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Symptom guide / washing machine
The washing machine shakes, walks or bangs during the spin
Three of the causes behind a shaking machine are things you check rather than things you buy, and the two that cost money are told apart by asking when it started rather than what it does. Levelling feet and a floor that only looks flat is where 3 of the 6 causes on this page get settled without buying anything — about 20 minutes, no part needed [S1]. On a washing machine the complaint is the washing machine shakes, walks or bangs during the spin, and it arrives in these words: the machine shakes hard enough to move, it walks across the floor during the spin, it bangs on every load no matter what goes in, it grinds metal on metal when it spins up or it has been getting worse over the last year. Parts only come into it once those are ruled out: the completed repairs behind this symptom run $367–$372 [S1], against a replacement from $700.
What the fault looks like
Fig. WASHING MACHINE - OUT OF BALANCE
What the UE code on a washing machine means
UE (also shown as UB, F0 E5) — the control could not bring the drum up to spin speed with the laundry the way it is distributed [S1].
medium likelihoodadvanced$334–$408 installedabout 150 minn=195 completed jobs[S1]
it has been getting worse over the last yearit bangs on every load no matter what goes inUEUBF0 E5
The paid answer behind a machine that fails on balanced loads with the feet level: the dampers that give the drum its resistance are worn, so the drum swings too freely and trips the imbalance shutoff again and again. The source's timing tell is the one to use, because wear is gradual by definition - it got worse over a year is wear, while it started yesterday is not. 195 of its logged jobs were this repair, which is why the price band is quoted from that group rather than from the whole page.
S1 publishes medians of completed jobs rather than part-only prices: suspension work ran a $367 median across 195 jobs, and the broader noise-and-shaking group it belongs to came to $372 across 584 visits
medium likelihoodpro$380 installedabout 240 minn=11 completed jobs[S1]
it grinds metal on metal when it spins up
The source's line is blunt: metal-on-metal grinding during the spin is past the balance question and into bearing territory. A drum that can be rocked hard by hand with the machine empty, or a rumble that rises with drum speed, is this rather than suspension. It is the one cause on the page that is closer to a rebuild than a repair, because the bearings sit behind the drum and the inner tub has to come out - which is why the source's own decision line treats it as the fault that ends a machine's life rather than a maintenance item.
S1 prices a completed tub bearing replacement at a $380 median across 11 jobs - the dearest routine row on its page and $13 above the suspension job - and the second source brackets bearings and suspension together at $350-700, so a bearing job is priced, not absent
it walks across the floor during the spinit bangs on every load no matter what goes in
The cause the source puts beside levelling and that a level check alone will not find: a machine can be perfectly level on a floor that flexes, and a spin at 1,200 rpm turns that flex into a bounce the machine cannot damp. The test is physical - press down on the floor at each corner while the machine is empty and listen for movement, and compare with a concrete floor if there is one in the house. Anti-vibration pads and a plywood platform under the feet are the cheap answers; reinforcing the floor is not an appliance job.
no published figure: this is a building repair rather than an appliance part, and the source treats flooring as a diagnostic category for exactly that reason
Repair or replace?
The verdict
Level it, check the shipping bolts, and sort the load before anything is priced - those three findings are free and between them they account for most of the shaking this page is about. If the machine fails on balanced loads with the feet level and the floor solid, the repair is suspension at about $367, and that is inside half the price of a new machine, so on a washer under ten years old it is a repair. Grinding is the exception: bearings on a machine at the end of its life is the fault that decides replacement rather than the price. [S1]
Shock absorbers or suspension rods replaced, from a second published dataset: $367 median — the source publishes no middle half for this row [S1] — n=195 completed jobs[S1]
Tub bearing replaced, from a second published dataset: $380 median — the source publishes no middle half for this row [S1] — n=11 completed jobs[S1]
The headline band is the publisher's own noise-and-shaking group rather than one row's middle half: across 584 logged visits for that complaint the median repair was $372, and the suspension work behind it ran $367 across 195 jobs, which is why the band spans those two medians. The two labelled bands are the same page's per-repair rows, each with its own count and with no middle half published for either: shock absorbers or suspension rods at $367 across 195 jobs and a tub bearing at $380 across 11. The rows and the group are different cuts of one 4,763-job washer book rather than separate estimates, so they are never added together or averaged.
