All about washing machines

Replacing the bearing in a Zanussi washing machine

bearing replacement in a Zanussi machineAn Italian-made Zanussi washing machine is a fairly reliable unit, but even it can break. If you are reading this article, it means that you have already found out that the bearings in your "home assistant" have broken. I don’t want to call the master performing the repair and maintenance of the equipment, and therefore it was decided to carry out the repair myself. We hope that our instruction on how to change the bearing in the Zanussi washing machine will help to cope with this work.

Preparation for work

Not having a good tool in the arsenal, it is unlikely that it will be possible to replace the bearings in the washing machine. The list of what you need is very impressive, and therefore often scares away the novice master, who comes to the conclusion that it is cheaper to call a specialist than to buy all screwdrivers and other devices. That's how it is, but if you decide to learn such a thing, you will have to buy something. Yes, and these tools are needed, more than once later come in handy. So, prepare:

  • flat and Phillips screwdriver or screwdriver;
  • bits and an adapter to them;
  • pliers and pliers;
  • 8 mm hexagon head and key;
  • a hammer and a bolt of 14-16 mm and a length of 15-20 cm, in order to knock out the bearing, but you can also get a special puller;
    bearing puller
  • sealant to cover all cracks when assembling the tank;
  • liquid WD-40.

Buy bearings and seals by size. The size can be found by the model of the washing machine, or after you knock the part out of the drum. The number and size will be written on the side.

Having collected tools and spare parts, prepare the washing machine itself. It must be disconnected from communications and moved to a suitable place for work. A lot of space is required, therefore, if the equipment is in the bathroom, then it will obviously have to be taken out into the corridor or transported to the garage for the duration of the repair.

Car repairs

Zanussi washing machines have their own characteristics that must be considered when replacing this part. We will describe this process in detail.

  1. We unscrew the bolts and remove the top cover and the back half of the case. Be careful, some bolts are hidden under decorative caps. At this point, you will need a Phillips screwdriver and an asterisk bit.
    disassembly of the machine body
  2. Remove the rubber cuff from the door hatch and fill it into the drum.
  3. The main goal in the analysis is to pull the tank out of the car. Therefore, we disconnect all pipes from it, first of all, we need to remove the air pipe, it is simply pulled out of the tank from the top of the machine.
  4. Remove the drive belt from the pulley and from the engine.
    remove the drive belt
  5. We remove the mount (“finger”) from the shock absorber so that then we can remove the tank. To facilitate the process, take a 13 mm hex wrench and put it on the “finger” on the inside, and pull the pliers out on the head.
    remove the shock absorber
  6. Carefully, without bending the wires, we pull out the sensor from the tank.
  7. Disconnect the ground wire from the drum pulley.
  8. Disconnect all wires from the heating element.
  9. We take out the chip with wires from the engine of the washing machine and unscrew the engine itself, it is quite heavy and will interfere.
  10. Now disconnect the tube going from the tank to the pressure switch.
  11. We disconnect the filler pipe using an 8 mm head to loosen the clamp.
  12. Remove the drain pipe.

    Note! The pipe itself is fixed with a bolt to the machine body, so use the 8 mm head to unscrew it and put it to the side.

  13. Immediately unscrew the drum pulley using an 8 mm hexagon. To avoid breaking the mount, lightly tap the center of the pulley with a hammer. Using the lever for a key from metal tubes, unscrew the nut.
    unscrew the pulley
  14. We take the head 13 mm and unscrew the upper counterweight from the tank, remove it to the side.
  15. Remove the tank from the springs and pull it out of the case.

At this stage, preparations for replacing the bearing will be completed.A lot of work has been done, so be patient, do everything in order and take your time. If possible, take a photo so that later you can see how to assemble the car. Putting the tank on the floor, unscrew the bolts along the contour, thereby disassembling the tank of the Zanussi washing machine into two halves.

When pulling the drum out of the rear half of the tank, do not damage the shaft and the spider. Do not hit the shaft with a hammer.

Next is the direct process of working with bearings. You need to do the following:

  • pry off a stuffing box with a flat-blade screwdriver from the inside of the tank and pull it out;
  • with the help of round-nose pliers and a flat screwdriver, we pull out the retaining metal ring;
    remove the snap ring
  • spray the bearing with WD-40 liquid and leave it for 10-15 minutes;
  • we turn the tank over and with the help of a hammer and a punch, we begin to knock out the bearing inward. We do this carefully, apply strokes alternately to opposite sides of the external clip, the strokes should be medium strength;
    knock out the bearing
  • we clean the seat for the bearing and shaft;
  • we take a new part, put it on the seat and with the help of a flat drift and a hammer we press in the bearing. The punch is moved along the outer race of the bearing and with light strokes we hit it.

    Important! Do not pull out the insert from the new bearing, remove it after reinstalling the part.

  • lubricate the retaining ring with Lithol and install on the bearing from above;
  • remove excess grease with a napkin;
  • on top with our own hands without the help of tools, put a new oil seal and coat its inside special grease, lubricate also the part of the sleeve on which the bearing is mounted.

On this, the bearing replacement will be over, it remains only to assemble the tank, return it to the washing machine body. If you cope with such a job, then to assemble a car, it seems to you a simple matter.

Replacement Difficulties

When disassembling the Zanussi washing machine to replace the bearing, difficulties may arise, which we decided to talk about separately.

The first difficult task arises when you need to remove the back half of the tank from the drum of the washing machine. The shaft is not always easily pulled out. There are times when it does not lend itself at all to movement. What to do? Pre-fill the WD-40 shaft, wait about an hour. Then take a wooden block, put on the shaft and hit with a hammer. The second way to knock the shaft out is to first screw an old bolt into the shaft and tap on that bolt.

Zanussi machines install different types of bearings. If the bearing is double row, then its installation will be carried out together with the installation of the snap ring, as we described above. If the bearing is single row, then there is no such ring. But there will be two bearings. They need to be knocked out in turn starting from the outside, that which is on the side of the sleeve. Then they knock out the inner one, after removing the stuffing box.

When knocking out a damaged bearing, be careful, otherwise it will be even more difficult to pull it out.

Causes and Symptoms

bearing breakdownWhy is such an important part of the typewriter machine breaks down and how to understand it? Let's list some of the symptoms:

  • extraneous noise and rumble during the spin cycle;
  • play of the drum;
  • stains on grease appeared on the oil;
  • system errors appeared on the display;
  • when opening the back cover, rusty leaks on the tank were detected.

Bearings in washing machines serve differently, some do not change them after 11 years of operation of the machine, while others fly in 4 years. Situations with the breakdown of this part after a year of operation of the equipment rarely occur. What are the main reasons?

  • Firstly, the installation affects wear. When installing the machine out of level, an imbalance occurs, this leads to excessive vibrations.
  • Secondly, a violation in production. Installing a part not intended for the load of this machine.
  • Thirdly, defective parts, as well as the lack of lubrication in the bearing.

We hope you understand the front-loading washing machine repair.But this manufacturer produces many models of machines with vertical loading, whether there are any differences in the work, we will not describe. You can watch the video below on how to replace bearings on a Zanussi top-loading washing machine. Have a good repair!

   

1 reader comment

  1. Gravatar Vasily Vasiliy:

    Thank you very much for the detailed information.

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