bearings?

Sounds like a situation we had a couple of years ago. And yes, it was the bearings.
We were told the repair would be almost as much as buying a new machine because the Christmas sales were on. So, we did buy a new machine. We were fairly ok about the whole thing because we found a half price sale on at Sears. But then again, we were not planning on buying one at all
Hope it works out ok for you

Sorry....just re-read my post and I think it sounds confusing.

Our repairman said.... we should take advantage of the Christmas sales...because the repairs were going to be almost as much as the discounted purchase price - so we should go for a new machine.

Which we did.. and we are happy!

Oh my... clear as mud?

Cheers!

You didn't say how old your machine is, but bearing failure is a common problem. The seals go, water gets into the bearings, they rust and eventually come apart. Besides the noisiness, there will eventually be dirty water on the floor beneath the machine.

Repair requires a complete teardown and disassembly of the machine, the labor for which will exceed the value of the machine. The other thing that goes at the same time is the 'spider' which is the 3-bladed support for the drum.