Abstract <p>A tribodynamic approach is used to study the causes of failures of electric submersible vane pump filters. Test benches are developed on which the amplitude–frequency characteristics of the filter assembly and the bearing support shaft are obtained. The main cause of bearing failure is identified as being in the operating frequency range of the second harmonic of natural oscillations and causing impacts of the bearing bushings during their edge contact due to shaft bending with a vibration acceleration of up to 30 m/s². During the experiments, damage to the bearings is obtained during operation in the near-resonant zone. Shaft failure is due to the interaction of fragments of the destroyed bearing with the shaft surface. The results are useful for designing a tribodynamic system and analyzing failure causes.</p>