Smoke and Burning Rubber Smell After Bearing & Seal Replaced

[Aaron]

We have a Whirlpool Duet WFW9200SQA10 and ordered a bearing and seal kit on the 13th and it arrived the 17th, thank you for the quick response. We replaced the inner and outer bearings along with the seal. The new seal wasn't as thick as the original one but figured it was ok to use. I saw that you had a supplement seal video regarding a 1 mm difference of play and to use silicon to set it in place. We found that our new seal fit snug when dry fit and chose to use the silicon idea to ensure that water wouldn't get through to the new bearings. The seal was installed with the flat side facing the shiny surface of the spindle shaft and the trench side facing the bearings. When the SS tub was put in place it turned by hand smoothly but had a little resistance, figured it was due to a new seal versus the old worn one. We went ahead and left the back and top off of the washer in order to observe it while it operated. Once everything was put back together we ran the washer on rinse/spin cycle with nothing in it in order to test it all out. When it began to spin we heard some squeaking and began to smell a burning rubber smell and saw smoke coming from the spindle nut area. I paused the cycle and loosened up the nut on the spindle, thinking that I had it too tight. I then continued the cycle and had the same issue. I retightened it to just finger tight but feel that may be to loose. How tight should the nut be? The cycle finished and when we opened up the door, that same smoke and smell poured out. What is the problem? I am thinking it is the seal. Could it be to tight against the spindle shaft or not seated properly? Do I need to tear it all down again? Is the new seal able to be reseated and used? Please help. Thank you.

[Jerrod Sessler]

Aaron,

It is possible that you do not have the bearings seated completely.  Even a couple of centimeters off can cause this.  Or, not getting the seal fully seated may also contribute to it.  I know the clearances are very close.  I also know that a few other people have had this problem and they have backed off the shaft bolt slightly to help it.  The shaft bolt does not need to be super tight.  It just needs to be secured with some silicone or something to ensure it does not vibrate off.  Having it too tight can actually be a negative.  The good news is that the smoking will go away after a few loads as the interference with the rubber and the drum wears away.  That is not an ideal situation but the reality.  The rubber is going to move.  You can run it a bit and see what happens or take it apart and inspect it.  I am a bit of a maverick so if I was confident that I seated everything then I would run it and see what happens.

Jerrod

[Aaron]

Jerrod,

The smoking stopped after a wash or two as well as the squeaking. We are still hearing a clunking sound when it is on the spin cycle and it sounds like it is coming from the rear of the tub assembly. I pushed on the inner SS tub to make sure that it was fully seated. and it still is making the clunking sound on the spin cycle. It seamed to have some movement up and down. How much movement should there be?When I installed the bearings the rear bearing seated fully as well as the snap ring. The inner bearing was flush or just a bit below flush with the surrounding metal that the seal sets in. When I set the seal in place it also fit snug and was flush with the inner ridge that I applied the silicon to before putting the seal in place. Any ideas? I also inspected the SS tub and the spider and they were all intact. Thank you.

[Jerrod Sessler]

Aaron,

It sounds like the bearings were seated properly and likely the seal as well.  There is a chance the inner bearing was not fully seated and that would hold the seal out a bit also but that sounds remote.  It would also have nothing to do with a clunking sound.  It should spin nice and smooth and with no noise.  It could be a broken spider or a piece of something flying around inside the drum.  Rotate the SS drum into about 8 different positions and push up and down in each and see if you get any more movement in one of those positions.  This will help to determine if there is an issue with the spider.

The odd thing in your description is the use of silicone when assembly the bearings and seal...  Are you speaking of silicone lube or silicone sealer?  Lube would not be a problem (likely) but sealer could be a problem and may have contributed to the smoking you mentioned.  The bearings and seal should be assembled dry (meaning no grease or additional sealer that dries hard).  Using assembly lube such as spray silicone is ok.

Jerrod