Do-It-Yourself Story

I just wanted to put my experience here for all to see. I have a Maytag Neptune, MAH5500BWW, one of the original ones. I bought it back in 2002 and it has done many many loads of wash faithfully. So when the bearings started to get loud I thought it best to replace them, the seal kit and the belt. I did my research as best I could and decided to order the OEM parts from an appliance supplier. If you are replacing the bearings, watch on line videos prior to performing the job. It will definitely let you in on what to expect. Be sure it is within your comfort level. Be prepared for soap scum and sludge. You will spent a lot of your time cleaning up the mess. Save yourself some time and be sure to get or borrow an inside puller as the front bearing is a real PAIN. The basket has movement and as such a puller is definitely the way to go. Well I want to say to all, the OEM belt is very short. I went to replace the belt when I was putting the washer back together and I could not believe just how short the belt really was. My motor has an adjustment slide and it was at the minimum and still guitar string tight. Hence, I decided to put the original back on (as it appeared to be in great shape) and keep the new one as a spare. No use putting undo strain on 15 year old motor bearings.Also the lip seal kit shows the pulley bolt and washer as being replaced with a newer version with 2 washers and a new bolt. My kit only contained the bolt and one washer. I installed the new bolt and washer over the original tabbed washer and torqued to 33 ft/lbs. In all the job took me the better part of a day. I spent about an hour cleaning sludge from the parts. And probably over an hour just getting the bearings out. Most of that spent on that front bearing. In the end, I rigged up a puller using an electric junction box, washers and a big bolt. I used it to apply pressure and then tapped with a drift and hammer. I applied pressure again and then tapped again and repeated. The stubborn bearing came out. My 15 year old bearings did not seem that bad when they were out. However, when I ran the first load the sound was gone. Good Luck and I hope this helps someone out there!