Appliance Spares
Quick answer: Deep roaring or rumbling that gets worse with spin speed = drum bearings. Rubbery squeal or slipping = drive belt. Harsh grinding only while the machine pumps out = drain pump. Clunking or wobble = the spider behind the drum. For AK-FL6 / AK-FL8S, that’s the BS16 bearings kit. For AK-FL10, the BS08 kit.
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What does it sound like, and when?
The two things that pin down a washer noise faster than anything else: what it sounds like, and when in the cycle it happens. Loudness barely matters.
| What you’re hearing | When | What it is | Part |
|---|---|---|---|
 Deep roar, rumble, like a plane spooling up | Worse as spin speeds up | Drum bearings + lip seal | BS16 (AK-FL6/8S) or BS08 (AK-FL10) |
 Rubbery squeal, slipping, chirping | Start of spin or heavy loads | Drum drive belt | Drive belt (AK-FL6/8S) |
 Grinding, buzzing, harsh rattle | Drain stage only | Drain pump | Drain pump (AK-FL6/8S) |
 Clunk, off-centre wobble, metal on plastic | Hand-spin or full speed | Spider behind the drum | Spider (AK-FL6/8S) |
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The hand-spin test
Power off the machine. Open the door. Reach in and spin the drum by hand. What you feel will tell you more than what you can hear from across the laundry.
- Smooth and silent → noise is belt, pump or load-related, not bearings.
- Rough or gravelly to rotate → bearings are worn.
- Drum lifts up and down when you grab the rim and pull → stop using the machine. The bearing or the spider has gone, and running it makes it worse fast.
- One scrape, every rotation → check for a coin or underwire trapped between the drum and the seal before you order any parts.
30 seconds, no tools. Single best diagnostic on the page.
Bearings — the deep rumble
The drum sits on two bearings at the back. In front of them is a rubber lip seal that’s meant to keep wash water out of the bearing races. After 6-10 years, the lip seal perishes, water gets through, the bearing grease washes out, and from that point the bearings are on borrowed time.
It starts as a hum on high spin. A month later it’s a rumble. Eventually it sounds like a jet on the runway every time the machine spins. The giveaway is speed — bearing noise tracks drum RPM, so it’s worst on towels, jeans and full bedding loads.
Second giveaway: a faint water stain on the floor behind the machine. That’s the lip seal letting wash water past the bearing. Confirmation, not coincidence.
Parts:
Worth knowing: bearing replacement on a front loader isn’t a kitchen-floor job. The drum has to come out of the cabinet and the old bearings pressed out of the housing — half a day with a workshop press. If your Akai is 10+ years old and the drum has obvious play, get a quote on the labour too before you order, because the maths can change.
Drive belt — the squeal
Fills fine, drains fine, struggles to reach spin speed? Squeals at the start of spin and slips on heavy loads? That’s the belt.
Worn belts don’t fail cleanly. They start, catch, slip, catch again, sometimes get the drum up to speed and sometimes don’t. Heavy loads expose it first because they need more torque.
Before you fit a new belt, spin the drum by hand and check it rotates freely. A new belt won’t fix a seized bearing — it’ll just slip the same way the old one did.
Drain pump — grinding on drain only
Noise that only happens while the machine is pushing water out is almost never bearings. Coins, hairclips and worn impellers cause a harsh rattle near the bottom-front during the drain stage, then silence the rest of the cycle.
Unplug the machine before you open the pump filter. Towel down first — trapped water comes out as soon as you crack the cover.
Spider — the clunk
The spider is the cast-aluminium arm bolted behind the drum that holds it on its shaft. When a failed lip seal lets wash water sit on it for years, it corrodes. Eventually it cracks, the drum moves off-centre, and you get clunking or a wobble that hits the seal on every rotation.
The spider isn’t the part to buy on noise alone. It’s the part to inspect when the bearings have been roaring for a long time, because once the tub is open on the bench you want every chewed part on it, not a second job in six months.
FAQs
Why is my Akai washer loud on spin?
Deep rumble that gets louder with spin speed = bearings. AK-FL6 and AK-FL8S take the BS16 bearings kit. AK-FL10 takes the BS08 kit.
What bearings kit fits an Akai AK-FL8S?
The BS16 lip seal + bearings kit. Same kit fits the AK-FL6.
What bearings kit fits an Akai AK-FL10?
The BS08 lip seal + bearings kit.
Can a drain pump sound like bad bearings?
Close, but the timing’s different. Pump noise only happens while the machine is pumping out. Bearing noise follows drum RPM and is loudest at full spin.
Should I just replace the belt if the washer’s noisy?
Only if the noise is a rubbery squeal or you’ve got slipping/failure to reach spin speed under load. A bearing rumble won’t be fixed by a belt. For AK-FL6 / AK-FL8S: drive belt.
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Disclaimer: this article is general information only and is provided without warranty of any kind. Appliance designs vary between models and production runs — always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, switch off and unplug the appliance before starting any work, and confirm parts against the model number on your appliance’s model sticker. Any repair is undertaken at your own risk and Oz Appliance Spares accepts no liability for injury, loss or damage arising from work performed after reading this guide, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If in doubt, use a qualified technician.
