Whirlpool AWG338/3 Washing Machine ~ Drum seized

[Glengardener]

With a rotation failure on the AWG338/3 (853733815110) in our cottage, I removed the back, slackened off the drum motor and removed the belt and the large pulley on the drum spindle. It was fairly obvious that the pulley was skewed with respect to the machine axis and with all the drive removed it is still only possible to move the drum through a very few degrees of rotation by using brute force. From the front the drum is displaced to the left by an inch and a half.

It is probably that the drum bearing has failed but I don't know what else is in there to prevent the drum from moving sideways.

Rather than ditch the machine and buy a new one I would much prefer to save both money and the environment by repairing it but I don't know how to get the drum out and whether it requires specialist tools to replace the bearing on this machine.

Anyone with the knowledge to help me out Assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[breezer]

give up now,

as you said you do need specialist tools / know how and it does take a lot of time ( i know i used to work for hp)

when my m/c gave up a few years after i left hp, i rang them up to see how much to get them changed( i gave list of all parts) , it was £10 short of new m/c

sorry but that the way life is

 

[Sleepyhead]

Sounds more like something jammed between the drums to me.
Machine is based on a Servis design. The rear of the tub is held on by a metal band, 13mm nut and bolt near the top.
Make a drawing of the wiring to all the parts on the rear plate before starting.
Disconnect all the wiring, remove the nut and bolt from the clamp, remove the clamp, prise off the backplate and by moving the tub sideways and pushing down it's possible to take the back plate and inner drum out through the rear of the machine.
Remove whatever is jamming it and reassemble. (It's easier if you get a new tub seal first).
If you find it is the bearings that are siezed then you've a little bit more work to do.
Remove the assembly as above. Remove the pulley and seperate the back plate from the inner drum. Take care not to damage the shaft when you knock it through.
If you find the spider / crosspiece on the back of the inner drum is broken then it's an expensive job.
Once seperated, knock the rear bearing out with hammer and cold chisel from the inside and then the front bearing and seal from the outside.
Fit the new bearings and seal, again taking care not to damage them in any way.
Reassemble all the parts and refit.
You're going to spend a few hours on this job, spend at least £50 if the bearings are gone (less if you search EBay for Servis Whirlpool Bearing) and you'll lose a fair bit of skin off your hands.

 

[breezer]

sleepyhead knows more about otherbrands than I do, so he may be right, but a trick i used to do in that case is to grab the inner drum paddles and twist, if it is an object stuck it usualy frees it, but you still have to get it out, which i often did by taking the pump off

 

[Glengardener]

Breezer, Thanks for the advice but I am a glutton for punishment and most of the goods in our household have been fixed at one time or another, I'm not a great one for giving up on the "Tricky" ones. If nothing else at least one ends up with a whole new load of spares for another job. I'll see how I get on.

Sleepyhead, Thank you too for your gen. At least it gets me underway and I can see the clamp band now I know what I'm looking for. Obviously one needs to be careful of the heater, thermostat and level switches when removing the back plate and drum but presumably they will all clear the outer casing when you draw it off? The other query before I start is this. There is a greyish white plastic manifold for the water supply to the backplate. Is it better to clip the tiewrap on the rubber hose through the back plate or unbolt the flange at the other end near the impeller. Or maybe one has to do both?

Again thanks for the start.

 

[Sleepyhead]

That's the pressure chamber, take it off at the backplate and clip the cable tie(s). Leave the heater in place, just take the wires off. It's easier to pop the thermostat(s) out and leave the wiring on them.
The heater locates into a holder when it's being reassembled, make sure it locks into this or the inner drum will hit against it.