Customer complaint was that their Maytag washer would not agitate or spin. When I got there I tilted the machine up and got a look underneath only to find that a jar of Carmex lip balm had somehow gotten under the machine and then under the plastic gear and belt protector, and then worked its way up through the pulley and some gears. I have no idea how or why, but a little jar of lip balm destroyed this machine! Unfortunately the customer and I were laughing so hard that I forgot to take a picture of the jar wedged into the pulley.

Turns out I only needed to replace the splutch kit. It’s an inexpensive part and an easy job. I’ve always thought that word was funny so I looked it up.

Urban Dictionary says: Splutch, Most fun onomatopoeia to say ever. Basically an upgraded version of the word “SPLAT”.

The Free Dictionary says: Slip clutch – a friction clutch that will slip when the torque is too great.

What the splutch does is allow the machine to shift between agitate and spin. Its got a spring and two sets of teeth that engage dependent on what the machine is doing. But it doesn’t slip when the torque too great, it just self destructs!

This photo is of the newly installed splutch kit.

I buy most of my parts at Reliable Parts online, they have a warehouse in Phoenix and I can typically get parts next day.

Here’s the parts I bought:

W10721967 SPLUTCH KIT and the W11239857 BELT, DRIVE RPL: W10808317

The splutch kit is part #6 in the MVW6230HW0 Maytag Washer diagram from Reliable Parts below