Washer Motor Repair

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

Hitachi FW133 washer motor bearing repair completed without removing pulley

The problem

On a Hitachi FW133 washing machine from the 1980s, the motor bearings needed attention, but one bearing could not be removed because the drive pulley on the motor shaft would not come off. The poster could not identify whether the pulley was shrunk or threaded on.

Likely cause

The accepted reply said the pulley was most probably not designed to be removed and the armature was likely designed without bearing replacement in mind. It was also noted that, because the motor runs both ways, a threaded pulley direction was not relevant.

What fixed it

The accepted advice was that the pulley was probably not intended to come off and that complete armatures may once have been supplied as spares, with bearing sizes potentially obtainable from a specialist bearing supplier. The poster then carried out a workaround repair: the inaccessible bearing was refurbished in place by removing its shield, cleaning and regreasing it, and fitting a replacement shield from the worn bearing at the other end. A new bearing was fitted at the opposite end, and the commutator was re-faced before reassembly.

Checks to try

• Pulley could not be removed from the motor shaft
• Bearing shield was removed from the pulley-end bearing
• Bearing was cleaned and regreased
• New bearing fitted at the opposite end
• Commutator was re-faced
• Motor reassembled and refitted to the machine
• Machine completed at least two washes after repair

Parts or tools mentioned

• 2 bearings (only 1 used)
• Grease
• Replacement bearing shield taken from the other worn bearing
• Commutator re-facing service