LG Direct Drive bearing replacement

The following guide is written to help you assess if replacing the bearings is a job you can undertake and complete. This is not written to be specific to any particular direct drive model but it will help in all cases.

Must do's

Before commencing work on an electrical appliance:

1) Unplug the appliance from the wall socket, ensure the appliance on/off switch is in the off position.

2) Turn off the inlet water at the isolation valves and disconnect the inlet hoses from the appliance.

3) Clear a space and plan where you are going to put items you remove from the appliance.

4) Have pen and paper handy for making notes, a digital camera is ideal for taking a picture of wiring connections for future reference (**PHOTO**)

Strip down

1) Remove the worktop by undoing 2 screws at the rear, slide backwards and lift off.

2) FROM THE BACK.....Remove the back panel (4 screws) giving access to the rear of the tub unit. Disconnect the wiring to the motor, thermostat and heater, disconnect earth wires, (**PHOTO**). The drum pulley, which is the ROTOR of the direct drive system has a single bolt to undo. Slacken this bolt a turn or two, DO not remove completely. Gently tap the bolt with a soft faced hammer or drift, this will assist in the removal of the Rotor. Remove the bolt and remove the rotor, careful as it has a series of magnets around its inner circumference. The stator of the direct drive system is now in front of you, there are 6 bolts holding it in place. Remove these and very carefully remove the stator without damaging it, its very expensive, look after it. Depending on your model there could be a spacer between the stator and the tub unit, if so remove this also.

3) FROM THE FRONT.....Open the filter door (left side of kick plate) if there is a small drain hose, remove stopper and drain off any water in there. There is 1 screw to remove which is at the side of the filter, then slide the kick plate sideways should release the plinth from the cabinet. Open the door, the  seal clamp band that secures the door gasket to the cabinet should be removed. If the door seal has a further hose attached, remove it.

4) Read all of this paragraph, there are 2 versions.....Remove 3 screws holding the lower edge of the front panel to the cabinet. Remove the soap drawer, remove 2 screws in the control panel that secure the soap box, depending on model there could be a third in the lower right hand corner, if there is, remove it. If there isn't read on further.. Carefully slide the front panel downwards about 20mm and it will disengage from the cabinet, carefully look behind it and disconnect the door lock wiring to allow complete removal. If there was not a third screw (lower right hand corner of the control panel) then the control panel will have to be removed. From the top remove the clip retaining the hose that goes into the top of the tub unit, remove the clip holding the large hose on the left, slide the soap box backwards slightly and hang over the back of the cabinet, all the hoses still connected. To remove the control panel look under the top frame and release the two lugs whilst easing the panel away from the cabinet. disconnect the wiring and remove away completely.

5) From the bottom remove the sump hose from the tub, the screw that secures the pressure bottle to the tub. Remove the suspension pins from the top position of the legs and push the legs clear of the tub unit. The tub unit will now be hanging from the top springs. Using strong wire or rope, loop the hook of the spring, lift clear of the cabinet and lower the tub unit to the floor. Repeat this on the other spring which then allows the tub unit to be lifted through the front of the cabinet.

6) Place the tub unit door seal up, remove the screws that secure tub front 1/2 to the rear 1/2. This allows the inner drum to be removed, if its tight use soft faced hammer, DO NOT damage the drum shaft.

 Inspect the drum shaft collar, the collar is located at the base of the shaft and is the surface that the oil seal mates to. Look for indents or circular ruts where the previous seal has worn the collar away

if damaged you will need a new spider unit. Do not clean up using abrasive cloth, try the green pan scrubber from the kitchen instead. If damaged and you don't replace it the bearing replacement will fail prematurely as the oil seal fails to keep the wash water away.

There are several different kits, comprising of 2 bearings and 1 oil seal. To obtain the correct kit you will need the model number of your appliance, eg WM1480FHD or WM1485FHD or WM16225FD

all use bearing kit 1 available here  other kits are available for other models including belt drives and washer dryers

The bearings can now be removed, the seats cleaned and made ready for the new bearings and water seal. A light cover of grease can be smeared on the inner edge of the seal.

7) There is a tub seal which fits in the recess between the front and rear 1/2's of the tub unit, it is adviseable to renew that seal before rebuild is commenced.

8) Rebuild is a reversal of the above, at every step double check electrical and hose connections and  before you refit the cabinet front.

Hope you find this guide useful, some paragraphs can be applied to the belt drives also.