Don't know if this helps but this happens to me once or twice..i could hear it rattling around and a repair man once gave me a simple tip. Feel very carefully with fingertips over the whole of the inside of the washer. After a while you will probably feel the very tip of the wire poking through one of the holes. It won't be poking through very much but just enough to locate it and carefully pull out with tweezers. I have tried this twice now and worked both times. Hope this helps. Hopefully it will save you having to take the washer apart!
michjoanne
April 2010