--- title: "Washer loud on the spin" description: "Maytag washer loud on the spin — noise on the spin is the one complaint on this badge where the age of the machine changes the answer completely." url: "https://maytagmiami.support/symptoms/washer-loud-noise-when-spinning/" date_modified: "2026-09-07" Appliance type: "Washers" --- # Maytag washer loud on the spin ### Tell the two noises apart Run a spin with the drum empty. If the noise is still there with nothing inside, it belongs to the machine. Then listen to where in the cycle it lives: a rattle or a scrape that appears while the machine is emptying and stops when the spin gets fast is usually something loose in the pump — a coin, a button, an underwire. A roar that starts as the drum accelerates, rises with the speed, and disappears the moment the spin ends is a bearing, and that is worth reporting early rather than late. ### What it usually means, by the kind of machine One complaint, several machines. This maker still sells a top-load washer with an agitator alongside one without, a front-loader, and a stacked pair, and it sells the same oven as a range and as a wall unit in gas and in electric. The behavior you can describe is identical on all of them; the first hour of the repair is not. A front-load washer has a drain filter the owner can open and a top-loader has nothing to reach from the front, and that single difference decides how the same afternoon goes. - **Top-load agitator** — The heavier basket and the longer stroke make this the version that produces a genuine roar. It is also the design where the noise reaches the room most directly, so it sounds worse than the equivalent on a front-load machine. - **Top-load impeller (HE)** — Spins faster and quieter by design, which means a new noise stands out earlier here than on the older machines. That is an advantage — it is caught sooner. - **Front load** — Higher spin speeds again, and the bearing sits behind the drum where nothing can be checked from the front. This is the design where the decision to repair or replace comes up most often. ### The honest bearing conversation A basket bearing on a washer is a substantial repair, and on a machine that is already twelve or fifteen years old it deserves a straight answer rather than a quote. We will tell you what the repair costs and what is likely to follow it, and if the tub seal has already been leaking behind it we will say that too. Sometimes the right advice on this badge is to repair it, because the rest of the machine has plenty left; sometimes it is not, and you should hear that from the person holding the flashlight. ### Catch it while it is quiet Bearings announce themselves for months before they stop anything. A machine caught while it is merely loud is a bearing job. The same machine six months later is a bearing job plus a tub seal plus whatever the water reached on its way out. Something in the pump It scrapes rather than roars, it happens at drain rather than at speed, and it is often a coin. The cheapest version of this complaint. Basket bearing A roar that tracks the spin speed exactly. It gets worse over months, and it eventually takes the tub seal with it. Worn suspension More of a clatter than a roar, usually with movement to go with it. Common on any machine that has been in the house a decade. The drive belt or motor coupling A squeal or a chatter that also shows up in the wash rather than only in the spin. It usually arrives with weak spinning rather than none. Something between the tub and the basket An item of clothing or a small object that escaped the basket. It sounds alarming, it is not damage, and it is a straightforward removal. Spin it empty Nothing inside removes the load from the question and takes ten minutes. Note which stage is noisy Drain, wash and spin are three different mechanisms. Naming the stage narrows the work before we arrive. Does it rise with the speed? A noise that climbs as the drum accelerates and falls as it slows is rotating. That is a bearing conversation. Check the floor is not the drum A cabinet touching a wall or a dryer beside it will transmit an ordinary noise and make it sound like damage. Slide the machine forward an inch and listen again. A grinding, roaring or rumbling that arrives with the spin and goes when it stops What it usually means A noise that only exists at high speed is a bearing or a bracket, not a pump A noise that exists during the drain as well is very often something small and loose Bearing noise starts quiet and gets worse over months — the history is part of the diagnosis Tell the two noises apart Run a spin with the drum empty. If the noise is still there with nothing inside, it belongs to the machine. Then listen to where in the cycle it lives: a rattle or a scrape that appears while the machine is emptying and stops when the spin gets fast is usually something loose in the pump — a coin, a button, an underwire. A roar that starts as the drum accelerates, rises with the speed, and disappears the moment the spin ends is a bearing, and that is worth reporting early rather than late. What it usually means, by the kind of machine One complaint, several machines. This maker still sells a top-load washer with an agitator alongside one without, a front-loader, and a stacked pair, and it sells the same oven as a range and as a wall unit in gas and in electric. The behavior you can describe is identical on all of them; the first hour of the repair is not. A front-load washer has a drain filter the owner can open and a top-loader has nothing to reach from the front, and that single difference decides how the same afternoon goes. Top-load agitator — The heavier basket and the longer stroke make this the version that produces a genuine roar. It is also the design where the noise reaches the room most directly, so it sounds worse than the equivalent on a front-load machine. Top-load impeller (HE) — Spins faster and quieter by design, which means a new noise stands out earlier here than on the older machines. That is an advantage — it is caught sooner. Front load — Higher spin speeds again, and the bearing sits behind the drum where nothing can be checked from the front. This is the design where the decision to repair or replace comes up most often. The honest bearing conversation A basket bearing on a washer is a substantial repair, and on a machine that is already twelve or fifteen years old it deserves a straight answer rather than a quote. We will tell you what the repair costs and what is likely to follow it, and if the tub seal has already been leaking behind it we will say that too. Sometimes the right advice on this badge is to repair it, because the rest of the machine has plenty left; sometimes it is not, and you should hear that from the person holding the flashlight. Catch it while it is quiet Bearings announce themselves for months before they stop anything. A machine caught while it is merely loud is a bearing job. The same machine six months later is a bearing job plus a tub seal plus whatever the water reached on its way out. ### It is loud but everything still works. That is normal for the early part of a bearing's decline, and it is the best moment to look at it. Nothing is stopping you using the machine in the meantime. ### It sounds like an airplane. That is the description we hear most for a bearing on a front-load machine, and it is a fair one. It will not improve on its own. ### Could it just be a coin? Often, yes — and that is exactly why we ask whether the noise is at the drain or at full speed. A coin makes its noise when the pump is running, not when the drum is. --- **[Read full article: Washer loud on the spin](https://maytagmiami.support/symptoms/washer-loud-noise-when-spinning/)**