Maytag washing machine problem

[Nick]

Hello everyone,

My parent's 26 year old Maytag washing machine (Model GA308) has started to color some clothing with a black residue. I've taken apart the top tub cover and I see that it has a very thick black residue on it. The bottom portion of the tub is in good condition with a small section of rust. I'm thinking that the black coloring is coming from either the water injector's rubber or the rubber coming in from water value. Should I also replace the tup top cover? Could it be something else?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Nick

[Joseph Meehan]

At 26 years, I would be hesitant to put any serious money into it. It may be time to retire. Too bad the current production models from Maytag don't appear to share the quality and durability of their earlier models.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Could very well be something else. At 26 years, it may be ready to go anyway so don't put a lot of money into it. Replacing the top takes care of the symptom, but not the cause. You could easily end up spending 50% to 70% of the cost of a new machine and then have a major problem in a few weeks from another part completely unassociated with this problem.

Try cleaning it up and see if it comes back quickly. It could be a 26 year buildup from some other cause that is just staring to be noticed.

[ds549]

the seal it the top of the shaft that the agitator sits on is bad.water is gettin in,floating out grease from the transmission. you can replace the seal but you also need to clean out the trans and repack it. many times the trans wears alot with the water in it, so a new washer is best unluss you cn do the work yourself. lucas

[Nick]

Thanks for the tip....I'm trying to remove the agitator now but do not see any screws on the outside of the agitator. There is only one a

1/8" hole at the bottom of one side of it but I felt with a small eyeglass screwdriver and could not find any screw. Is there a particular screwdriver that I need to get to remove the screw with?

Thanks, Nick