Very loud noise from washing machine?

Plasticman

I'm impressed that it's lasted so long! Hope that you manage to fix it, if not then it might help to know the most reliable brands (from Which):

Miele
Bosch
Siemens
Tricity Bendix

Zanussi/Zanussi-Electrolux

And at the bottom of the list:

Hoover
Indesit
Hotpoint


I suspect that if you buy Hotpoint again you might not still habe it in another 12 years!! Mine lasted for 5 before giving up.

dursley.donkey

The best way to check the bearing is to hold the drum at the top, and just move it round a little by hand - back and forth. if the bearing is gone you'll feel a rough grinding kind of sensation. If it moves smoothly the bearing is fine. A knackered bearing sounds like a jet taking off when it spins. I had mine replace a few years ago. It was half a days work for one man and he had to dismantle the whole thing. It lasted 2 years and then went again - I got a new machine.

Smugdane

We have a Hotpoint Aqualtis 9D 1600 spin washing machine that started to make alarming knocking noises when it went into the spin cycle. The machine is only just over 12 months old, (nothing like as old as the one in this thread), but the problem turned out to be the front counterweight that had disintegrated, and this in turn had caused damage to the drum assembly.
I know this reply is considerably older than the date of the original post, but it might still be relevant and of use.
For full details of the damage to my washing machine, and pictures, visit my blog at "grumpygitsandusefultips"