Making High Pitched Squealing Noise During The Spin Cycle

[Joannamarie]

I have a Hotpoint WD860 washer dryer. It's about 5 1/2 years old. Recently it has been making a very high pitched squealing noise during the spin cycle. As the spin speeds up the noise starts then fades as the spin slows. It only did it occasionally to start with on the higher spin speeds but now it's every time.

I called a local repair man. He said it was the motor bearings which were dry as the built in lubrication wasn't working properly. He tried some WD40 and said if it didn't improve I'd need a new motor unit as its a sealed unit so you can't replace the bearings. He quoted me £170 for the motor plus fitting.

The problem persisted. I decided to call Hotpoint as the manufacturer. They offered me a 1 year warrenty for £190 which would fix the fault or replace the machine if it couldn't be fixed. This seemed a good deal to me.

The Hotpoint engineer came out this morning. He says it's not the motor bearings themselves but the rubber seals protecting the motor bearings which dry out. He also squirted WD40 around then sggested I try running the machine on a boil wash. He said this would cause the rubber to expand and contract which would ease it and stop the noise.

I have done the boil wash and a couple of washes after that and so far no change. The squeal still kicks in during the spin.

Who is right? Should I be concerned about this noise? Should I get Hotpoint back to replace the motor?

Advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I would think the Hotpoint engineer is more likely to be right.

Motor bearings can make a high pitched squealing noise, though personally I would never put WD40 on them as it would tend to thin out any grease that's in there and could make them eventually run noisier. WD40 is a liquid and not suitable or designed to lubricate or even stay inside bearings.

If the noise is coming from the seal protecting the drum bearings then you can't possibly get any lubricant any where near it without stripping down the drum.

If it is the seal on the drum bearings then it may eventually stop on its own but can be put up with as it shouldn't cause a problem other than the annoyance. If eventually the drum bearings start to become noisy with a rumbling sound that's the time to get it fixed.

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