AEG 6000 series lavamat spin noise

This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.

AEG 6000 series Lavamat loud metallic spin noise

The problem

A 2 year 9 month old AEG 6000 series Lavamat developed a very loud noise during spin. The original poster asked whether the noise indicated failed drum bearings.

Likely cause

The accepted reply said the noise did not sound like typical drum bearings, which would usually rumble. The strongest supported diagnosis was a metallic noise from another rotating component, with suggested possibilities including the motor, drum pulley catching on something, a loose drum pulley, or a cracked drum spider causing excessive play. The exact fault was not confirmed.

What fixed it

The accepted advice was to diagnose by process of elimination: inspect at the back for the motor or drum pulley catching on anything, remove the back panel and drive belt, spin the drum by hand to assess bearing noise, check for up-and-down play around the drum circumference, and consider whether the motor is the source when isolated. No completed repair was confirmed in the discussion.

Checks to try

• Checked whether the noise matched typical drum bearing noise
• Inspect motor and drum pulley area at the back for fouling
• Remove back panel and drive belt
• Spin drum by hand to listen for bearing noise
• Check for excessive drum play around the circumference
• Check whether the drum pulley is loose

Parts or tools mentioned

• Drive belt
• Drum pulley
• Motor
• Back panel