How to lubricate bearings in a washing machine without disassembling the drum

When the bearing assembly of the washing machine begins to make strange uncharacteristic sounds during washing, this is a sign of its imminent failure, which can be prevented if you do not ignore such a signal from the “home assistant”. To prevent this situation, you need to partially disassemble the machine, remove the bearings, lubricate them, and then install them in place. However, this is very long and difficult. That's why it's better to first try to lubricate the washing machine bearing without disassembling it, saving time and effort. Let's analyze this unusual process in detail.

We fill the inner and outer bearings with grease without dismantling them

This original method is used by some craftsmen who lubricate the bearings in this way without disassembling the automatic lubrication drum. Its main advantage is that during restoration work there is almost no need to interact with the tank and other key components of the washing machine. What should I do for this?

• Disconnect the appliance from the water supply and power supply.
• Move the washing machine away from the wall to gain easy access.
• Use a Phillips screwdriver to unscrew all the screws holding the back panel of the device.
• Remove the drive belt,
• Wedge the drum pulley using a metal rod.
• Using a TORX wrench, remove the bolt that holds the pulley in place.
• Pull off the pulley to expose the outer bearing.
• Select a spot directly above the bearing, back about 7 millimeters from the edge, and mark the area with a pencil, pen, or marker.
• Carefully drill into this area with a drill with a metal drill bit 5 millimeters deep. You need to make a hole in the plastic and in both bearing races.
• Grease should be generously added to the hole that appears.
• With your own hands, rotate the drum in different directions about 50 times, which will allow all the technical lubricant to be distributed inside the bearing assembly.
• Add the product to the hole again, but less than the first time.
• Manually spin the drum again.
• You should stop after the extraneous sound from the bearings has completely disappeared and the part has been restored.

This non-standard repair method is only suitable in a situation where the bearings are not damaged.

What are we going to lubricate with?

Regardless of whether you lubricate the parts without disassembling the drum or disassembling it, you will need high-quality lubricant for the bearing assembly. Due to the fact that they are all designed for different parts and situations, there are so many of them on the market that it is easy to make the wrong choice. The product for bearings and seals must have important properties.

• Water resistance. A seal is placed on the bearings, which actively rotates on the shaft, which is why water cannot penetrate inside the unit. That is why the lubricant on the sealing ring must remain for a long time, and not be washed out with water after a couple of operating cycles.
• Heat resistance. This is important not only because a washing machine can typically heat water up to 90 degrees Celsius, but also because the shaft heats up actively when the drum rotates rapidly, so the bearings and seal heat up along with it. If the product is not heat-resistant, then over time it will simply degrade and allow water to get inside the bearing assembly.
• Non-aggressive. A high-quality, non-aggressive lubricant will prevent the oil seal from becoming soft, or, on the contrary, from becoming too hard and therefore leaking.
• Thick. Finally, the product should be thick so that it does not leak during washing.

As for specific brands and products, they are very difficult to understand without preparation, so we have compiled a small list of lubricants that repair technicians often use.

• AMPLIFON is a waterproof product from Italy from the manufacturer MERLONI.
• Anderol is a special lubricant recommended by the Indesit brand. In stores it can be found either in 100 gram jars or in special syringes designed for two recovery procedures.
• LIQUI MOLY “Silicon-Fett” is a silicone-based lubricant from Germany, which is distributed in 50 gram tubes. It is not cheap, but it works extremely effectively.
• Huskey Lube-O-Seal PTFE Grease is another quality product with good moisture protection that works well in washing machine bearing assemblies.

You can safely purchase any of the listed products to repair your washing machine at home. Buy reliable lubricant, and then simply repeat our instructions point by point, or partially disassemble the machine if you don’t want to drill anything.