The comparison is $367 against $700-1,100, and the suspension job lands just under the half-of-new-price line - close enough that age decides it. That is why the source's timing question matters more than the price: a machine that got worse over a year is spending $367 to recover several years of life, while the same $367 on a twelve-year-old machine buys the next two years of it.
S2's half-of-new-price rule against its $700-1,100 mid-range machine, combined with the 10-13 year service life used across this site's washing machine pages; the half-of-new-price line falls at roughly $350-550, which the suspension repair sits just underneath
Have a quote?
Put your quote and the age of the unit into the calculator — the same half-of-new-price rule, with your own numbers.
levelling feet and a floor that only looks flat [S1]
high likelihoodeasyno part neededabout 20 min
the machine shakes hard enough to moveit walks across the floor during the spinUEUBF0 E5
The source's first instruction and the fix it says is skipped most often, because a floor that looks flat rarely is. Empty the drum and put a spirit level on top of the machine, first front to back and then side to side. Most machines have adjustable front feet and self-levelling rear feet: tilt the machine forward a few inches and set it back down so the rear feet find their position, then level the front and lock them. A front-loader's tolerance is tighter than a top-loader's, so a machine that passes on the bubble can still be out on a spin. Free.
shipping bolts never removed, or removed and found again after a move [S1]
high likelihoodeasyno part neededabout 15 min
it started the day it was delivered or movedthe machine shakes hard enough to move
The source's tell is when it started rather than what it does: a machine that shook from the day it arrived has shipping bolts still in the back, which lock the drum to the cabinet so it cannot absorb anything, or a machine that was delivered and never levelled. On the other side of the same fault, bolts taken out and refitted after a move are the same problem in reverse. This is the cause that makes a brand-new machine behave like one with worn suspension, and it costs nothing to check.
load distribution: one heavy item with nothing to counter it [S1]
high likelihoodeasyno part neededabout 5 min
it bangs on every load no matter what goes in
The source separates a load problem from a machine problem by asking which loads fail. A duvet, a bath mat or one pair of jeans with nothing of similar weight to balance it will make a healthy machine trip the imbalance detection every time, and the machine is behaving correctly in refusing to accelerate it. The source's own list of loads that cause this every time is the useful part: if the same items always fail and mixed loads do not, nothing has worn out.
What each fix costs
Cause
Cost
Time
DIY?
levelling feet and a floor that only looks flat
no part needed
20 min
easy
shipping bolts never removed, or removed and found again after a move
no part needed
15 min
easy
load distribution: one heavy item with nothing to counter it
no part needed
5 min
easy
weak or flexible floor under the machine
not priced
30 min
moderate
worn shock absorbers or suspension rods
$334–$408 installed
150 min
advanced
worn drum bearings
$380 installed
240 min
pro
A technician visit starts with a diagnostic fee of $80–$130 [S1]. Completed repairs run $367–$372 [S1].
Sources
[S1]Bozmanfix (medians from completed work orders with sample sizes; page updated September 2026) (2026-09). the $372 median across 584 logged noise-and-shaking visits and the $367 median for suspension work across 195 jobs, the free fixes (spirit-level method front to back and side to side, the self-levelling rear feet routine, the tighter front-loader tolerance), the loads that cause imbalance every time, the timing tells (worse over a year is wear, started on delivery is shipping bolts or levelling), the metal-on-metal finding as bearing territory, the flooring category, and the repair-or-replace line
[S2]FlexFul Appliance Repair (Chicagoland) (2026). the $80-130 diagnostic band with credit toward the repair, labour at $110-175 an hour, the half-of-new-price replacement rule, and mid-range machine prices of $700-1,100
Last verified: 2026-09-29. Prices are US market figures from the sources above; your quote may differ.
Built from a fact record, not from a template: every number above is tied to one of the sources and the record is re-checked against them. Editorial choices (which symptom leads, which cause is the single tell) are kept in a separate block so the facts stay auditable.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to fix a washing machine with this problem?
Completed repairs run $367–$372 according to the sources cited on this page, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$130.
How long does a washing machine last?
The decision rule used on this page works from a planning life of 11 years.
Repair or replace?
Level it, check the shipping bolts, and sort the load before anything is priced - those three findings are free and between them they account for most of the shaking this page is about. If the machine fails on balanced loads with the feet level and the floor solid, the repair is suspension at about $367, and that is inside half the price of a new machine, so on a washer under ten years old it is a repair. Grinding is the exception: bearings on a machine at the end of its life is the fault that decides replacement rather than the price.
