Your machine was produced September 2005 per the serial number. Nine years isn't notably old. I have a GWL08 that's 15 years, only repair on it thus far is pump replacement.

Anyway, yes, a grindy drive shaft with leaking from beneath (water spattering out of the drive motor?) indicates bad bearings and seal. The shaft may be OK depending on how much wear it has suffered and how well it cleans up, but perhaps should be replaced with the bearings.

By the way, a minimal leak should never be ignored until it gets worse. A leaking pump (even just a little, if that had been the source) will often short-out and zap the motor controller board, which turns a pump replacement into a more expensive pump + board.

This post was edited by dadoes on Sat, Oct 18, 14 at 9:01

Thank you for responding so quickly. I think I can do this...just put it together in the opposite order of how I tore it apart???? Any tips you can give me would be great! I'm hoping this will be kind of fun and not too much of a pain.
Just to make sure I explained things right I think the pump is okay, the machine drains the water but then won't spin it out. Do I need to replace the water pump?
What should I have replaced when the machine first started leaking?
When looking for parts the bearing kit comes with a seal. Is that the lip seal or do I need to order a lip seal too?
And.....to replace the bearings and shaft should I tip the machine forward and take parts off from the bottom of the machine?? Do I need to grease the bearings? If so can I get what ever I need at an auto parts store?
I'm pretty mechanical. I've changed water pumps on cars, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and ignition coils but I have never dealt with bearings before.
Thank you so much,
Kitty

No need to replace the pump unless there's something obviously wrong or it's suspect of a problem.

There are two bearings (identical) and the seal. The three items are available separately or together as a "kit" from one online source I checked ... depends where you're shopping. The drive shaft is separate.

Per specified procedure a shaft-and-bearing-replacement tool kit is to be used to remove the old bearings and shaft and set the replacements. I have not done this job so can't say how reasonable is it to do without the special tools and unfortunately I can't give you any DIY tips on it from experience. The service doc I have advises not to pound the bearings out with a hammer so as to avoid damage to the housing or tub. The shaft removes from inside the tub. The inner bearing from inside the tub, outer bearing from bottom of the tub. Grease on the bearings probably isn't necessary but probably couldn't hurt.

In this case of leaking from the bearings & seal there's nothing else to replace that would have headed-off the problem. The point I was making is that putting off dealing with a leak is a bad idea in case it *is* from a bad pump. And actually, leaking from the tub seal can get the drive motor and RPS wet which also may lead to electronics trouble.