Strange loud noise from washing machine.

Sorry, really don't know but does mum have a cat/goldfish/hamster etc?

Fishy smells frequently mean there's an electrical problem.

Did. They all disappeared a few days ago. I don't expect there's any connection, though.

Or is there?

Recently there were somne exploding machine but they are newer.

The OP could always email/call, Hot point but I doubt they'd be intrested in one that old. The smells probbly old pplastic getting hot, usually ity's an old lighting socket, hope it's not your wall socket getting hot.

I would do a few checks on the drum bearing...

Turn drum by hand when it's empty - does it turn freely without any rumbling (bearing in mind you are turning the motor via the belt too)?

Is there any play on the inner drum? i.e. can you lift the edge of it without the outer drum following?

If the drum bearing gets very bad, the inner drum could be moving around enough to hit something such as the outer drum, rubber door seal, heater element, etc, but the collapsed drum bearing would `normally be making quite a nasty noise by that point.

Well, it could be if it occurs as the motor starts or changes speed that the brushes are getting worn and are arcing at high current moments in the cycle. It could of course just be mechanical, but if there is a smell as noted, this can be perceived as fishy, if some insulator is heating up and carbonising. I remember once my old machine did this and it was a dodgy hose inside that occasionally sprayed onto a pcb. Not very nice that it killed it in the end. Brian