Maytag washer will not agitate

[suzukifan]

I normally consider myself pretty handy, but this is hard to figure out. I was hoping some expert could save me a whole lot of time and trouble if I explain the problem in detail, so here goes:

My washer, a Maytag A806S, fills but does not agitate. I can hear the motor running as it should and no funny noises but the agitator will not move. I cannot move the agitator myself, even with the machine off. If I try really hard, the whole tub spins in lock with the agitator. Should I be able to turn the agitator independently of the tub by hand? If so, what could be broken with this machine that would prevent this?

My wife, who uses the washer, said that she thought that when the agitator first "failed", it didn't stop moving entirely but that its movement was greatly diminished. By the time I got to see it I couldn't get it to move at all. The timer seems to work and the machine will drain, spin dry, fill up to rinse, not agitate again during the rinse cycle, drain and spin dry. So everything else seems to work except the agitation.

I pulled the front cover and lay the machine on its side. The belts underneath that connect the motor to the water pump and the main transmission unit look OK, but I noticed a circular grease splatter on the floor right in the middle underneath where the machine was sitting and grease splatters on the bottom of the machine. There is a transmission/power unit in the center of the machine with the big pulley that is connected to the motor with a belt. This unit spins in concert with the tub during a spin dry. It looks like some seal has failed and the grease was spun out of the unit. Is this machine worth repairing? The transmission/power unit is a metal casing bolted together so without disassembling it, I can't see any moving parts to figure out what might be broken. Any suggestions? How old is the machine? I bought the house with the machine in it and the house was built in 1983.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Don

[suzukifan]

Update:

If I spin the main power pulley (not the motor pulley) underneath the machine in the center, by hand, one way the whole tub assembly spins, but if I spin it the other way, only the agitator spins. My wife spotted this from the top of the machine as I was pushing the pulley back and forth at the bottom of the machine.

She also pointed out a soft plastic cap sitting on a shelf nearby that was leftover from when I replaced a hose underneath the machine about three years ago. I think that it might be a grease cap and that its absence may have caused the grease to escape over time.

I'm also thinking that maybe the grease is causing the belt to slip during agitation. But then why doesn't the belt slip during a spin cycle? Does it take more force from the motor to agitate a washload than to spin dry it?

[MLINEBERGER]

the 06 series has not been made in a long time! that style was made from the early 60's to the mid 70's. if you have a lot of grease underneath, don't bother. can you easily spin the large pulley both ways? also, if you tightened the pump belt to much, it will not allow the washer to agitate. sounds to me like the top agitator shaft in the transmission is tight. when you spin the large pulley, did your wife see the agitator go back and forth or just spin? if it went back and forth, then usually the transmission is ok. model is old. don't spend too much time with it. the only maytag washer currently being made that is most similiar to your machine is model # lav3600aww. retails around $570. other models cheaper and higher as well.

[suzukifan]

Wow - The styling looks old but I didn't realize it was THAT old! I have the matching dryer as well, DE806.

Since my last post, I tried pulling back on the motor to increase the tension on the transmission belt and, with my wife watching, the agitator worked. So I bought replacement belts because the sides of the old ones were hard and shiny. Still, there was this nagging feeling because the machine would spin even with the old belts on. I think the transmission is seizing up because shortly after putting the new belts on, the trans one started slipping again so I pulled back on the motor and the motor stalled.

I removed the agitator using the stick-and-rope method to make sure nothing was wrapped around underneath. No such luck. Turning the trans pulley by hand at your suggestion does result in back-and-forth movement at the agitator shaft but there is a groaning, rubbing sound accompanied by excess friction. It sounds as though your diagnosis is spot-on regarding the top agitator shaft. That is where the sound seems to be coming from.

What a shame, as the machine is in excellent condition otherwise (the house has a 2nd storey laundry room with a chimney going through it that keeps the room very dry). I might just take the transmission apart to see what went wrong before I go out and buy a new LG combination washer-dryer.

Thanks very much for the suggestions.