Pretty sure the bearings are shot on our AEG – back/forward play in the drum, groaning when rotating the drum empty and knocks like hell when in spin mode.

Local bloke reckons minimum 180 notes due to labour rather than excessive parts costs. Anyone know if that is true or maybe he can’t be arsed? I’ve watched the video on espares website and it does look like a faff!

If 180 is the likely cost, its over half the cost of a new decent machine with 5 years of warranty.

Looked at doing mine a few years ago, decided it was easier to buy a new machine. Practically had to dismantle the old machine to get to the bearings. There was a fairly high chance of busting something else in the process.

It depends what value you place on your own time. Since you’ve never done the job it will take time and might even need some special tools. In that case it’s probably better to pay somebody else but if you do it yourself you will have a huge sense of reward and won’t hesitate to pull it apart when something else needs fixing.

I say go against the trend and repair it, don’t just chuck it away.

These days better to buy a new one. Modern machines are not designed to last long at all. Repairs are so expensive and after designed lifespan has passed will become so frequent to encourage you to just buy new.

Why washing machines are no longer built to last

£180 for new bearings this month, then what in 4 months time?

globalti – appreciate what you saying, however, time is an issue and there is a HUGE chance that I will screw it up anyway! Parts are maybe 40 quid including a new belt so 140-150 seems a lot in labour to me. I need to find a £15-20 hour odd jobber with a bit of gumption…

Honest Tony who has fixed our ancient washer/dryer a couple of times reckons only top-end machines from Bosch AEG Miele etc are actually repairable these days

The rest are made to a price point and are prohibitively expensive to repair unless you want to have a go at DIY

You’d pay about £15 for an ebay bearing kit, and assuming you have the space, taking it apart is easy, but possibly time consuming. Personally, i’d give it a go. Use a camera to take pics of the bits (especially pipe and electrical connectors etc) to help you remember how it goes back together. If it all goes wrong, your only £15 down, and if it goes right either 1) use machine or 2) sell it on ebay!

My sisters BOSCH machine did it’s bearings, the repair man said “scrap it” i fixed it in under 2hrs for iirc £16.50

It’s worth noting that some machines have “sealed” plastic drums now, and the bearings cannot be repaired, in those cases, you must replace the entire drum assy, which is not really cost effective

I’d give it a go if I were you. The capacitor blew on our tumble drier last year and I decided to try and fix it. Admittedly a tumble drier is probably a lot less complicated than a washing machine but it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting it to be.

It took a few attempts as I had to dismantle the entire thing (drum out etc) to get to the capacitor and kept running out of time – I had to put it back together after each aborted attempt due to lack of space and two toddlers in the house.

When I finally gave myself enough time I stripped it down, got the capacitor out, popped down the local hardware store for a new one (£16), put it in and put the thing back together. It probably took me a few hours but I felt much better for it, it saved me the cost of a new one, and I could happily do it again in under an hour I reckon.

Edit: As above, if you do have a go, take lots and lots of photos.

It’s worth noting that some machines have “sealed” plastic drums now, and the bearings cannot be repaired, in those cases, you must replace the entire drum assy, which is not really cost effective

This^^^

I know on our current machine, the drum assy is ~£200 on a machine that cost ~£350 so – as it’s ~4 years old – if the bearings go then, unfortunately, it’s scrap. Have successfully repaired stuff before, but increasingly find repair uneconomic through a combination of parts/my time/someone else’s labour rate.

I repaired our old Indesit machine a few times. I bought it second hand for £50. I put 3 sets of bearings and seals, 2 sets of brushes in the motor and a new belt. Probably cost us £150 all in. Lasted 8 years in total. I would have spent far more if I’d thrown it away every time it needed repairing.

It died when the shaft off the drum was so scored up that the bearings wouldn’t press on any more. Then bought a Siemens with a 5 year guarantee, it’s their problem if it breaks now.

I’ve fixed our washing machine several times – including a set of bearings for the drum.

So I’d say have a go at it yourself – it’s a great feeling when it all works 8)