Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

Okay Westinghouse top-loader gurus...

My new Westinghouse-based Faux-1-18 (the 'Faux18,' as I shall henceforth call it) has a nice new belt and sparkling-clean pulleys, thanks in large part to Roger's help and a lot of head-standing.

We've fixed almost every problem with this lovely machine (I know, a WCI with issues? Say it ain't so), but the last one is puzzling.

It agitates and spins quickly and beautifully with the new belt, but when the tub stops after each rotation, it makes a loud, pronounced "bonk!"

"Bonk, bonk, bonk," as it rotates. It's like bonking against a piece of rubber, not a metal-on-metal sound. But it does bonk against something; the hoses quiver ever-so-slightly each time.

But there it goes--agitate, sweep back; tub moves forward; agitator reverses; tub locks, "bonk."

It gets old after a while.

It does not make noise in spin, although sometimes it "cries" as the tub spins--a very rubbery-sounding noise (similar to a dog yelping, actually) that sounds like a rubber part protesting somewhere. That is a rare occurrence, though.

Anyone have any ideas about this? I suspect it's an issue with the transmission, in which case it will likely live out its days, as it were, but I wondered if there was anything more obvious I might be overlooking.

Thanks in advance for your help!

--Nate


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Post# 113700 3/6/2006 at 15:51 (6,624 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes Okay Westinghouse top-loader gurus... My new Westinghouse-based Faux-1-18 (the 'Faux18,' as I shall henceforth call it) has a nice new belt and sparkling-clean pulleys, thanks in large part to Roger's help and a lot of head-standing. We've fixed almost every problem with this lovely machine (I know, a WCI with issues? Say it ain't so), but the last one is puzzling. It agitates and spins quickly and beautifully with the new belt, but when the tub stops after each rotation, it makes a loud, pronounced "bonk!" "Bonk, bonk, bonk," as it rotates. It's like bonking against a piece of rubber, not a metal-on-metal sound. But it does bonk against something; the hoses quiver ever-so-slightly each time. But there it goes--agitate, sweep back; tub moves forward; agitator reverses; tub locks, "bonk." It gets old after a while. It does not make noise in spin, although sometimes it "cries" as the tub spins--a very rubbery-sounding noise (similar to a dog yelping, actually) that sounds like a rubber part protesting somewhere. That is a rare occurrence, though. Anyone have any ideas about this? I suspect it's an issue with the transmission, in which case it will likely live out its days, as it were, but I wondered if there was anything more obvious I might be overlooking. Thanks in advance for your help! --Nate

Post# 113706 , Reply# 1 3/6/2006 at 16:29 (6,624 days old) by unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes but when the tub stops after each rotation Nate do you mean after each tub index or when the washer is slowing down after spin? Sounds like the clutch spring could be sticking. Might need some grease, but it could be quite the job to do this.

Post# 113736 , Reply# 2 3/6/2006 at 18:43 (6,624 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes Hi Robert :-) Yes, sorry about that, I mean after each index. Does that sound like it's the same culprit? Thanks :-D Nate

Post# 113928 , Reply# 3 3/7/2006 at 18:09 (6,623 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes *Not sure...* The diagrams make the clutch springs look evil. I don't mind rolling up the sleeves; the RepairMaster doesn't say much about it, though (aside from "if the transmission has issues, replace it as a unit", and doesn't even have the index-bonk as a symptom...of course, it's probably due to a worn-out transmission more than anything). If worse comes to worst, I could always just wait for another machine with an identical configuration to come along... --Nate

Post# 113944 , Reply# 4 3/7/2006 at 19:24 (6,622 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes Have you checked if the tranny might still be available? They used that same style for a long time... Even if it's not, those were pretty common, I'm sure you'll find another.

Post# 114177 , Reply# 5 3/9/2006 at 05:52 (6,621 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia)
Checkrate/Likes Do you guys know what "bonk" means in Australia? Look it up on an online slang dictionary. tee hee. Chris.

Post# 114262 , Reply# 6 3/9/2006 at 16:39 (6,621 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes I have my suspicions, but the slang dictionaries I've Googled don't have it. Perhaps you could provide a URL to enlighten us, Chris ;-) --Nate

Post# 114268 , Reply# 7 3/9/2006 at 17:18 (6,621 days old) by brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia)
Checkrate/Likes Visit here and scroll down until you find bonk. This is a usefull guide to the australian language CLICK HERE TO GO TO brisnat81's LINK

Post# 114461 , Reply# 8 3/10/2006 at 16:45 (6,620 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes A) I suspected as much, and B) If it did that, I wouldn't be complaining. I'd just never show up for work. :-D --Nate (and thanks, Nate and Chris :-D)

Post# 114545 , Reply# 11 3/11/2006 at 03:32 (6,619 days old) by designgeek ()
Checkrate/Likes If I'm not mistaken, the England English equivalent is either "boink" or "shag," the latter having little if anything to do with floor coverings except that if you have to shag on the rug, it's better to have a shag rug.

Post# 114489 , Reply# 9 3/10/2006 at 20:26 (6,619 days old) by westytoploader ()
Checkrate/Likes I'd look at the "bonking" as positive since it sounds more like a Unimatic! ;-)

Post# 114510 , Reply# 10 3/10/2006 at 23:34 (6,619 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)
Checkrate/Likes LOL!! True, true, Austin! :-P