Kenmore Oasis h.e. washer knocking noise.....?

[revvinkevin]

Happy July 3rd AW family!

A friend of mine has this 8 year old Kenmore Oasis h.e. washer and he's asking me about the knocking noise it's making (before they call service). He says it has been doing this randomly for about a year now and does it more with larger, heavier loads. In this video he's doing a load of towels. He said it "knocks" more during wash agitation, but to a lesser degree during rinse agitation too, this load of towels only knocked once during the rinse.

With smaller / lighter / normal loads (pants, shorts, shirts, etc) it's as quite as can be. But he also said it has made this knocking noise while washing sheets.

To me it sounds like someone smacking a 2X4 with a hammer.

Your thoughts, suggestions, ideas please?

Thanks much!!
Kevin

 

[combo52]

Hi Keven, The video does not open.

 

[revvinkevin]

OK that should work now!

Sorry, wrong setting in YouTube. Oops.

Kevin

 

[yogitunes]

I would pull the impellor....willing to bet there is something underneath, like a coin, catching at the right moment when it oscillates....

my other thought, is the tub is sliding up enough?, not clearing the slotted shaft, and catching one of the teeth....

if the noise was also during spin, I would say to look underneath, as the rotator is exposed, something catching on it, or hitting inside....

either way, I would also check that the bolts on top and bottom are secure, and everything is snug and not wobbling....

 

[combo52]

Something is just banging related to the suspension, there may even be a foreign object under the washer that the suspended part of the machine is striking.

From the intermittent nature of the sound I do not think it is in the drive line.

 

[henene4]

Could be the springs in the suspension struts grinding on themself while compressed due to their grease being used/dried up.

Would match the load size dependency, small loads don't fully compress the springs.

 

[revvinkevin]

Thanks much for the info John & Martin!

Question: the lid switch on these is a magnet, yes? On the left or right side?

Thanks again!
Kevin

 

[wishwash]

From what I can remember about the lid locks on these, you should be able to hold a magnet over the mechanism and grab the little tab that pops out when you push start, then press it in a bit. That should fool it.