Washing Machine Bearings Keep Failing

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

Hotpoint WT761 drum bearings repeatedly failing due to water passing the seal

The problem

A Hotpoint WT761 washing machine had repeated drum bearing failures: first replacement after about 5 years, then roughly yearly afterwards. The owner found water getting past the bearing seal and corroding the bearings. The drum spider had also been replaced.

Likely cause

The strongest diagnosis in the discussion is ongoing water ingress past the bearing seal. The accepted reply says bearing failure is usually caused by the seal letting in water, and repeated failure suggests the seal, associated parts, part quality, or fitting may not be right. Cheap pattern parts were mentioned as a possible contributor, but no definite fault beyond seal-related water ingress was confirmed.

What fixed it

Recommended action was to replace the complete bearing kit including the seal, replace the drum spider as advised, and use genuine Hotpoint bearings and seal. One reply also advised not delaying repair if the bearings are already very noisy, because collapse of the front drum bearing can make removal of the outer race from the plastic tub very difficult. The exact repair outcome was not confirmed.

Checks to try

• Water leaking past the seal and corroding the bearings was observed
• The whole bearing kit including the seal had reportedly been replaced previously
• The drum spider had been replaced previously
• Advice given to assess whether the bearings were just starting to sound noisy or were already rumbling badly

Parts or tools mentioned

• drum bearings
• bearing seal
• bearing kit
• drum spider
• genuine Hotpoint bearings and seal