Grinding noise and plastic bits in washing machine

Question

We just bought a house and it had a washing machine in there. Initially it just seemed really dirty so we gave it a good scrub and ran a few hot cycles with vinegar and baking soda to clean out the mold and scrud. When we finally thought we were done and ran the first run with a load it made a very loud grinding sound when spinning. When it was done, we found bits of ground up plastic in the drum.
I have tried running it a few more times, and the sound is sometimes better and sometimes worse, and we always find ground up plastic. Moving the door seal out of the way, you can see where the plastic is coming from: it looks like it is a plastic ring behind the drum that is disintegrated and I can pull bits off. I have attached a picture of both the plastic ring and the remains of a part I removed.  
Is this part of the plastic tub that somehow got misaligned? Is it fixable? Or should we scrap the machine?
Model is Electrolux EWF 1287.

mark f · Accepted Answer

It appears the spider that holds the drum to the spindle is cracked and the tub no longer centers when spun. The early aluminum spider designs were terrible, the accumulation of phosphates and other washer chemicals remained in contact with the recesses in the material and eventually corroded it. While the part may be replaceable, it it is very expensive and invasive repair. To confirm this, spin the drum by hand and check for any wobble.

Correct answer by mark f on March 19, 2021

Grinding noise and plastic bits in washing machine

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