that the leak isn't coming from the machine itself.

Yes, the squeak/tick sound you hear is pretty common for this model, we had a long discussion on it here:
Maytag Legacy sounds like a clock
Seems we narrowed it down to the brake pads.

Jake

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