Do-It-Yourself Story

After a bit of research on the AppliancePartsPros website, I learned the knocking during the spin cycle was most likely due to bearing failure. The video on the website was most helpful in the dismantling process. Once I had the drum assembly removed, the detaching of the inner drum from the outer drum by driving the shaft attached to the inner drum through the bearings which are attached to the outer drum was a challenge due to corrosion between the shaft and bearings. Using a wood block between the end of the shaft and the hammer (to prevent damage to the end of the shaft) I went through 2 or 3 blocks in this process. There was no perceptible movement of the shaft so I decided to switch from a 16 oz hammer to a 3 lb hammer. All this was done with care to avoid damage to the outer plastic drum (which is no longer available). FINALLY!!! the shaft began to move down through. With the inner drum removed I noticed the Spider Arm Assembly which is cast around the shaft and is bolted to the back of the drum was heavily corroded and cracked in the center of all 3 arms. I ordered the Spider Arm Assembly with 1-day shipping since going to the Laundromat would easily cost as much. Removal of the 2 bearings from the outer drum did not go as smoothly as the video, but after a good bit of hammering, that was accomplished. A stubby 8oz hammer was helpful inside the drum. The bolts on the Spider Arm Assembly came out with difficulty, most likely due to corrosion of the aluminum casting, Use a 6 point 10mm socket to do this, not a 12 point or you'll round overheads of the bolts and get nowhere. The bolts are stainless steel; I cleaned the threads with a wire brush. Reassembly went more like the video, and the machine runs and sounds like new thanks to AppliancePartsPros and my endurance.