Zanussi Bearing Replacement

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

Zanussi ZWD16581W drum bearings may not be replaceable due to sealed tub

The problem

The washing machine developed a drum bearing issue, but when the tub was removed the two tub halves appeared completely sealed with no screws, so the owner could not separate it to replace the bearings.

Likely cause

The strongest supported diagnosis is that this particular Zanussi ZWD16581W may have a welded or sealed tub fitted, which would prevent normal bearing replacement even though a bearing kit and front tub half were reportedly listed in a spares database.

What fixed it

No confirmed repair was provided. The accepted advice was that the tub should normally split if the bearing kit and front half are available, but if the tub is welded together then the bearings are effectively not repairable in the usual way. A later reply said a welded tub is almost certainly not worth repairing.

Checks to try

• Owner removed the tub from the machine
• Owner found the tub completely sealed with no screws
• Accepted reply noted that a bearing kit and new front half of the tub were listed for this model in a spares database

Parts or tools mentioned

• drum bearing kit
• front half of the tub