Washing Machine - Identity Crisis

[diy_dude]

My Indesit washing machine has been pretending to be my hammer drill recently. The noise it makes when spinning is now getting really loud.

I have tried turning the drum by hand, there is little resistance but it feels lumpy all the way round. I fear this means the bearings are on the way out. The machine is 18 months old, but as we have a young person in the house, its used 5/6 times each week on 60C for nappies.

Rather than take the lid off to simply confirm the bearing has failed, I thought I would ask for advice. In particular:
- Can the bearing in an Indesit WIL 153 washer be replaced?
- Are any special tools needed?
- What do I need to buy, and where from?

I feel reasonably confident about undertaking this work. I used to repair my parents washer about 10 years ago, however it was just belt, seal and pump changes.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks.

 

[Sleepyhead]

Nasty job on Indesit appliances.
Depends on the type of drum fitted to the machine.
Some, plastic outer with back plate, whole drum comes out through the top, lot of stripping down to get it out.
External spider on rear, held on by torx bolts, easier to do and done without removing tub. Only drawback is the T40 torx bolt that holds the pulley on. It's fitted with loctite.
Sealed tub, complete replacement of outer and inner.
You'll have to figure out which is fitted to your machine. If it has a very small back panel on the rear of the machine, it's tub out through the top job.

 

[diy_dude]

Sleepyhead, thanks for the advice.

I have taken a photo of the back and a couple of the inside. Could you have a quick look and confirm which type of drum I have.
I suspect I have the external spider (in red) with torx bolts which I can change without removing the tub, or at least I hope so....

Can you give me any guidance on how to proceed. Also, are there any special tools I need to acquire first, eg bearing puller?

 

[Sleepyhead]

Bit hard to tell from the photographs but by the look of it, the big red thing on the back is the spider with the bearings. That's the part you need to change.
No picture of the rear of the pulley but I think you'll find a T40 torx bolt in the pulley. It's a nightmare to get out. You could try to heat the bolt with a blowtorch, that my help break the loctite on the threads.

 

[diy_dude]

Can I just check I have this right in my mind.

- Remove rear case, lid, etc..
- Remove belt and pulley (the hard bit)
- Remove torx bolts from spider
- The spider will contain the bearings which need to be changed. Once the torx bolts are out, should this seperate from the rear of the drums with ease?? I also guess at this point the inner drum will rest loose in the outer drum.
- Do I change the whole spider, or can the bearings be removed from the spider and new ones inserted? Any special tools needed?
- Assembly is the reverse of above

Any suggestions where I can get the necessary spares from?

Many thanks for your help with this.

 

[Sleepyhead]

Can I just check I have this right in my mind.

- Remove rear case, lid, etc.. - Yes
- Remove belt and pulley (the hard bit) - Yes
- Remove torx bolts from spider - Yes
- The spider will contain the bearings which need to be changed. Once the torx bolts are out, should this seperate from the rear of the drums with ease?? I also guess at this point the inner drum will rest loose in the outer drum. - Yes
- Do I change the whole spider, or can the bearings be removed from the spider and new ones inserted? - You'll have to see what your local repair shop can supply.
Any special tools needed? - None I can think of.
- Assembly is the reverse of above - Yes

Any suggestions where I can get the necessary spares from? - Local repair shop can obtain for you or search online.

Many thanks for your help with this.