Author Topic: GE WBVH 6240 FWW BEARING ISSUE (Read 14441 times)

suzukiparts1 · « **on:** April 23, 2012, 04:39:01 PM »

Hello, new guy here. I bought what looked like a GREAT deal...

This thing sounds like a freight train!!

It knocks and rattles when washing. And the spin cycle?? WOW! The neighbors are complaining. Well, I thought, I can fix this, all I need is a bearing. No problem, right? No, big a problem, GE doesn't sell it separately, you have to by the rear half of the tub, $427.90 is the best I have found. I looked at the rear drum and it really looks like I can replace this bearing. Has anyone attempted this? take a look at the pictures and you will see that the bearing looks like it is held in with a circlip (I know it is pressed in as well). Here is the link:

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Rear-Drum-with-Bearing/WH45X10071/1168849?modelNumber=WBVH6240FW

ANY help would be appreciated!!

Rear Drum with Bearing Part # WH45X10071

bigbuck · « **Reply #1 on:** April 23, 2012, 05:09:07 PM »

I'm not sure if there's any other way except change the tub, I guess if you had a bearing puller you can pull the bearings out and install new ones But the seal would have to be changed to . I guess only 1 that can answer this question is sean . He's a ge expert. does anybody know?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

JWWebster · « **Reply #2 on:** April 23, 2012, 06:13:31 PM »

They do it all the time in the UK. Espares has a nice video:
http://foggyfacts.blogspot.com/2011/12/front-loader-bearing-replacement-video.html

ApplianceGuru · « **Reply #3 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:40:07 PM »

Finding seals for front load bearing jobs has been the issue that I run into. Seal failures are the main cause of bearing failure.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 24, 2012, 08:59:17 AM »

Thanks for your help, I found this on E-Bay. What do you think? I asked the seller if he had a kit for my washer and he told me to buy "Kit #12" from him, here is the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-LOAD-WASHER-2-BEARINGS-AND-SEAL-GE-GENERAL-ELECTRIC-KIT-12-/251036752495?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3a72f4da6f

JWWebster · « **Reply #5 on:** April 24, 2012, 09:10:29 AM »

Do you have a manufacturers part number?

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 24, 2012, 09:15:14 AM »

No, it is not serviceable according to GE.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 24, 2012, 09:30:11 AM »

The E-bay seller also sent me this video.

"Dear mikedumansuzuki,

Hello!

Buy the kit # 12, it will be perfect for your washer.

I send you a youtube address. This is a video of the procedure to change the bearings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaFF2-Rl8Nc&feature=related

Thanks!

- mespremierspas

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 02, 2012, 09:35:54 AM »

After all that, it turned out NOT to be the bearings at all!!

I was suckered by my seller, it needed a spider in the back of the tub.

You cannot buy that separately, you have to buy the whole tub. Over $500 for the tub at that. I decided to take the machine and throw it in the river, but my wife would not let me do that. She said she likes the machine, and I promised her a front loader...fix it or shell out big bucks for a new one. I'm not ever going to spend $1000 on a washing machine, that is just crazy, so fix it time it is. I decided I would take some pictures of the spider, which has 3 arms and 2 of them had broken off due to corrosion. (that was the noise, the spider beating the drum as it spun) My first course of action, call GE and see if I can get the part for free. Why not? I, after all, deserve the part for free, right? Here goes nothing I thought... I called GE customer service, and they sent me to a "customer advocate". She was very nice, and immediately offered me the $500 part for $150. I told her thank you, but I think she should really see the pictures and video I took of it spinning first. She sent me an email so I could send the info back, and an hour later she called me back asking me for my shipping address, they were sending me the tub for free! I gave her my info, and 2 days later I received my tub. I put it in and the new seal that was with it, no more problems. Mama's happy now, so I am happy too ;-)

And to the people that attempted to sucker me, IN YOUR FACE!! They went and bought a new washer when all they needed to do was make a phone call.

AJ · « **Reply #9 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:03:54 AM »

Glad to hear you got the part for free from GE and got it repaired.

Care to share the photos with us?

Thanks for the update.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:09:48 AM »

Sure will, here they are.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:15:42 AM »

I was going to upload the video, but it is a 3GPP movie (cellphone video) and the sight doesn't support it.. Funny, when I was working on this I cleared the drain trap and it was full of what I thought were little pebbles. It turns out the little pebbles were actually pieces of aluminum from the spider.

AJ · « **Reply #12 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:19:47 AM »

Yep, she's bad, lol...

If you could upload the video to youtube, then post the youtube link here we could see it.

Good job, a lot of people would have just bought a new one.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:29:05 AM »

Thanks, that comes from being a cheapskate at heart

FYI, if anyone is interested, I happened to get 2 tubs from GE

I'd sell the 2nd and we could both make money on it...

I don't have a YouTube acct, any other way?

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:43:25 AM »

It is on YouTube now,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-FpxOUTNo

AJ · « **Reply #15 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:52:14 AM »

I fixed your post so the video would display instead of linking to it.

It is loud!

Thanks for sharing.

tgoods · « **Reply #16 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:05:59 PM »

This washer has a 10 year warranty on the outer tub and a 20 year warranty on the inner basket, part only. I had one recently with a cracked spider. I told them if they can get GE to send them the part, I'd put it in for them. I never heard back so I'm not sure what happened. I know they were fed up with the machine so they might have just trashed it and got a new one.

suzukiparts1 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 20, 2012, 08:34:37 AM »

Quote from: tgoods on July 02, 2012, 11:05:59 PM

This washer has a 10 year warranty on the outer tub and a 20 year warranty on the inner basket, part only. I had one recently with a cracked spider. I told them if they can get GE to send them the part, I'd put it in for them. I never heard back so I'm not sure what happened. I know they were fed up with the machine so they might have just trashed it and got a new one.

GE doesn't sell the spider separately, you have to get the whole tub. If they do to your your customer what they did to me, first they offer to sell the tub to them at a reduced price then give the tub to them after some complaining. I can tell you that the biggest symptom of the spider failure, other than the machine sounding like a freight train, was draining issues caused by what looked like rocks caught in the trap next to the pump. I dismissed them as crap from the beach. Now, it is working perfectly, with the exception of water slowly dripping from the door seal...

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