The answer first
A washer that has started making a noise is usually being asked to spin something it cannot balance. The ranking here begins with A coin, wire or underwiring between the drum and the tub.
What you observe
- Banging and walking during spin only — An unbalanced load, or a machine that is not level.
- A grinding that rises and falls with the drum — A bearing, and the one noise here that reliably worsens.
- A rattle or clatter at the start of drain — Something hard has reached the pump.
- NEAR MISS — the noise is the door lock clicking — That is normal on every cycle and worth learning to recognise.
Causes, most likely first on a Simzlife washer
- A coin, wire or underwiring between the drum and the tub — Small hard objects work out of pockets, past the drum holes, and clatter between the drum and the tub. Ranked first on a Simzlife washer: left there, it scores the drum and eventually damages the tub — so it is worth acting on.
- Drum bearing worn — It gets worse steadily and never recovers, and on many machines it is a major repair.
- Unbalanced or overloaded drum — One heavy item — a rug, a duvet, a towel bundle — rides to one side and the machine cannot balance it.
- Something hard in the pump — Coins, buttons and grit reach the pump and rattle against the impeller at every drain.
Check in this order, and why
- Turn the drum slowly by hand and listen for something sliding — Check the filter at the same time: that is where they often end up.
- Spin the empty drum by hand and listen and feel for roughness — Rock the drum front to back: movement at the rear points the same way.
- Note whether the noise happens only during spin — Spin-only banging is a balance problem until proved otherwise.
What an owner can safely check
- Turn the drum slowly by hand with the power off, listening for anything sliding, then clear the filter — Anything hard you can reach through the filter comes out. Do not run the machine with a known object loose.
Tools: glove, torchAbout 25 min
- Empty the machine, spin the drum by hand and rock it gently front to back — Roughness, rumble or play at the rear points at the bearing, and that decides repair against replacement.
Tools: gloveAbout 15 min
- STOP HERE if the next step needs a panel off or a meter on live terminals — That is where the owner checks end and a service call begins, whatever the ranking says.
Before you open anything
Safety
Power off at the wall and close the taps before opening anything. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and the filter will hand you several litres of water if you are not ready for it. Never bypass a lid switch or a door interlock, never force a locked door on a full drum, and never move a loaded or flooded machine — drain it first.
When to call a technician
Call when the noise is a grinding that rises with drum speed, when the drum has play at the rear, or when the machine still bangs on a balanced load and a level floor. Stop using it if something hard is loose between the drum and the tub. Generic internals cut both ways: no brand support, but an independent technician can usually match the part from a catalogue rather than from the manufacturer.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This is the generalised Simzlife washer page. A family- or model-specific page, where one exists, is linked above and is the more precise answer for your unit. Left out on purpose: part numbers, connector colours, the order panels come off in, and every torque figure — a generalised page cannot be right about any of them.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
