Bearings Replacement The bearings on my Hotpoint WMA66 have expired and I have been weighing up the odds between replacing the bearings or binning the appliance. I have had a few quotes for the work but one guy tells me that to replace the bearings, one must replace the whole drum!!! I'm thinking if this is the case then why are the bearings on sale seperately? Can anyone add to this, or has anyone replaced them themselves? HELP!!!

https://www.espares.co.uk/search/ma808pt1553/washing-machines/bearings/hotpoint

HI,IAM SURE THAT MODEL HAS A WELDED SEALED DRUM,SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO PURCHASE A COMPLEAT DRUM AROUND £125 APROX,SORRY.

Depends where you live here in England I buy from hotpoint.however its quite a big job to do also you may find this models bearings are sold on as half drum,you need to buy he half drum with bearings fitted to replace and costs parts approx 70.pounds..hope this helps

It is so common that the washing machine can make terrible noise in many ways and is a common fault. In all occasions it is important that your observation is most important and so is vital to the identification /rectification and solution. If you have noticed that machine is vibrating when it is running then the motor /drum suspension has to be inspected. Since these fittings are located on the underside of the machine it is important that you look for the noise with a good inspection lamp. Manually turn the motor and drum and listen for the noise, if so the motor bearings, the drum agitator shaft and fittings must be checked. Also the suspensions which include the shock absorbers and springs, the body clamps must be checked to be in correct alignment and not changed in position. Tightening of the mounting is also very important. Finally in most cases a drop of OIL or smear of grease on the moving parts cane solve most issues.

For replacement of bearings check for tips on this visual link:
http://www.espares.co.uk/advice/washing-machines/a/7/1401/how-to-replace-the-bearings-on-a-washing-mach.html

Here are a series of free videos to help you with your bearing problems and how to fix them
For all your free videos on appliance repairs remember to mark us down and leave feed back please
For all your parts visit our site http://www.apart4u.co.uk

This first video shows you how to diagnose the problem


The next Hotpoint video is on how to take the drum out


This Hotpoint video will show you how to change the bearings in the drum tub


the last one will show you how to change the spider or drum support as they are known

Remove the belt, and spin drum by hand from inside, there should be little or no noise, if there is then it is possible the drum bearings are failing.
I f no noise, but there is when you put belt back on, then possibly bearing in motor noisy

Form the front of washer, spin drum by hand, and if it fees rough, or is rumbling, then the main drum bearings are worn.
If no noise from drum, then could be worn shockers, or the washer is not properly levelled, or concrete balance weight, I'm afraid it is a process of elmination.
Hope this helps.

The drum may be off balance because a support wheel or bearing is not operating correctly. A drum support wheel bearing could need lubrication or be replaced. Also some drum support wheels have a rubber coating that wears off causing misalignment and noise. Possibly drum gasket (sometimes felt material) where drum meets rear panel is worn allowing metal-to-metal contact--should be replaced. See the following for info about dryer repair including belt replacement:http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-a-dryer.htm

The washer is not a sealed unit but the rear drum bearing are also you will need a new spider...To take a look inside - Initially you will see enough from the top to see where things are...

1. UNPLUG the washer.
2. check you've unplugged.
3. Open the top of the machine - see the sides of the lid about 10 cm from front, remove plastic caps on each torx head, undo torx. (torx set required)
4. Remove concrete block from top - large spanner is required - remember the sequence so you can replace later.
5. Lean over the drum and see the large drive wheel.

If the Drum bearing has failed it is usually due to over loading or a faulty seal in the drum, water leaks into the inner bearing. This causes corrosion and then ultimately failure.

In the likely event that the bearings have failed (I have had a hotpoint wma33 fail at 23 months...) Its actually cheaper for you to pay hotpoint to fit a new drum (Parts are free for 5 years! you just pay a flat callout fee - believe me its a bargin). + they never ever replacing just bearings, it takes too long for them. They will do a whole drum and spider arrangement in under 2 hours...

I wasted 3 days because these things are really awkward to remove and refit. The callout fee for a hotpoint engineer a fixed cost. I bought a spider see:
http://www.4hotpoint.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.pl?PID=954798&brand=&model=wma33&part=spider
This spider costs 61.25 + delivery - ouch.

I bough a half drum thinking I would keep the costs down. Hotpoint will fit half a drum or full drum (Depending on what is on the van for their call out fee) the actual cost of a half drum is 75.99 + delivery see: http://www.4hotpoint.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.pl?PID=639770&brand=&model=wma33&part=drum

and a full drum costs 161.49 + delivery
see: http://www.4hotpoint.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.pl?PID=639763&brand=&model=wma33&part=drum

They take away all the rubbish at the end also!

I know this site is about doing it yourself and I can go into more details about how to do it. But because I did not have the correct tools that hotpoint must have to pull the bearings from the housing etc - I feel I would be wasting your time.

I hope this helps

Please don't rate me as unhelpful, this is not a simple change the bearings task.

The drum will have to be removed.
Bearing replacement on ANY Hoover can be difficult. Even for experienced technicians, it can take 1 to 2 hours as long as there are no surprises (corrosion, stubborn bolt etc). Also, all Hoover washers require at least 2 specialized tools for removing certain components of the machine.