Maytag MVWC565FW0 Balance/Spin Iissue

[lute]

Well the issue really started when my wife and I went on vacation.

Came bvack

[lute]

Not able to edit that first post so starting over.

Returned from vacation a year ago to find that the Mother in Law unilaterally decided to replace our 20+ year old perfectly reliable and excellent condition Maytag Dependable Care with this POS. What a nice surprise!

And she PAID the installer to take the DC away.

Any way this machine is not completing the spin cycle.

Starts to spin, goes off balance, quits. Repeats three times then shuts off.

Only code is water fill sensor.

Drain pump works fine.

Replaced the suspension rods. No change.

Re-leveled to within 1/16". No change.

Checked drive belt. Like new.

Checked for foreign objects. None.

What is the next thing to check?

Thank you!

[johntech]

Check and see if the water valve is open all the way and if they replaced the hoses with flood proof hoses. That would make the most sense for the no fill error since it is new. Now if the water is working then you may choose to ignore it thinking they forgot to turn on water before testing.

Now as for the spinning issue the machine may not have been calibrated. 

There should be a service manual taped to the inside front panel of the cabinet. It will have diagnostic tests and calibration instructions.

I am deeply sorry for your loss of your dependable care. 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Fill error could be a bad water inlet valve also, (I can't remember ever seeing a water inlet valve coil be good then after working for a while go open as it heats up), but this exact thing happened on one of these VMW that I worked on about a year ago.

Need to check for voltage going to water inlet valve but valve not working - may take a couple fills or you may just find that one of the inlet valve coils is actually bad, (like maybe the cold side - most rinses are cold only on newer machines so may work OK in initial fill setting of HOT or WARM then come to rinse and cold valve bad won't fill).

One of my customers also had a nice Maytag DC set and they were away at the hospital with there son and there church was taking care of their house and did the same thing that your mother-in-law did.     The VMW died after about a year and half - they went out and found a good used Whirlpool Direct drive washer to replace the piece of junk VMW.

[lute]

"I am deeply sorry for your loss of your dependable care. "

Thank you, still mourning my loss.

Ran a calibration and the machine now does a high speed spin like it never has since I've owned it.

Unfortunately it is still got a shake/strong vibration. 

The machine itself is level but the basket appears tipped towards the rear, not centered.

Should I just ignore the level and adjust the feet so the basket is centered?

Or perhaps some other issue is causing the vibration?

 

[darren412]

Assuming the correct suspension rods are in the machine now. You may want to make sure that one of the front suspension rods did not pop out of its upper ball sockets . It may have popped out if you tested it with no clothes or weight in the drum and then not seat it self back in properly at the top of the front suspension rods. Or you may not have seated the front suspension rods properly when you replaced the suspension rods. That could cause the basket to lean the wrong way.  also if you turn out the feet to much when trying to level off your machine from front to back, and side to side, That can cause excessive shaking and vibrating if there is too much of the feet extended out. These MVW's have Plastic feet that cannot be extended down to far or they will be loose even though they look fine and secure.   A badly supported plywood floor under the washer can cause excesive shaking and vibrating.  Now that you say its spinning faster and your running it to test it in spin with no clothing,  That can also be a factor in shaking and vibrating more with no weight in the machine.  I swear anything in these MVW top loads weighing more than 18 to 20lbs a wash load eventually wears these pieces of junk out in a short period of time. They just dont handle the weight and volume of clothing that consumers think they can put in these machines. In my opinion Consumers over load these way too much because they are so used to loading up the old whirlpool direct drive  top load models.   You can never buy one of these for a family of 4 to 5 and expect them to last.   Pick yourself up a speed Queen top load basic model.  Made in USA and comes with a 3 yr parts and labor warranty for the basic top load model.   Its one of the better models that come closest to your DC model make up and the older whirlpool top load make ups.  

[lute]

Many thanks for all of these very informative replies.

I made a 2 minute video of the washer starting the spin cycle which shows the problem far better than I could describe it.

 

ttps://youtu.be/4wjjXAJGf3w

 

Even with the basket empty and level, the washer makes repeated stop and start efforts to go into spin mode.

