Full bearings and seal replacement via HomeTask.com. A few thousandths of an inch of play in seal so, per a HomeTask video's advice, I placed 100% silicon around the edges of the seal, set in place, placed the steel drum and shaft into place and let it set overnight to ensure proper alignment. Waited at least 24 hours for silicone to cure.
Last night, during its first post-repair run, I smelled the burning rubber and hearing some rubbing. Hopped on this forum and saw that it's not uncommon and should go away after a few cycles. Indeed, it did decrease after running two more cycles. The initial issue, though, of the knocking/rattling noise that prompted us to 1) call the service man who gave us the "bearings issue, it's going to cost $900" speech and subsequently 2) contact HomeTask.com to order our kit, was still happening.
Awoke this morning with the sad reminder that despite changing out the bearings (spider looked fine) and seal, we're back to square 1, I knew my wife wanted to start getting back at the laundry, so I ran the "Washer Cleaner with affresh" cycle after throwing in an affresh tablet to ensure all of the rubber stench was gone and wouldn't saturate the material of the first load. 10 or 15 minutes after starting the cycle, I came to check on the unit and there was water all over the floor and it was actively spilling out of the unit. I still had the front and back panels off so I quickly inspected it before shutting it off and found that water was spurting out of the shaft itself, it would appear the brand new seal I received has been compromised.
I realize with the seal compromised, I'm going to need to take it apart again and will know more, but I'm pretty sure my wife is going to broach the subject of just sucking it up and buying a new machine.
Any clues on what's going on?
In summary --
1) changed out bearings and seal, all seemed to fit just fine.
2) fired it up, smelled burning rubber and heard rubbing at low RPM, original pre-repair rattling banging at high RPM
3) after 2 or 3 cycles, smell went away and pulley spun WAY more freely, no more rubbing sound
4) same rattling/banging that we heard during high RPM spin was still occurring
5) ran "washer cleaner" cycle that presumably fills up a lot of the tub cavity
6) water was exiting the unit at the shaft
Video of rattling + 2 pictures including post-install bearings/seal cavity before reassembly.
https://vimeo.com/72466863Thanks in advance,
Tim