She's been a good washer until tonight.
It started it's spin cycle and began banging around pretty badly. I adjusted the load to be better balanced, closed the lid and it kept banging (the drum only, the cabinet stayed still)
I removed the clothing and started at the rinse cycle. It filled, agitated and drained and then when the spin was supposed to occur it just made a loud noise (a grating, metal on metal sound).
I opened the lid and depressed the latch button to see what was happening. The drum moved about an 1/8" at a time, like it was ratching around and made that same noise.
So, any ideas? It's direct drive from what I've gathered.
I'm a carpenter by trade and really don't get along with machinery, but given the economy, I'm gonna have to go the DIY if at all possible.
Thanks in advance

I have the same problem MattH has, removed the panel, eveything looks fine. Springs intact. No leaks. Is there a clutch that disengages the agitator during spin cycle? (weak spring?) Could that cause the banging and jumping of the agitator? I'm guessing the motor runs in the opposite direction during drain & spin cycle than it does while agitating. I'm hoping the problem is not internal of the tranny.

I emptied the water. Removed the cabinet, layed it on it's back.
There were no shavings, oil, black shards underneath. I think I could see the couplers-maybe thats what they were as they look like the parts shown as such.
I turned her back upright and tried to spin the drum by hand. It went counter-clockwise about a full revolution then bound-up. I started the spin cycle and all I got was a very loud, high pitched grinding sound and the drum did not spin at all. I turned it off and tried to spin the drum by hand again. This time I got it about half a revolution and it bound. Started it and same noise, no drum spin.
I'm thinking clutch or tranny. How hard are these to replace and/or is the cost going to make a 15 yr old unit not worth the effort. As in, is this about the useful life for a washer and would I be better off dropping $500 on a new one? My wife probably does 8 loads a week.