Skip to content
Appliance Age Finder

Maytag serial number lookup

Maytag is the hardest of the major American brands to date, because it uses two completely different systems either side of 2006 and a single serial can read plausibly under both.

Look up a Maytag appliance

Required. Only brands we can cite a source for are listed.

Optional, but it lets us rule out formats that do not apply.

Optional for most brands, required for Kenmore.

Required. Stays in your browser — we never send it anywhere.

How Maytag serial numbers work

Legacy Maytag appliances carry two date letters — the first is the year, the second is the month — drawn from a 24-letter alphabet that leaves out I and O because they look like 1 and 0. Since the 2006 Whirlpool acquisition, Maytag appliances use the Whirlpool format instead.

The legacy Maytag alphabet is the interesting part. It uses 24 letters — every letter except I and O, which are dropped because they are routinely misread as 1 and 0 on a stamped plate. Those 24 letters are used as two interleaved twelve-letter runs, which is why each year letter comes back around every 24 years and why two different letters can mean the same month.

That interleaving explains something that looks like an error at first glance. The letter B means 1966, 1990 and 2014 in the year position, but January in the month position. Z means 1977 and 2001 as a year, and December as a month. The same character does different work depending on where it sits.

The other quirk is placement. On plenty of legacy Maytag appliances the two date letters sit at the end of the serial rather than the start, so a serial like 16240783NR has its date information in the last two characters. We match both layouts, because copying only the digits is one of the most common reasons a Maytag lookup fails.

Since 2006, Maytag serials follow Whirlpool's structure: division letter, year character, two-digit production week, build sequence. That gets you week-level precision instead of month-level, which is a real improvement — but only if the appliance is actually from the Whirlpool era.

Example Maytag serial format

An example built from published documentation. We never use real customer serial numbers.

16240783NR

The date letters are at the end. N is the year code for 1984, R is the month code for September, and the digits are the unit sequence.

Appliance types we can decode for Maytag

  • Washing machine
  • Clothes dryer
  • Dishwasher
  • Refrigerator
  • Freezer
  • Range
  • Oven
  • Cooktop
  • Microwave

Categories not listed here are either not made under this brand or not covered by a rule we can source.

Where to find the label on a Maytag appliance

  • Washers: under the lid, or around the door opening on front loaders.
  • Dryers: inside the door opening or behind the lint filter housing.
  • Refrigerators: inside the fresh-food compartment, often on the side wall.
  • Dishwashers: on the door edge, visible with the door open.

Production-period caveats

  • The 2006 changeover is the single most important thing about dating a Maytag. The same serial can read as two different dates under the two systems, which is why we show both when both fit.
  • The legacy year letters repeat every twenty-four years, so 1990 and 2014 share a code.
  • The legacy code gives a month but no production week, so it is never more precise than a month.

Why a lookup commonly fails

  • The two date letters sit at the end of the serial on many legacy Maytag appliances, and get left off when the number is copied.
  • An I or an O was read from the label. Neither letter exists in the Maytag alphabet, so it is really a 1 or a 0.

Sources for the Maytag rules

Official Maytag support: Maytag product help. Rules last reviewed 29 July 2026.

Spotted a wrong result? Report it

Maytag serial number questions

Why am I shown two different dates for the same Maytag serial?
Because both systems can legitimately read the same characters. A serial that decodes as a 1995 date under the legacy Maytag code may also decode as a 2020 date under the Whirlpool code. Rather than pick one, we show both, rank them, and explain what would settle it — usually the appliance's styling, its model number, or when you bought it.
My Maytag serial has an I or an O in it. What does that mean?
Almost certainly that the character is really a 1 or a 0. Maytag deliberately excluded both letters from its date code for exactly this reason. Check the plate in good light before assuming the serial is unusual.
Are Maytag and Whirlpool appliances the same thing now?
They share a parent company, several plants and the serial-number system, but they are separate product lines with different components and different service parts. Sharing a date code does not mean sharing a design.
How old is too old for a Maytag washer?
Washing machines typically stay in service around 10 to 13 years. Past that, the question is less about age and more about what the repair costs relative to a replacement, whether parts are still available, and whether the same fault keeps returning.

Related guides