The gear oil specified in a Maytag washer transmission gear box is number 350572. My question is: can I use SAE 90 in the transmission? It smells like 90 weight gear oil and seems about the same thickness, but I am not sure if it would be compatible with the plastic gears.
Maytag gear oil 350572
- Thread starter nbpt100
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MolaKule
Staff member
Is it leaking or has the oil or grease degraded that much?
Leaking. I want to top it off. Why do you ask?
MolaKule
Staff member
If you have a leak then seals and or gaskets might need replacement as well.
I would suspect this is a specially blended oil.
lowlaundry.com
I would suspect this is a specially blended oil.
350572 - Whirlpool Maytag Oil - LOWLaundry.com - Laundry Owners Warehouse
Need to replace oil for your Whirlpool Maytag? Get the Whirlpool/Maytag part #350572 - Oil at LOWLaundry.com, your go-to commercial and coin operated washer & dryer repair parts supplier.
lowlaundry.com
Yes I will be changing the lower seal. In agitation mode there is a squeak on larger loads. I do not hear it on the spin cycle or on light loads. I hope the gear box did not loose too much oil but it does not seem like a lot only judging from what I see below. While I am doing the seal repair, which is a substantial amount of work, I will open the gear box and add some oil. I hope that will address the squeak but I have no way of knowing. I have looked at the lower end and the lower thrust bearing is in good condition. Any other bearings seem impossible to judge until at least the brake/clutch is removed.
I have had people recommend Redline SAE 90 and Royal Purple 75w-90 SAE gear oils. Both are yellow metal safe. My guess is they are both superior to the Maytag/Whirlpool gear box oil. I assume I can buy either locally at an autoparts store. I do not know if there are bronze bearings in there, but I think it is a safe bet to assume so. I assume either or both are on the shelf at one of my two NAPA's or Autozone. My only concern is a 75w or 80W may be more prone to leaking past the seals than the straight 90. I am not sure if either of these 2 gear oils have conditioners that help prevent seals from leaks. ??? Does anyone know? If they do, that may be a good enough reason to go with the one that does. The factory Maytog oil is a bit of a black box. People on here say it is SAE 90 which makes sense and appears by sight and smell to be a reasonable guess. I doubt they used anything high end.
From what I can tell this gear box was made by Whilrpool and used on many other brands. It is no longer available. It seems like a design used for decades, is pretty solid, and has since been retired and comes up as UNAVAILABLE.
I do not want to do this repair again. Atleast for a long time, anyway. Thanks for all of the replies.
I have had people recommend Redline SAE 90 and Royal Purple 75w-90 SAE gear oils. Both are yellow metal safe. My guess is they are both superior to the Maytag/Whirlpool gear box oil. I assume I can buy either locally at an autoparts store. I do not know if there are bronze bearings in there, but I think it is a safe bet to assume so. I assume either or both are on the shelf at one of my two NAPA's or Autozone. My only concern is a 75w or 80W may be more prone to leaking past the seals than the straight 90. I am not sure if either of these 2 gear oils have conditioners that help prevent seals from leaks. ??? Does anyone know? If they do, that may be a good enough reason to go with the one that does. The factory Maytog oil is a bit of a black box. People on here say it is SAE 90 which makes sense and appears by sight and smell to be a reasonable guess. I doubt they used anything high end.
From what I can tell this gear box was made by Whilrpool and used on many other brands. It is no longer available. It seems like a design used for decades, is pretty solid, and has since been retired and comes up as UNAVAILABLE.
I do not want to do this repair again. Atleast for a long time, anyway. Thanks for all of the replies.
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A few other choices…
Caterpillar Final Drive 50, a heavy machinery repair place may give you a few ounces for free…
(Final Drive is made by many manufacturers..)
Mobil 1 Delvac 50
And Quicksilver / Mercury 90 outboard oil…
Any GL-4 75W-90 gear oil should work,
I just used Ultra1 Plus 75W-90 GL-4 myself in my Smart…
Caterpillar Final Drive 50, a heavy machinery repair place may give you a few ounces for free…
(Final Drive is made by many manufacturers..)
Mobil 1 Delvac 50
And Quicksilver / Mercury 90 outboard oil…
Any GL-4 75W-90 gear oil should work,
I just used Ultra1 Plus 75W-90 GL-4 myself in my Smart…
Thanks for the ideas. I am changing the seals but am concerned with future leaking. An SAE 50 may be more prone to leak unless it has seal conditioners in it. I am leaning towards what you have used in your Smart Car. The Ultra 1 Plus 75w-90 GL-4. I have also has Royal Purple and Redline MT-90 gear oils recommended. They are GL-5 rated but state they are yellow metal safe. A little bit more expansive that the Ultra 1 Plus which should be just fine for the application.. I now have to see if I can get it at one of my local autoparts stores. TSC has it but it is only ship to home or to the store. Thanks again.
