Bosch WFP3300 Bearing Replacement Guide

I thought I’d put a quick guide somewhere on how to change the bearings on the Bosch WFP3300 (hydrosensor) machine since Mr Google turned up pretty much nothing on the subject.

Mods – please feel free to take this down if this is not appropriate here!

FIRST my thanks to ukwhitegoods for supplying a pukka set of bearings at a very decent price and with the usual speedy service – for the record, the machine uses the BKT76 Bearing Kit available via our hosts here.

SECOND this guide is simply a write up of my DIY bearing replacement job to help others that, like me, haven’t done this job before. The BKT76 kit is listed for a number of other Bosch machines so this guide may also be of use for:

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== WFP3300 Bearing Replacement Guide ==

Videos on YouTube make washing machine bearing replacement look involved, requiring almost complete disassembly of the washing machine, but for machines like the Bosch WFP3300, with stainless steel outer drums and cast iron spiders on the back, the job is surprisingly straight-forward and should only take a couple of hours.

Before starting, it will help greatly later on if the new bearings are frozen – literally, wrap in cling film and stick them in the freezer the night before.

Tools needed are:

– Socket set
– 1/2″ and 10mm spanners
– Philips screwdriver
– Torx T-30 screwdriver
– Cable ties
– Blow torch or heat-gun (to heat the spider when fitting the new bearings)
– Thread lock

And the parts needed:

– Bearing and seal set BKT76
– Universal washing machine seal grease

While the machine is disassembled it may also be worth changing the pump and the drive belt.

1. Pull out the machine and unplug the power. Give yourself plenty of space to work behind it.

2. Removing the fresh water filling pipes will make for easier access, and give chance to clean out the mesh filters on the inlets.

3. Unscrew and remove the back panel, to reveal the rear workings of the machine:

4. Wind off the drive belt, and remove the motor as follows. Note it’s quite heavy and two plastic cable ties must be cut-off and the wiring harness and earth connections removed before removal.

First remove the bolt behind the casting on the right-hand-side, then remove the other bolt, taking the weight of the motor before hand. The motor then rotates downwards and can be removed by pushing the drum back and up a little and pulling the motor out. Be careful with the motor as a new one will set you back over £230!

5. Remove the drive wheel. Simply remove the bolt (striking the spanner progressively with a rubber mallet makes loosening it easier, whilst holding the out edge of the wheel) then ease the wheel off the splined shaft. The bolt is threaded normally, i.e. turn anti-clockwise to remove.

6. The rear bearing is now exposed. In this case, some grease was oozing out:

7. Next remove the two bottom bolts from the ends of the spider frame and the three central bolts. The bolts on the ends of the frame are very stiff to remove since the drum supports are under tension when fitted (screwed up hard against the spider frame). Again striking the spanner with a rubber mallet helps start them off.

8. Remove the top cover of the machine (note two securing screws are hidden under plastic blanking plates near the front on the sides) and loosen the bolt securing the top of the spider frame for with a socket wrench. Next, taking the weight of the iron spider frame (it’s substantial, but not as heavy as it looks) completely remove the bolt and lift out the spider frame. The rubber oil seal on the inside of the spider frame simply pulls out but will be greasy and mucky, and the back of the drum will be covered in hard scum deposits:

9. Scum deposits behind the water seal on the rear of the drum should then be removed, for example with a window scraper (but taking great care not to scratch the drum), and then the shaft and water seal bush cleaned up with a soft cloth. Next vaccum away deposit flakes and lint and clean over with a damp cloth.

10. The old bearings can be removed from the spider frame casting by laying it on a wooden workbench (to provide some shock absorbancy) and then tapping the edges of the bearings out with a blunted-off chisel and a 16oz hammer. Work around the bearing gently to work them out. Be sure that the bearing is being struck rather than the iron ridges near the bearings on the casting.

11. With the bearings removed, clean up the spider casting and ensure the drain hole (shown below) on the inner bearing side is clear.

12. Once ready to fit the new bearings, slowly heat the bearing holes with a blow torch (or heat gun) directed on the unpainted faces until it’s hot to touch (but not burning!). Keep it moving to avoid too much thermal stress in one point. Once both holes are quite hot, retrieve the new bearings from the freezer. Smear some grease over the unpainted surface where the bearing will sit, and the cold bearing should then just drop straight in. Allow a little time for the bearing to warm a little and hence become a firm fit, then turn over the spider, apply a little more heat if needed, then grease up and fit the other bearing.

If the bearings need to be tapped home, gently tap the bearing only on the outer edge.

13. Smear some grease over unpainted parts of the spider casting and the drum shaft, ensuring there’s plenty on the water seal collar (cloest to the outer drum):

14. Then fill the water seal centre recesses with grease and insert the oil seal fully into the spider:

15. Then, proceed to reassemble the machine, noting:

– avoid trapping the rubber pipe that runs down the back of the drum; it will fit along side the rubber spacer on the spider arm

– mount the spider frame on the shaft and take its weight with the top bolt first (not fully tightened) and work the inner drum backwards to fit the spider frame back into position. The spider frame is under some tension, taking the weight of the inner drum, and so some quite stiff manouvering is needed to get the third arm bolt in. Once fully in position, most (but not all) of the splined section of the shaft should be exposed behind the casting

– use a drop of thread-lock on the three centre bolts securing the spider to the drum

– be sure to reconnect the motor wiring harness and the earth wire, and secure the cables with a new cable tie

– the drive belt doesn’t need to be hugely tight

– once reassembled, the drum should rotate smoothly and quite freely.

15. Once reassembled, run the machine on a short rinse-and-spin cycle at 400rpm to ensure everthing is working smoothly, then re-check bolt tightness, ensure that there’s no water leaking at the back of the drum, and then run a service wash (empty, 90*C with detergent) to wash away any excess grease.

Anyway, I hope this is of use to someone 🙂