It is an Amana washer ALW480DAW.

I just filled it up with really hot water and put some bleach in there. Even though I cleaned the inside of the agitator and fabric softener dispenser yesterday, I went ahead and scrubbed them out with the bleach water that I filled the washer with. I took a scrub brush (bottle brush) and cleaned around the top of the drum and all crevices again with the bleach water. While the tub was filling, there were again some suds but nothing like there was yesterday. With the smell in the washer, it smelled like detergent build up, it did not have a musty moldy or mildew type smell to it. I have the bleach soaking in the tub right now and in a few hours will let it run through it's empty cycle.

Hopefully I don't have to take it apart to clean it.

Add a 1/2 gallon or so more water to raise the water level higher, above the normal level at which there's likely a scum line.

Soaking is good to loosen the gunk, but agitation & water currents after soaking will help flush it away. Chlorine bleach can damage stainless steel so a very strong dose of it or extended soaking time should be avoided. Washer cleaners (Afresh or others, LemiShine, etc.) are also appropriate.

Thanks! I added more hot water as suggested :) I am using 1 1/2 cups of bleach to soak it. I will wait another hour or so and then let it complete it's cycle to see if it takes care of the problem. So the bleach isn't super strong in that washer but hopefully strong enough to cut through whatever is in there. I figure the hot water soaking will dissolve any detergent build up in the machine. The true test will be when I let it agitate and finish it's cycle. I will report back after it has ran it's cycle. I will fill the washer again after it is done and see if there are any more soap suds, but I think this probably should take care of it. Thanks!

I am happy to announce that the machine seems to be clean now :) Hooray!!! No suds while filling, no suds while the cycle is running, no junk floating in the water, no funky smells and the drum looks much brighter too. Now in a week or so I can test the machine out on actual laundry. (I just did laundry the night before last so it is going to take about a week before I get a full load to fill this machine, and detergent dosing learning curve will start as this machine has a much bigger drum than our last washer.) But at least now it is a washer that I would not feel nervous putting my clothing into anymore :)

I am happy to announce that the machine seems to be clean now :) Hooray!!! No suds while filling, no suds while the cycle is running, no junk floating in the water, no funky smells and the drum looks much brighter too.That's good. But trust me on this ... you may have gotten the "loose" debris cleared and enough of the gunk that it's not causing obvious suds residue, but detergent/softener scrud is a waxy, sticky mess that needs direct scrubbing to fully remove. Same for mineral deposits. Even chemical treatments can't fully remove it without scrubbing. Lots of people would be truly appalled to see what's hiding in their washers, LOL.

Yeah... I hope it is not all gunky in there where I can't see. The good news is that we live in a very soft water area so I am not too worried about mineral deposits. But it is the other funky stuff that makes me nervous. I don't know if I am up to the task of taking apart the machine to peek inside and see if that is clean or not. I have the service manual downloaded already for this machine, but it looks like a lot of work to pull apart the machine to even look.

Unfortunately, bleach may disinfect but it does absolutely nothing to remove scum and residue. Here is my suggestion using the longest and hottest cycle... raise the water level as described above and use a full dose of sodium carbonate for your size and type of machine. Sodium carbonate, a major ingredient in Charlie's Soap, is a good degreaser and will start to cut the buildup. After you run one or more such loads, run another empty HOT load with a cup of citric acid. You can buy this at the grocery store dishwasher/detergent section under the brand name Lemi Shine. This will rid your machine of any hard water mineral deposits.

Removing just two screws will give you good access to the exterior of the drum etc.

Not even!

@shrivastava I happen to have both Sodium Carbonate and Citric Acid on hand. I will run an empty load with one or the other with really hot water and let soak. I have the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (a.k.a Sodium Carbonate) sitting here from when I made my own laundry soap (which I later abandoned as I didn't think it was all that great) and I have a 50 lb bucket of Citric Acid from making Bath Fizzies sitting in my basement. I will try using the Sodium Carbonate first. Thanks!

@worthy, According to the service manual it shows that I have to do a lot more than that and it looks like a lot of work. I will link to the service manual for your viewing pleasure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Service manual for the machine I am talking about.