M-I-L's washing machine just started making this horrendous ratcheting (almost a squeal) during , the spin cycle. Filled with water (small load) and put on wash cycle, nada in movement of any kind. Smelled burning rubber, unplugged and let cool. Moved to spin cycle, loud ratcheting noise, drum slowly built up speed and was getting rid of the water, as the amount of water decreased and speed increased, the noise would reduce until drum was empty, then noise returned with a vengeance. Check belt, seemed kind of loose but I am not sure how snug it needs to be. Popped the top and front panel. Popped the motor out, cleaned it (tons of lint), put it back in, tested, good spin, no noise what so ever. Only leave two other areas, the pump/pulley and the area beneath the drum. Need a little help in narrowing down the cause of the noise. If I know what the problem is, I can usually fix it. Time to fix not an issue. Getting the machine back into service is.

The brakes appear to be working okay. Tub stops promptly when it is supposed to. Is there supposed to be a little play in the pulley wheel of the pump? I can move it vertically a little bit (1/16th of an inch or so). When spinning (during rinse cycle) the drum appeared to be out of balance. All I had in it was water. Does this help narrow it down? If I had a smaller belt, I would hook it up directly to each of the different pulleys.

Copy, thanks:)