A while back, our washing machine started making trembling noises during the spin cycle. Over time, it got progressively worse to the point we thought it was going to get up and run out of our laundry room. Until then, I had been ignoring it for months.
Then, on top of that, it began making pulsating screeching noises when agitating, which also got progressively louder. Between the two noises, we could hardly deal with it any longer – especially given our laundry room is adjacent to the living room. So it began – the search for a new machine.
Our machine is pretty basic – it’s a Maytag Centennial that’s about 12 years old. Importantly, though, our laundry room is extremely small and narrow – one one side of it is the entry door to the garage, and on the other side of what is basically a triangle-shaped room, is the entry to the living room. Both doors open into the laundry room, and the doors cannot open at the same time because they crash into each other, and there’s no room for the machines, a person, and two doors.
All this to say, the only size washing machine that will fit in there is one that’s 27” deep. Any deeper, and the garage entry door can’t open; any narrower, and you’re looking at a mini washing machine. This makes washing machine shopping simple yet complicated for us – simple because at the time I did my shopping, there were only 3-4 models that fit (and two by the same manufacturer), yet complicated because the limited selection, which includes the same model we already have, is very restrictive.
So, given the choice between buying the same one we already have or 1 to 2 others, all of which cost $800-$1300, I wasn’t feeling good about my options, especially because some of them had mixed reviews citing the same problems..
Then I remembered… it’s a belt-driven top loader that is an older model (manufactured circa 2012), and it should be pretty easy to repair.
How to repair a noisy washing machine?
I googled the symptoms and found that for the loud banging during spin cycle, the problem was that the tub is held up by suspension rods and that one or more of them had likely failed. In fact, this was the most frequently cited problem I could find online with any Whirlpool/Maytag washing machine. THe screeching on agitation was likely due to something related to the belt.
Next, I turned to YouTube to look and see how difficult it would be to fix these items – and found both were very easy fixes. Essentially the process was basically to lay the machine on its back, take the old rods and belt out and replace them, stand the machine back up and resecure everything.
The only thing standing in the way was – would it be worth the cost of the parts to fix instead of just buying new?
A word on buying appliance parts online
There are generally three types of websites where you can buy appliance parts online:
- Amazon or eBay, where it’s almost impossible to find anything other than cheap overseas generics
- The manufacturer, who will likely overcharge
- OEM parts from a third party
Let’s start with process of elimination. Don’t buy OEM directly from the manufacturer (at least if the manufacturer is Whirlpool. They’re very expensive. It may be very tempting to go the Amazon/eBay route, but I don’t advise it, for a few reasons. I’m all for doing certain things as cheaply as possible, but this isn’t one of them.
First, cheap parts could be dangerous (when dealing with components like a heating element for a dryer, do you want it to be manufactured by a reputable company, or an unregulated one who probably hasn’t had their parts UL-approved, and whose goal is to make parts as cheaply as possible).
Second, while replacing a part on an appliance doesn’t always take a long time, it can still be a hassle. In the case of a washing machine, you have to disconnect hoses, clean up the excess water, put the thing on its back in many cases, disassemble parts… so it’s not worth the savings to get generic parts, only for the cheap part to break in 2 months and do it all again.
So that leaves us with third party sites who sell OEM parts. My first thought was to go to Sears (who still exists and has a whole website dedicated to appliance parts – and I must admit, it’s a pretty exceptional website – they also sell lawn and garden parts). However, the parts I was looking for were not that much less expensive from Sears than from the manufacturer:
Of course, $60 for the suspension rods was significantly cheaper than buying a whole new machine – but the belt was another $30 on the Sears website, making the total $90. This seemed a little steep for the parts in question, despite being significantly cheaper than the manufacturer’s website – so I kept looking.
Now, shady or questionable parts websites proliferate on the internet – so I wound up on Reddit looking at parts website reviews. The most highly spoken of website I could find, was a company called Marcone – but you have to be a professional to order from them. The next one I could find positive reviews for, is AppliancePartsPros.com. This website looks like it was made in the early 2000s and hasn’t been updated since. But the website is bar-none easiest to navigate – enter your serial number click the parts diagram, and find what you need. Simple as that.
They had the same part, OEM – at half the price of the manufacturer, and at nearly 25% less than Sears:
Given the website’s somewhat questionable appearance, I wanted to get some extra confirmation despite the reddit reviews – and found that the website was given a rating of 4.7 on TrustPilot. Even with that, I was still a little concerned about the security of payment processing, but they offered an option to pay with PayPal, so that alleviated my concern somewhat.
I placed my order – $77 in total (parts were only $61, but shipping was a little steep). It was late in the evening, and despite the $11 shipping, I wasn’t expecting a lot. But it shipped the next day, and arrived 2 days after that.
I was pleasantly surprised when the box arrived – it was actually fulfilled by Marcone, the company that received rave reviews on Reddit – and the parts came in the original manufacturer’s packaging, just as I had hoped.
It was about a 30-minute repair job. So 30 minutes and $77 later, my loud, 12-year-old washing machine began running entire cycles silently. My only regret was not doing it sooner.
However…
When replacing the belt, I noticed the bolt on the drive pulley was a little loose. I tightened it while I was there. I was concerned the problem was related to that and not the belt, especially since the original belt looked okay, but went ahead and replaced the belt anyway at the time of repair, since it was probably the 12-year-old original.
My suspicion proved to be true and the screeching during agitation returned a few days later after I replaced the belt. Several weeks of screeching later, I googled again and found that the bolt loosening itself happens pretty frequently. I tightened it with as much torque as I could, and ordered some Loctite ($7) for when it comes loose again.
Belt-drive vs top-drive
It’s important to note that there are some major differences between direct-drive and belt-drive washing machines. Direct-drive washing machines are kinda like sealed transmissions – they’re supposed to not fail during the useful life of the machine, and are mostly unserviceable. Belt-drive machines are more prone to fail – but are also easy and inexpensive to repair. While the suspension rod issue is probably universal since it’s less to do with how the machine actually moves, other noises on a direct drive machine might not be able to be remedied. The screeching noise on mine was due to a slipping belt, which was due to a loose bolt – this would not occur on a direct drive. But if a noise did occur on a direct-drive that was more mechanical in nature than the suspension rods, it might not be repairable. Google it first, though, to confirm whether the problem can be repaired, and how much the parts would cost.
Summary
My washing machine shook uncontrollably during spin cycle and screeched loudly while agitating. The loud shaking was due to failed suspension rods, which I ordered OEM for $46 from a third party website called AppliancePartsPros.com, a full 50% less than going directly to the manufacturer. I chose not to go the route of Amazon or eBay to save even more, because my appetite for disconnecting and pulling out the machine when the cheap generic parts fail was something I didn’t have the appetite for.
I also replaced the belt to alleviate the screeching, but the screeching was due to a loose pulley bolt, which caused the belt to slip down during agitation. The bolt slipped again, and retightening resolved the issue; I purchased Loctite for next time. In total, I spent $77 and 30 minutes to fix my noisy 12-year-old washing machine, saving me hundreds on buying new. If your washing machine is direct-drive, the repairs could be different and may not be possible.