I have not had time to do this repair yet and was thinking is there a seal conditioner I could add to the gear oil to help prevent future leaks? This is a pain in the A repair and I do not want to do it again. I do not see any harm in adding such a thing in an appropriate amount as being proactive against having this leak again. The leak wreaks havoc on the v belts which get saturate and then can slip. When I did my research earlier I noted that the Ames oil MT GL-4 gear oil includes a seal conditioner. I do not recall any other brand of GL 4 gear oil advertising this. Thoughts on either using a oil that comes with a seal conditioner or adding something to condition the seals. I am not sure what that would be but I have to believe there are products out there that do this for a gear box using this type/grade of oil.
MolaKule
Staff member
I would not make the assumptions you made in bold.
I still think the Maytag oil is a specially blended, one-off formulation gear oil.
I am not assuming. It says it right on their packaging. If you think it is a misrepresentation you are welcome to research it yourself.
Let us know what you come up with.
So what is the Maytag specially blended 1 off formulation? Can you explicate?
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For what it's worth, I have a 1987 Maytag LAT series toploader. Bought it 15 years ago for $75 from a college kid apartment.
It developed an oil leak as was discovered when my wife and I moved it a year later in 2009.
I popped the cover off the transmission, replaced the lower seal and put M1 75-90 in it with some untra black RTV....all stuff I had laying around. Found the 2 Vbelts at NAPA. Gates, listed as Maytag.
Well here it is 2023, 2 kids later and 1000s of leads. Still going strong. I replaced the brake in it about 5 years ago.
Plan on keeping it until the drum rots out and leaks.
It developed an oil leak as was discovered when my wife and I moved it a year later in 2009.
I popped the cover off the transmission, replaced the lower seal and put M1 75-90 in it with some untra black RTV....all stuff I had laying around. Found the 2 Vbelts at NAPA. Gates, listed as Maytag.
Well here it is 2023, 2 kids later and 1000s of leads. Still going strong. I replaced the brake in it about 5 years ago.
Plan on keeping it until the drum rots out and leaks.
MolaKule
Staff member
Here is what you wrote:
"I have had people recommend Redline SAE 90 and Royal Purple 75w-90 SAE gear oils. Both are yellow metal safe. My guess is they are both superior to the Maytag/Whirlpool gear box oil..."
Were you not saying that Redline SAE 90 and Royal Purple 75w-90 SAE gear oils are superior to the Maytag/Whirlpool gear box oil?
My point is: They may not be superior in the sense that they may not contain the specific base oils and additives necessary for THIS gear box design.
MolaKule
Staff member
It could very well be a 90 Grade gear oil (we don't really know since no one has sent in a VOA for testing), but that doesn't mean that a 90 Grade or 75W90 Grade, Hypoid differential, automotive gear lube would be compatible with the plastic gearing.
An SAE 90 grade gear oil can vary in kinematic viscosity from 14.5 cSt to 22 cSt@100C.
Viscosity Charts - Bob is the Oil Guy
Viscosities can be related horizontally only Viscosities based on 96 VI single grade oils. ISO are specified at 40°C AGMA are specified at 40°C SAE 75w, 80w, 85, 5w, & 10w specified at low temperature. Equivalent viscosities for 100° & 210°F are shown SAE 90 to 250 and 20 to 50 specified at...
bobistheoilguy.com
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I realllllly think we are over thinking this.
My almost 40 year old maytag has been running for 1000s of loads for 15 years on M1 75-90
My almost 40 year old maytag has been running for 1000s of loads for 15 years on M1 75-90
Carquest sells a GL-4 90 grade gear oil for cheap. Just in case you decide to fill it with a 90 grade oil.
FWIW Appliance Parts Pros says you can substitute 90 grade gear oil. https://www.appliancepartspros.com/...bstitute is,most auto parts supply businesses.
FWIW Appliance Parts Pros says you can substitute 90 grade gear oil. https://www.appliancepartspros.com/...bstitute is,most auto parts supply businesses.
I am resurrecting this because I am having trouble finding a 90w GL4 oil that is available locally. I don't want to use the 75w-90 that is readily available in my network of local stores. Because of leak probability. What are peoples thoughts on adding some kind of leak stopper proactively to the gear oil when I replace it.? Im not sure what would be advisable. There are some plastic gears in there so that may be a consideration.
As an alternative what are peoples thoughts on 85w-140?
As an alternative what are peoples thoughts on 85w-140?
FWIW, the Ultra 1 Plus is proven to thin out VERY quickly under load. In the thread I have on 75w90 gear oils, the U1P lost over 30% of its initial viscosity in the KRL test.
Maytag tried heavier oils years ago. In cold basements, storage room, etc. oil was too thick, Burned belts up.
I am thinking how hot will the transmission ever get on a 15 minute cycle. Not as hot as a car or truck transmission. I am assuming, but I bet I am right. An 75w-90 will never get hot enough to get to the 90. Again I am assuming. But I bet I am right. Doing one load after another , maybe.
