James Conley answers:

I do not know if you own a front or top loader. I have a front loader that stopped spinning completely. It was a belt. On a top loader it is gear driven. I do not know if they have one with a belt. They run like a transmission in a car. I also experienced water draining out the bottom of my front loader. I found out it was a front door boot that needed replacing. It might even be an electronic board. I do not know but read my SOURCE below they will soon become your significant other.

My SOURCE!!!! I contacted RepairClinic.com. They are fantastic. Their website is terrific. You can click on top loader or front loader machine and it continue on with helpful diagrams and basic explanations of how your machine operates. It has many general questions with recommendations on what the problem is and how to repair it. They also have a repair guru prompt that you can email your problem and they will respond with what is likely wrong and the parts to repair it. They also sell the repair/service manuals. Basic and easy to understand.

I have saved about 500.00 in repairs on my Maytag MAH5500 AWW series front loader. It is critical when you email them to provide them with your Make, Model Number, and Serial Number. Give them the complete numbers and letters. Sometimes there are part changes and the model number does not change. The serial number specifies the part needed for that machine. Be patient with responses to your emails. They get about 40,000 emails per month. They do not have a telephone repair guru. All inquiries have to be sent by email. My first email took about 36 hours for them to respond. Once I received my parts order and I emailed them with a question I received a response quickly. Once you are in the system things move quickly. However, you can contact them by phone and they are very helpful with general questions and answer any questions you may have about the website.

I hope they are as helpful to you as they are to me. They fix all sorts of appliances not just washing machines. They expedite and ship orders promptly.

I asked my daughter to come and help me out when I was putting in the boot. Two extra hands were very helpful for that specific repair. When she came in the back door and saw the machine torn apart she said to me, “You know Mom, Sears has a sale on through the weekend on major appliances.” I responded We CAN do this. It was a rewarding experience and taught her that women can repair things at home.

James Conley answers:

When you say it heats and then stops, do you mean it won’t relight once the flame goes out?? Because it’s supposed to go on and off, that’s how a temp. Is maintained. It should stay lit for quite a little time though to get enough heat into the drum to dry the clothes. Similar to John, the “dick”, I also charge $65/hour to repair appliances, when I go to someone’s home, but I don’t charge anything for information and help on here. You can IM me or email me and I’ll do what I can to help.

James Conley answers:

Check the manual and/or call an appliance store
and ask for assistance from one of their service
repair men. You can also call a Maytag dealer.