Quote

 

[johntech]

Use the service manual that gave you the calibration instructions and pull error codes out of the memory. See if it spins while running it in manual diagnostic mode. Push down on the tub and let it pop up. If it bounces like a bobble head the suspension rods are bad. It it raises the stops with no bouncing the they are probably be good. Spin the tub by hand and make sure it spins freely. Tilt the tub back and remove the clear/white cover over the belt and make sure the pulley is not loose, if it is remove nut and reassemble with locktite. Inspect everything under the machine looking for oil leaking from the transmission, damaged parts, belt slipping off into cover. 

If the cycle is stopping mid cycle it should store an error code to send us in the right direction. Then follow the steps in the manual to determine the problem.

[lute]

On 3/9/2019 at 8:45 AM, darren412 said:

Assuming the correct suspension rods are in the machine now. You may want to make sure that one of the front suspension rods did not pop out of its upper ball sockets . It may have popped out if you tested it with no clothes or weight in the drum and then not seat it self back in properly at the top of the front suspension rods. Or you may not have seated the front suspension rods properly when you replaced the suspension rods. That could cause the basket to lean the wrong way.  also if you turn out the feet to much when trying to level off your machine from front to back, and side to side, That can cause excessive shaking and vibrating if there is too much of the feet extended out. These MVW's have Plastic feet that cannot be extended down to far or they will be loose even though they look fine and secure.   A badly supported plywood floor under the washer can cause excesive shaking and vibrating.  Now that you say its spinning faster and your running it to test it in spin with no clothing,  That can also be a factor in shaking and vibrating more with no weight in the machine.  I swear anything in these MVW top loads weighing more than 18 to 20lbs a wash load eventually wears these pieces of junk out in a short period of time. They just dont handle the weight and volume of clothing that consumers think they can put in these machines. In my opinion Consumers over load these way too much because they are so used to loading up the old whirlpool direct drive  top load models.   You can never buy one of these for a family of 4 to 5 and expect them to last.   Pick yourself up a speed Queen top load basic model.  Made in USA and comes with a 3 yr parts and labor warranty for the basic top load model.   Its one of the better models that come closest to your DC model make up and the older whirlpool top load make ups. 

 

I replaced the old suspension rods even though they tested good. Got new OEM Whirlpool green rods ($80.) instead of the generic ones ($36.) just to eliminate any possible quality issues. Rods are correctly installed, drive belt like new, no playu 

 

[lute]

On 3/9/2019 at 8:45 AM, darren412 said:

Assuming the correct suspension rods are in the machine now. You may want to make sure that one of the front suspension rods did not pop out of its upper ball sockets . It may have popped out if you tested it with no clothes or weight in the drum and then not seat it self back in properly at the top of the front suspension rods. Or you may not have seated the front suspension rods properly when you replaced the suspension rods. That could cause the basket to lean the wrong way.  also if you turn out the feet to much when trying to level off your machine from front to back, and side to side, That can cause excessive shaking and vibrating if there is too much of the feet extended out. These MVW's have Plastic feet that cannot be extended down to far or they will be loose even though they look fine and secure.   A badly supported plywood floor under the washer can cause excesive shaking and vibrating.  Now that you say its spinning faster and your running it to test it in spin with no clothing,  That can also be a factor in shaking and vibrating more with no weight in the machine.  I swear anything in these MVW top loads weighing more than 18 to 20lbs a wash load eventually wears these pieces of junk out in a short period of time. They just dont handle the weight and volume of clothing that consumers think they can put in these machines. In my opinion Consumers over load these way too much because they are so used to loading up the old whirlpool direct drive  top load models.   You can never buy one of these for a family of 4 to 5 and expect them to last.   Pick yourself up a speed Queen top load basic model.  Made in USA and comes with a 3 yr parts and labor warranty for the basic top load model.   Its one of the better models that come closest to your DC model make up and the older whirlpool top load make ups. 

 

I replaced the old suspension rods even though they tested good. Got new OEM Whirlpool green rods ($80.) instead of the generic ones ($36.) just to eliminate any possible quality issues. Rods are correctly installed, drive belt like new, no playu 

 

[lute]

Sorry about the triple post; Apple mouse is malfunctioning.

