Maytag MHW6000 overflowed down back for long time, cause unknown...

[MRubenzahl]

Floor was wet with a goopy mess (detergent plus water, has been doing this a while!). Rusty tracks down back suggest it's spilling out the vent at the top of the washer (see photo). But when I ran the washer, nothing wrong which either means it somehow fixed itself or it's intermittent.

Any ideas?
 

[DADoESTX]

That vent (hose) connects to the top of the outer tub.  Too much detergent, oversudsing?

[Josh Smith]

I have seen this several times and it is always been too much detergent

[MRubenzahl]

Never did find a clear cause but I suspect that it was as you said, too much detergent, maybe even the wrong kind (not HE). I had a renter in the house for a year and they know the right things to use but possible there was a misunderstanding. I cleaned it all out, ran several water-only cycles, cleaned the filter trap attached to the water pump, and generally cleaned things up. Also cleaned the detergent drawer and the door gasket had some gravel and lint that may have been preventing it from fully draining. 

So far, so good.