The short answer
Noise from a MFC washer is a load and a footing problem far more often than it is a bearing. These are light machines that are asked to spin a wet load, and a light machine only stays quiet if every foot is carrying weight on a floor that does not give.
What you observe
- A rhythmic thump at low speed — A load gathered on one side. It is the machine telling you it could not redistribute, not that a part has failed.
- A buzz or whine only while water leaves — The drain pump under load. A change in its note usually means something has reached the impeller.
- A grinding or scraping that follows the drum — Something hard between the drum and the tub, or caught in the pump.
- A rattle from the panel or the lid — Trim and fasteners rather than the mechanism. Common once a light machine has been moved a few times.
Causes, most likely first
- The machine out of level or standing on a floor that gives — First on this family. A light chassis has nothing to damp a spin that is even slightly out of true, so one foot off the floor turns an ordinary load into a machine that walks and drums.
- A load gathered on one side — Second. A small drum concentrates an unbalanced load far more than a large one, so a single heavy item or a sheet that has wrapped will produce a thump the whole house hears without anything being wrong with the machine.
- A coin, wire or button loose between drum and tub — Hard objects escape a pocket, pass the drum lip and then ride around scraping. It is a distinctive metallic sound that follows the drum exactly, and it will damage the tub if it is left there.
- Debris at the drain pump impeller — The pump sits low and takes everything the drum lets go. A hair pin or a fragment of a garment against the impeller gives a grind or a buzz only while the machine is draining.
Check in this order
- Note which part of the cycle is noisy - fill, wash, drain or spin — Each belongs to a different part of the machine, so this one observation removes most of the list before you touch anything.
- Confirm any transit restraint has been removed and stored — Last of the free checks, and the first one worth doing on a machine that has never been quiet.
- Press on each panel and the lid while it runs — A noise that changes under a hand is trim rather than mechanism, and no further diagnosis is needed.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A compact washer full of wet laundry is much heavier than an empty one - drain and empty it before moving it, and keep it upright.
Models in the MFC family — The models this page covers, as the product spine lists them. This family spans more than one stem, and the stem is worth confirming in the table before any part is ordered.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| MFC120-DU1421BS/C14E-US | black-decker:washer:mfc |
| MFC120-U1421BS/C14E-US | black-decker:washer:mfc |
When to call
The line on this family is the cabinet panel. Levelling, emptying, turning the drum by hand, clearing the pump filter and reseating trim are all yours and need no tool.
Other faults on this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
