Drum Bearing Replacement Bosch Wae
I need to replace the drum bearings on a 7-8 year old Bosch WAE. I bought a bearing repair kit P/N 172686 which consists of the bearings, a bearing seal, some machine screws and a tub gasket. In order to split the tub I have to break a dozen or so plastic clips and then use the additional machine screws to replace them on reassembly. The instructions show the the pclipsbeing broken with side cutters or something plier like. I'm not convinced that will work. There is an e-spares video on youtube where he does it withya small chisel but I am concerned about puncturing the tub. Has anyone done it and what was the best way to break the clips?
Ta for reading,
BB
Solution Summary
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Bosch WAE drum bearing replacement query about splitting the tub clips
- The problem
- Owner of a 7-8 year old Bosch WAE needed to replace the drum bearings using repair kit 172686. The difficulty was how to split the tub by removing the plastic clips without damaging the outer tub.
- Likely cause
- Confirmed underlying fault was worn drum bearings requiring replacement. A possible drum spider problem was mentioned by the owner, but this was only a concern and not confirmed.
- What fixed it
- Accepted advice was that this is a very large DIY job because the machine must be completely dismantled and the entire drum removed. Once the drum is out, the recommended method was simply to saw off the plastic tabs/clips with a hacksaw, then reassemble using the supplied machine screws from the kit. The exact repair completion was not confirmed in the discussion.
- Checks to try
- Owner had obtained bearing repair kit 172686 containing bearings, bearing seal, machine screws and tub gasket
- Owner noted the tub had to be split by breaking around a dozen plastic clips
- Owner stated the entire machine would need to be dismantled
- Owner planned to have a local garage drift in the bearings
- Owner said the machine would be scrapped if a spider fault was found
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Bearing repair kit 172686
- Bearings
- Bearing seal
- Machine screws
- Tub gasket
- Hacksaw
Safety: Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
4 Answers
It's a very big job for a DIY job but some people can manage it. What about just using a hacksaw to saw them off?
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Thanks for your reply.
Its a heck of a job for a washing machine. You have to completely dismantle it. A local garage will drift in the bearings for me. Otherwise its in good nick and once this is done it may go on for a bit. If it turns out to be a problem with the spider then I'll scrap the machine. I'll try a hacksaw but the clips back straight onto the tub. Don't want to make any holes.!
I used to be able to replace drum bearings in Hoover washing machines in about 40 minutes. Dead easy job. They've been slowly making them harder and harder to replace for many years now. The latest trick is to completely seal the 2 halves of the tub. They are heat welded together and cannot be split. This is the case for the majority of modern washing machines and they just cannot be stripped down to replace any bearings, drum spiders or even retrieve any obstructions.
Just when it looked like they couldn't sink any lower the latest trend is to also weld the front panel on and have a fixed back with no back panel. This means that not only would you have to take out and replace the entire tub and drum assembly but it has to come out through the space in the lid. And because you cannot take the front panel off you cannot remove the heavy tub weight so it's a two-man job to get the tub out. None of these modern machines will ever be repaired in the future if anything goes wrong with the drum bearings, or anything gets jammed inside that cannot be retrieved normally.
With your particular case you need to take out the entire drum anyway so once it's out it should be straightforward to just saw off the tabs. I would have thought it would be impossible to damage the outer tub with a hacksaw. The worse you could do is scratch it.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Well I have to deal with how this one is made. The last bearing I did must have been 20 years ago on a hoover. Steel tub with I think a cast backplate. You had this little crush washer to correctly preload the taper roller bearings. Thew parts shop was down to his last dozen. Hoover stopped supplying the part. Then the tub rusted through so it was scrap anyway. Home repairers are in the minority. They made them repairable but few people do and fewer people have the skill. I don't know how you would replace a drive belt in the machine you describe. My girlfriend bought a BEKO for less than £200. It's all you describe but it works. We now have the technology to make a washing machine which will go for 20 years for £400.00. Where's this profit in that? Look what it did for ISE.
So, there is no point in moaning.lol.Thanks for your tips.
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