Our Hotpoint WM63 Washer recently suddenly started making a LOT of noise when spinning.
After removing the drive-belt I noticed that the motor shaft has a couple of millimetres of radial play. Assuming that this is not a good sign I extracted the motor and, having removed the through-bolts that hold the motor casing together, discovered that the inside bearing race (belt-end) is
*not* attached to the motor shaft (in contrast to the bearing at the other end). This seems odd to me, and there is also some evidence of shearing where the inner side of this race meets an enlarged section of the shaft. Considering the large radial force applied to the motor-shaft by the drive-belt I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a weak-point in the design.
But I don't want to be overconfident given the price of a new motor (around £100). Am I on the right track here? Is this a known problem with these motors? If so, can the motor be repaired?
BTW, the drum makes no obvious noise when turned by hand.
Also, is it worthwhile doing any other preventative maintainance on the machine whilst I have the thing dismantled.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
Liam.