Product review (2 stars): Doomed for Bearing Failure
We bought this Maytag Bravo XL washer at Menards 3 years ago. At first it was OK, just needed to get used to it. We liked It much more than the front loader Deawoo we had. It ran fine, but the out of balance code was hard to recover without restarting the machine (we've since figured it out). It was only out of the 1 year warranty by a couple months when it started making the sound of a freight train. Of course Maytag wouldn't do anything about it, so we put up with the noise until recently where it was unbearable. After Googling the problem, I purchased the bearing kit from Amazon. I just installed it this weekend and my noise went completely away. I was ready to buy another machine, but decided to fix this one, thankfully. I don't recommend waiting as long as I did, as the shaft and bearings were difficult to remove. I'm a 45 year industrial/ power plant/ auto mechanic and I can fix about anything, so I was able to install the new parts OK. I highly recommend purchasing the bearing and installation tools from Amazon, as it would be a lot easier. Whirlpool Cabrio Bravo Oasis Washer Bearing Seal & Tool OEM# W10435302 Bearings & Seal Only w/ Tool COMBO W10193886. Also, see YouTube- Maytag Bravo Bearing Replacement: Samuri Repairman. It's a great step-by-step video that almost anyone can do. Best of luck.