Our front loader Whirlpool duet washer (~18 years old) has started whopping and stomping around the laundry room. I replaced the 3 damper/shock-absorber things over the weekend, but that didn’t make any change to the problem. We ran a smallish load of towels immediately after the repair, and the machine whacked as much as it did beforehand. After that load, I confirmed that the shocks remained in place, and I’m sure I installed them properly. Now I’m stumped.
I’ve looked under and over and inside the machine, but I can’t find any other part(s) that might affect or control the machine’s balance. I don’t see springs or anything broken, nor do I see parts laying in the bottom of the machine.
What more should I be concerned about other than the springs and shock absorbers?
There’s a buffer/coupler assembly between the electric motor and whatever spins the drum. The buffer itself is rubber and after some time, prone to splitting/breaking. In the video below, right after the 12:55 mark, the repairman points out the ruined black rubber buffer and proceeds to replace it.
That exact part failed on our washer machine in 2024. Before complete failure, the washer ran a few weeks with the drum bashing around loudly and the washer itself walking all over the laundry closet.
Thank you to everyone for their time and responses.
@Crafter_Man, I did see one of the counterweights has a crack in it. But I didn’t see it moving. I’ll take a closer look at that. There’s no apparent bearing trouble, but I did see someone mention water leak at the bearing being a tell-tale of bearing problems. I haven’t yet, but I’ll check that.
@burpo_the_wonder_mutt, I’m going to re-check the level. I didn’t re-level it after installing the shocks. But you and other interneters suggest that I check that.
That’s correct, @bordelond, it’s a front-loader. The motor and the drum are connected directly to each other. But I appreciate your insight, and I’ll confirm there’s nothing amiss in this area.
And @Kent_Clark, I agree with this statement. In fact, Ms. Oligarchie is shopping for a new machine now. She has been at it all weekend. This is going to take some time, and I’ve got dirty socks to launder now
On our top loader, the upshot of the breaking (later broken) rubber buffer was that torque was getting transferred from the motor to the drum in fits and starts instead of smoothly. That caused repeated lurching of the drum (sounding much like a way-unbalanced load) and the overall “walking” of the machine. Once the buffer completely gave way, that was when the drum could no longer spin.
Anyway, if something similar can befall a front loader, it’s worth checking out.
This same thing happened to my front loader. In my case there is a sealed ring around the front of the drum that contains a bunch of 3/4” steel ball bearings. It is a plastic case and somehow cracked and let some of the balls out and it no longer self balanced. This went on a for a couple of days until the ring completely failed and all the balls shot out. If you think it bounced around before, wait until this happens it was terrifying. I had to get past the machine to pull the plug or even turn off the breaker. There were balls all over the room and they were all beat to heck.
I ran the unit empty last night. It actually spun surprisingly well, but there was a knock, knock, knock as the basket turned. As the machine went into its super-speedy spin mode the knock knock sound grew concerning. And, it seemed the drum was trying to vibrate out of its “track”. I.e. that it would spin smoothly, then start to subtly get less smooth. This smoothly to not-so-smoothly oscillated without much fanfare the first couple of occurrences. Then, as the less smoothness worked into a roughness, the basket was forced off balance and into a mild sway and on its way to a whop, whop, whop. I stopped it at this point.
I watched a video of a guy replacing a bearing, and “Whoa, Nelly!” His task of getting the basket out of the cabinet was the bear. Actually replacing the bearing was one of the simpler steps of the procedure. I don’t think I’m going to go that far into this project. I’m glad that I don’t have to.
Thanks again for everyone’s input. It’s been good to dive into and learn more about this machinery.
