Kenmore washer loud knocking noise when on Max spin

[DonM]

The other day while the washer was on the max spin cycle, the machine made a loud banging noise that didn't stop until the machine stopped spinning (washer drum hitting against the inside of the cabinet).

I opened the cabinet and there are two springs attached to the top of the drum to the sides of the cabinet, and a shock absorber type suspension rod attached to the bottom of each side of the drum. There is a lot of play when you push on the drum, and it's easy to see why it's hitting the cabinet. However having said that I would have expected to see a broken spring or shock, and I don't. Therefore I don't know which item is causing the problem.

Any useful suggestions would be appreciated.

p.s. It's a front loader, belt driven model made by Kelvinator (Frigidaire) bought new in 2001

 

[nightnurse613]

Uneven load? Is it still doing it?

 

[dougp26364]

Uneven load? Is it still doing it?

Unlike top loading machines, a front loader is always an uneven load. Everything is on the bottom when the drum is not moving.

The one thing I don't like about my front loading machine is it's tendancy to vibrate when on max spin. It sounds as if the springs need to be replaced in your machine. I know that ours vibrates enough and the quality of construction by our builder wasn't good enough to stop a lot of vibration noise when our machine is on it's high velocity spin. I keep a 25 lb bag of dog food on top of ours and it has eliminated a lot of that vibration. If we didn't have a dog I'm not sure what I'd do.

I love our front loader but it has enough quirks to it that I can understand why others might not care for them.

 

[DonM]

It sounds as if the springs need to be replaced in your machine.

Like I said they don't look broken- how do I tell. There seems to be quite a bit of play when I push down on the drum. There's even a lot of play forward and back.

don

 

[MULTIZ321]

Don,

See if any of these answers help - Kenmore front load washer with nocking noise


Richard

 

[dougp26364]

Like I said they don't look broken- how do I tell. There seems to be quite a bit of play when I push down on the drum. There's even a lot of play forward and back.

don

Looking broken has nothing to do with the fact they might be worn out. Shock absorbers on cars (back when they had them) often didn't look worn out but you could tell when you hit a bump. If there's to much play in them, then, IMO, they're probably worn out. The problem is that you don't know how stiff they might have been when you bought the machine so, it's really just guessing as to how stiff they should be to not be worn out.

 

[wackymother]

I don't know about front loaders, but our top loader makes that noise when the belt is slipping. Or maybe you need a new belt? Do front loaders even use a belt?