Our Hotpoint WM63 Washer recently suddenly started making a LOT of noise
when spinning.

After removing the drive-belt I noticed that the motor shaft has a couple of
millimetres of radial play. Assuming that this is not a good sign I
extracted the motor and, having removed the through-bolts that hold the
motor casing together, discovered that the inside bearing race (belt-end) is
*not* attached to the motor shaft (in contrast to the bearing at the other
end). This seems odd to me, and there is also some evidence of shearing
where the inner side of this race meets an enlarged section of the shaft.
Considering the large radial force applied to the motor-shaft by the
drive-belt I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a weak-point in
the design.

But I don't want to be overconfident given the price of a new motor (around
£100). Am I on the right track here? Is this a known problem with these
motors? If so, can the motor be repaired?

BTW, the drum makes no obvious noise when turned by hand.

Also, is it worthwhile doing any other preventative maintainance on the
machine whilst I have the thing dismantled.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Liam.