First piece of advice; if you're not very dextrous, or aren't confident about it, don't even start. You WILL NOT get it back together.
If you look at the bottom of the part of the seal closest to the door, there's a spring. This is the bottom part of the retaining wire around the front of the seal, and simply pulls out. The front part of the seal will then come straight off the front of the machine easily.
It is far easier to do the second part if you have the top of the machine off and the control panel out of the way-the control panel is held on by two screws on the top at each end, and three around the detergent drawer.
At the back of the seal there is a spring-like wire going all the way round the edge of the outer drum. Remember how and where the seal fits into this, and what part of the seal goes into the edge of the drum. To remove the seal, just pull it away from the centre working around the drum.
To put the new seal on, fit the edge into the rim of the outer drum first, without the retaining spring. I found it easiest to then fold the seal back on itself, into the inner drum, so you have a better view of the edge.
Jam something between the door catch hole and the side of the drum. I used a table knife, NOT A SHARP ONE, poked through the catch hole from the inside. The blade being wider than the handle stopped it being pushed out of the front. The retaining spring needs to be round this item.
Then you work your way round the seal, starting at the door catch, pushing the retaining spring into the side of the seal. This is the difficult part. Before moving onto the next stage, feel all the way around the drum making sure the seal is seated properly.
Re-fitting the seal to the front of the machine is compartively easy. Just push it itno the slot around the hole, then re-fit the retaining wire.
I said at the beginning this is difficult; it is. Very fiddly, but not beyond most people's capabilities. Just takes a bit of patience!
David, March 2007
