Model #ATF7000FS0, this front load washer was in the middle of a wash cycle when the customer noticed an odd sound the came from the laundry room upstairs. The sound was brief, but the noise of the normally spinning washer changed quickly to a sound of silence. After a brief conversation with the customer over the phone, it sounded to me like the belt had come off the pulley. So making sure I had a replacement, I headed on out to take a look for myself.



Given the description from the customer that he had heard a noise just prior to it no longer working, along with the familiar sound of the motor running, I was sure I was on the right track. It is not a very common type of failure to have a belt fall off of a front load washer so it is important to not only repair the problem, but see if the reason for the failure presents itself.

With the back removed from the washer, I found the belt lying in the base and clearly no longer in one piece. Everything looked good, but there were some telling groves worn into the tub in line with the path of the belt. It looks like the belt had worked its way toward the tub and through continuous rubbing not only left its mark on the tub, but finally succumbed to the friction.


As I said, when the belt fall off, look for the reason why. The most common reasons would be a loose pulley, a loose motor, or the ever dreaded failing tub bearings. The way to check each is to simply get your hands in there and see if there is any play. Everything checked out good with this washer which can be unnerving because sometimes it's nice to find the proverbial smoking gun. But with this washer being just over a year old and nothing jumping out at me, I went ahead and replaced the drive belt, then started a spin cycle to give it a workout.

After multiple test cycles, the belt was tracking right down the middle of the pulley which is were it should be. The only thing I suspect was the markings on the motor shaft looked as if the original belt had been mounted so it tracked toward the motor which results in it also tracking toward the tub. So without any concrete evidence for this failure, I chalked it up to improper alignment from the factory. I guess time will tell if I am right or wrong.

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