The short answer
On Fisher & Paykel the noise you are describing is most often an unbalanced load or a machine out of level. Ranked that way because the direct-drive motor sits under the basket with no belt and no gearbox, which removes the usual noisy suspects and leaves the bearing and the pump.
What you observe
- A tick or scrape that rises with drum speed — Something hard loose in the drum or against the outer tub.
- A grinding heard only while it drains — The pump side, which is a very short list and mostly owner work.
- NEAR MISS: the noise comes with clothes still soaking wet at the end — Then you have a drainage or spin fault and the noise is a symptom. Read the drainage page first.
Causes, most likely first on Fisher & Paykel
- The load is unbalanced or the machine is out of level — First here, where a modulating control hides a developing fault rather than announcing it. A heavy thump on spin that shakes the room. One duvet or a pair of jeans can pile to one side of a drum, and a machine standing on three of its four feet turns that into a bang against the cabinet.
- A coin, a wire or a button loose in the drum or the pump — Second, and the cause this control is least able to tell you about. A tick or a scrape that rises with drum speed, or a rattle during drain. Small hard objects work through the drum holes and end up against the outer tub or in the pump, where they make a noise far bigger than their size.
- The drain pump is passing debris, or its filter is blocked — Third. A grinding or buzzing heard only while the machine drains.
- The drum bearing has failed — Last, and it is the reason the order above matters. A rumble or aircraft roar that grows with spin speed and gets worse every week, often with play in the drum when you rock it by hand.
Check in this order, and why
- Redistribute the load and spin again, then check all four feet are firm on the floor — A machine that rocks under hand pressure explains a spin noise with nothing broken.
- Turn the empty drum by hand and listen, then check the pump filter — It is free, it takes minutes, and it accounts for a large share of sudden new noises.
- Listen for whether the noise happens only during drain — A noise confined to the drain phase is the pump side, which is a very short list.
What an owner can safely check
- Redistribute the load, then level the machine and lock the feet — Push each top corner down in turn: a machine that rocks is not level.
Tools: spirit level, adjustable spannerAbout 25 min
- Run a hand round the drum seal and turn the empty drum slowly by hand — Then open the pump filter behind the front flap and check what has collected there.
Tools: torch, shallow tray, towelsAbout 20 min
- Open the pump filter behind the lower flap, clear it and refit it fully — Have a tray and towels ready: the hose holds more water than people expect.
Tools: shallow tray, towelsAbout 20 min
- STOP HERE if the next step needs a meter on live terminals — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the machine before opening the pump filter or reaching into the drum, and switch off its water supply before moving it. The filter flap holds standing water, so use a tray and towels rather than letting it run across the floor. A washer is far heavier than it looks: get a second person before tilting or walking one out.
When to call a technician
Call when the drum has play in it by hand, when the rumble grows week by week, or when every check above has come back clean. A bearing does not recover and running on one damages the tub around it. Call sooner if the machine moves across the floor on spin despite being level, because that is suspension rather than loading.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page covers the brand and the washer class, not one family or model line. Where a family-specific or model-specific page exists for your unit, that page is the more specific answer and it takes precedence over this one. Not here: part numbers, wiring colours and component locations, which differ by family.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
