Replacing the shock absorbers in a Miele W143 top-loading household washing machine

ID: 218709

Description: Our 18-year-old household washing machine...

Steps:

  1. The right side panel must be removed. There is a nice YouTube video for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpWT9_Zc...
  2. Although the video shows the removal of the left side panel, the same applies to the right side. Slightly hidden at the very bottom are two plastic tabs that need to be clicked free. Once the right side panel is off, we have a clear view of the front damper:
  3. Since everything has to be reassembled later, this is a good opportunity to test putting the side panel back on as well, so that it goes smoothly at the end. At the front, the panel sits slightly in a kind of groove.
    4. Step image
  4. These can be purchased online, and I have had good experiences with these two dealers:
  5. https://www.ersatzteilblitz.de and https://ersatzteilewelt.de/
  6. You can find suitable replacement shock absorbers there: The old, removed shock absorbers are "D120" from Suspa (year 2008) and the new ones are as well (year 2026). These shock absorbers are purely friction-based (i.e., without anything like hydraulics), and you can clearly feel that the worn-out shock absorber moves much more easily than the new one.
    7. Step image
  7. To release the bolts, we need a 13 mm wrench. I used a socket wrench with an extension and a ratchet, and the bolts were on quite tight.
  8. The upper mounting is just a bolt that can be removed after loosening, and for the lower mounting, you release a nut and pull the corresponding bolt out toward the back. After removing the old shock absorber, the new one is inserted accordingly.
  9. On my machine, I needed quite a bit of force to push the upper sleeve/eyelet into the fork, and I also applied a little oil so it would go in at all. The space at the bottom wasn't as tight, so that went completely smoothly. Insert the bolts and then tighten them down properly.
  10. The rear shock absorber is unfortunately covered by a plastic box that houses the power input component. You can only access the lower mounting of the shock absorber by loosening this assembly enough to move it out of the way.
  11. There are two screws for this on the outside. We start with the one located closer to the center of the device. It holds the plastic box, and once this screw is released, you can carefully unplug the plastic box, noting that you have to release a small catch on the machine frame. There are quite a lot of wires attached to the box.
  12. I moved two plastic supports on the inner frame that guide wire harnesses out of the sheet metal housing so that the cabling isn't as taut and you gain more freedom of movement. The second screw is located slightly further toward the bezel, and after removing it, you can move and release the power input from its mount.
  13. Now the electrical system is dangling in front of the rear shock absorber, but at least you can get past it to release the corresponding screws (just like with the front shock absorber) and remove the shock absorber.
  14. Since there is less room to maneuver here than with the front shock absorber, I was in no way able to insert the shock absorber into the upper mount—it was just much too tight. So, I saw no other way but to grind down the upper metal sleeve of the new shock absorber by a few tenths of a mm on both sides using a sanding disc.
  15. And that's it. After tightening the rear shock absorber, everything must now be reversed in the correct order. Since I have no idea how a workshop handles this, I would be very interested in being told if all of this can be done less awkwardly. Otherwise: Good luck, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
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