Maytag Neptune mah4000aww noise when spinning and not fully spinning out

[RobPM]

I have a Neptune MAH4000 washing machine.  It has been a pretty good machine over the last 16 years.  It had the wax motor problem and the fried resistor on the main control board but I was able to fix that a long time ago.  I know that these washers have had problems with the bearings for the tub going.  My wife brought to my attention about a week ago that the washer would not spin out fully with a heavy load in it and that it made this louder noise when it started to spin.  Yesterday i took it out of the back where it is and brought to the central part of the basement so that I could pull it apart.  I was figuring that it was the main bearings and watched a lot of videos on replacing them.  However when I opened up the back I did not see any leaking of water around the spindle or anything like that.  It still turned even though it seemed to be a little stiff.  there was no play whatsoever.  I am now wondering if the problem is the motor and not the tub bearings.  I have taken a few videos and wondered if someone here could tell what the problem may be.  I have linked the YouTube videos below.

In addition when I opened up the front of the tube I could not believe my eyes.  The brown what i believe to be soap scum was gross looking.  I have removed the inner tub from the washer spinner support so i could start to clean the thing up.  This will take some time.  We do not use any bleach in the washer because I have a septic tank and leach bed and I do not want to put bleach down it.  The septic system is about 24 years old and is doing great.  However I am wondering if not using bleach is why all the build up and also maybe why the main bearings have lasted as long as they have.  Any comments on this are welcome.  I took a bunch of pictures of the front so if you want to see them you can find them here  https://goo.gl/photos/7W75w3vBdQ9k6FxH7

this was taken with the pump connected and the belt on 

these next 2 videos were taken with the belt off so you are only hearing the motor but you are also hearing the pump.

 

This next one is just turning the tub by hand.

 

The last one is with the belt on and the pump disconnected so there is no pump noise.  It goes through the complete spin cycle and that is why it is 13+ mins long.

 

[micabay]

Sounds like the bearings in your motor have gone bad.  Check for lateral movement/play on the motor shaft.  If you don't have the updates motor and MCU you will need both:

Part number: AP4010145

 

If you indeed have the updated MCU/Motor, you can get the motor by its self.  

Part number: ap4027200

Edited February 16, 2016 by micabay

[RobPM]

Micabay, thanks for the reply to my post.  The motor is original 1999 when I bought the unit.  So I'm assuming from what you are telling me that if I just purchase a motor it will not work with existing 16 y/o MCU.  Am I understanding you correctly?

What is different about the MCU?  Is this due to the change in the motor that is supplied and thus I need a new MCU?

If I get the new motor with the new MCU are there any other components that I will need to change in order to work with the new motor and MCU?  Again everything thing on this machine is original 1999.

Thanks for your patience with me.

Rob

[sh2sh2]

Yes the mcu is different, will not work with original motor and vice versa.  The kit will have everything you need but it might not be a bad time to replace the belt

[RobPM]

Thanks sh2sh2.  I agree about the belt.  One other question I have and that has to do with the main bearings.  would it be wise to replace those now too since this thing is 16 years old?  That way everything is done at once.  All thoughts would be welcome.

Thanks

[applianceman97]

If the tub bearings are still in good shape. I would leave them alone. Deal with it when they fail.