Is my washing machine dead?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, it's been making an unpleasant noise while draining/spinning for a little while now. (I've been covering my ears and going 'la la la la', which helps some.)

Sometimes it's been refusing to spin clothes unless I ask it politely (i.e. more than once).

Now it's just not spinning clothes.

I checked the filter thing, and there was water in there, but no blockage.

I haven't checked the outflow pipe, but a blockage there wouldn't explain the noise.

My gut instinct is, it's a motor or pump gone, and it's done for. There is a friendly local independent appliance repair guy I can call, but I thought I'd ask the MN opinion first ...

How old is it?

10 years? Maybe? Or close to that. Certainly more than 8.

motor brushes - quite cheap to replace usually. The call out charge for fixing it might be a bit high but in the end cheaper than a new machine. Mine's like new since it has had new brushes

You have just described my washing machine. On no account ask my DH to have a quick look at the waste pipe to check it is not blocked as he will break a vital (and previously fully functioning) part before he even reaches the wastepipe. He will then find that it will cost £25 to buy this new part and upwards of £30 for the nice man to come out and repair it. He will then decide the machine is no longer viable and haul it to the garage. He might then go on the internet to order a new machine and choose one that will take upward of 10 days to be delivered. You will be typing your story onto the tinternet drowning in dirty washing.

Ah, no worries, my DH doesn't do this sort of thing, it's my job. And I mostly don't break things [crosses fingers].

Right, then I'll call out the friendly local appliance repair guy - he explained to me how to check the filter before, he is v nice.

Mine is at the refusal to spin unless asked stage - needing more asking every time, spitting out lots of soap when spinning, and doing it badly. IMo it's had it. Sorry

Ooohhh let us know what he says - want to see if I'm right...life just doesn't get more exciting than this these days

Mine did the same as yours at the age of 12 - it grumbled on for a few weeks but then died.

if it'll drain - you can hear the pump pumping the water out either while the drum is turning or not - then its ok.

if the drum only turns slowly but wont spin then it could be brushes worn or belt worn/slipping. depends what sort of noise its making.

would call someone out.

ours still has a bit of water in after spinning

oh get a cheap new one..i faffed around with mine till xmas eve when it spat black muck onto all my clothes

bero - blocked filter (bottom right corner) - blocked outlet pipe - weak pump ? take your pick.

What make is it?

Mine did the noisy thing when spinning and it was the bearings

Luckily DH is rather handy and replaced them

however they are now failing again, and I am never buying a beco again

I need a bosch

Pump, I think. I reckon it won't spin properly until it's pumped and that just isn't happening. Also the rinse is just not efficient. I put in 1 washing tablet and it froths and foams on spin like anything. No idea how old it is - it came with the flat - but it's no spring chicken.

yep - it can tell (dont ask me how) if theres still water in and so cancels the spin. sometimes if mine froths too much...when i used to have net curtains it wouldnt spin either

It could be something to do with the motor or the circuit board. It cost us about £80 to get ours fixed - much cheaper than buying a new or nearly new one.

Mine is a Bosch.

Anyway, the magic bloke came today, hours late, but whatever. He said the immediate problem was the contacts on the motor being dirty (I think?) but that the pump and brushes were also dodgy, and he should change them. He had the parts with him, it was £140, all done. It's sounding normal now, thank god.

He says they don't make Bosch as well any more, and we should do what we can to keep it going.

I find that I tend to assume that things aren't fixable these days, because so many things are designed not to be. I nearly didn't bother getting the repair man out to ours because I presumed it would be so expensive it wouldn't be worth it. It's good to know that sometimes you can still get things repaired. Glad you got it sorted.

This happened to me. It just stopped spinning but was filling with water and emptying etc. I had NO money, not even enough to call out, so I took a huge chance and googled something like "DIY fixing washing machine not spinning" and got some really helpful websites that went through each stage opf fixing the problem yourself. I had no idea if it would work but tried it and luckily for me the problem was with something coming loose inside, a little spring thing that attached to the drum had worked it's way loose. To cut a long story short I fixed it and now it's working fine two years on.

Could you or your DH (if you have one? I don't know, but I'm single so had to do it myself!) maybe try this?

Oh I'm too late

Glad you already got it fixed!