I have a fisher paykel gw11 that has begun making noise while circulating or draining water. It soulds like a squeal or a whining noise. I am still under warranty but thought it may just be some sort of blockage in the line or pump. How Hard is it to check out on my own>

Robert Hargus, April 2008

My machine was making the same noise, especially then draining the tub. I tipped the machine over and notice the pump had some calcium build up. Clearly I have a slow leak. I took te entire motor and pump bracket off the machine and found the motor had rust build up as well. I took the entire motor assembly apart, used CLR and 2000 grit sand paper to clean the rust off the motor parts, cleaned up all the calcium off the plastic and motor brackets, lubed the seal with some vaseline, lubed the other moving parts with some WD40 and put it all back together. Th process took about an hour.

I could have saved some time by only removing the motor asembly and not the entire mounting bracket for the pump. There is a plastic catch you need to lift in order to twist the motor out. Make note of which way the motor and wires are positioned and mark the outside of the motor.

Harrison, December 2008

Robert

Be aware that looking at this yourself may invalidate your warranty, but the following may help.

The pump will be located low down in the cabinet below the drum and can be easily located by following the outlet hose back to it, as the hose usually attaches directly to the pump once it has passed through the back of the cabinet.
Remove the hoses from the pump after you have unclipped the drainage hose and lowered it into a bowl or deep tray to drain any water. Then try turning the impeller blades inside the pump with your little finger of a pencil the should turn quite freely with no grating feel. If the impeller seems to stick when turning it the bearing may be worn due to a seal fault in most machines a full unit replacement (under warrant in your case) is necessary as they are not readily repaired.

Andrew

Andrew P., April 2008