Drive belt is like new, no play in pulley. 

Floor is concrete slab and washer is level front back and side.

Washer feet are screwed all the way in.

Been looking for a Speed Queen top load year 2017 or earlier and cant find any other than the coin op ones. 2018 they changed the design and are getting very bad reviews. 

[lute]

2 hours ago, johntech said:

Use the service manual that gave you the calibration instructions and pull error codes out of the memory. See if it spins while running it in manual diagnostic mode. Push down on the tub and let it pop up. If it bounces like a bobble head the suspension rods are bad. It it raises the stops with no bouncing the they are probably be good. Spin the tub by hand and make sure it spins freely. Tilt the tub back and remove the clear/white cover over the belt and make sure the pulley is not loose, if it is remove nut and reassemble with locktite. Inspect everything under the machine looking for oil leaking from the transmission, damaged parts, belt slipping off into cover. 

If the cycle is stopping mid cycle it should store an error code to send us in the right direction. Then follow the steps in the manual to determine the problem.

Only code is FE 41, Out of Balance.

When I put the washer in Manual mode and select spin it partially fills with water and then does nothing at all for a half hour and then the spin light goes out.

If I run a calibration with the washer empty, I get a high speed spin but the washer shakes so badly I have to shut if off before it implodes. I have not tried to calibrate with clothes in the machine.

So the fundamental issue is the washer going out of balance during the spin cycle.

If it's not rods or level or pulley or belt or something trapped between tub and basket or an improperly installed top ring I am at a loss for what else it could be.  

[darren412]

The speed queens were having issues with their control boards but with the 3 yr warranty that comes with it . They replace the control if there are any issues. I have customers that say they love that machine. and bought them last year.    any machine that comes with a 1 year warranty, just tells me they dont have alot of faith in their own product.  Speed queens are 3 yr, 5yr, and 7yr warranty that come with them .    They are actually good machines and kick the crap out of all those top loading pieces of junk.   The parts are easily accessible and the parts are way more inexpensive than the rest too.   

[sh2sh2]

Your problem is not off balance, the agitator and basket should spin as one unit, remove the agitator and you will find a plastic hub the connects the basket to the transmission shaft, the hub has splines that are worn down

[johntech]

On 3/11/2019 at 3:26 PM, lute said:

I have not tried to calibrate with clothes in the machine.

Do not calibration needs to be done in an empty machine.

[sh2sh2]

What was the outcome

[lute]

On 3/12/2019 at 5:40 PM, sh2sh2 said:

Your problem is not off balance, the agitator and basket should spin as one unit, remove the agitator and you will find a plastic hub the connects the basket to the transmission shaft, the hub has splines that are worn down

This was the exact problem.

The splines were completely gone from the interior of the hub; no sign that there ever were splines there.

In addition, there was a penny trapped between basket and tub..

Many thanks to sh2sh2 and everyone who took the time to reply. 

[Stu]

I had the same problem with the MVWC565FW0 Maytag top load washer, "not going into spin mode". And the same fix.

The splines were gone on the Hub on the bottom of the basket. Also I noticed the splines on shaft don't look the greatest. Some splines look deteriorated, or chewed.

Any thoughts as to why this maybe?

I would't think the plastic hub would cause this.    

Thanks and thanks for all the post that lead me to the fix. 

[MikeH_FL]

Stu/Lute: 

Did you replace a component such as the basket to fix it?  If so, do you have the part number?  I have same washer (3 years old) and have replaced suspension hooks and drive actuator.  I was about to give up on it thinking it could be a control board not giving the spin command.  It won't calibrate either.  Occasionally gives the E0 F5 (Out of balance) code.  I hear it try to spin 3x then go out of balance and end the wash cycle.  Thinking the splines might be the problem.  Going to take the agitator out now and check it out.

[PhilipPixler]

This post helped me a ton! Thanks for going through that on here. Same exact issue with the same exact manifestation as the video you posted. My splines were smoother than a babies butt.