OT: Washing machine pump, rattle, doesn't drain

Have you pulled off the back panel and _looked_ ?:-)

I'd suggest draining (with a siphon, or submersible pump, if you own one) then see if it'll enter spin cycle. That'll tell you if it's a tranny problem or just the pump. ...Jim Thompson

On a sunny day (Wed, 04 May 2011 08:17:52 -0700) it happened Joerg wrote in :

Did you throw coins in it:-)?

Can't. With this machine you have to take the controller console off and after that the whole shroud has to come off. In a place where there really ain't much space to do that. I'll do it but just got another urgent project for today.

Just wanted to know whether this is a fuggetaboutit situation by default, like a blown cylinder head on a 15 year old car would usually be.

Thanks, good idea. I'll try to lay the hose flat and siphon, a pump won't reach in there to get the level below the "empty" switch.

I've never seen a machine without a back panel. ...Jim Thompson

Of course it has one but according to the service instructions that won't come off easily. What comes off is the whole shroud, front, side, top with lid and all.

Drat, I was just looking for yet another project :-(

Well! That certainly fits with you insisting on doing everything the hard way :-) Being a Whirlpool I'd guess 8 hex head screws and the back comes right off, then you can check out the obvious culprits. Only a tranny change should require pulling the "shroud".

...Jim Thompson

sometimes a loose sock gets sucked into the pump and jams it,,,

Mark

Is there an appliance parts store around? Sometimes parts guys can be helpful with that sort of thing. I'd call around, ask your question of them, and then if you end up working on the machine, buy your parts from the most helpful fella!

(The last time I did this the advise they have me was basically telling me what parts needed cleaning, and I didn't spend a dime on anything -- those people get all my appliance parts business).

That's always a good way to do business. Any time I mod the house I go in and talk to a guy at the city building inspector's desk. I even have him draw me pictures on how I should do it. Needless to say I never have a problem with building inspectors :-) ...Jim Thompson

No hex screws in back, except for the occasional one where stuff such as the dual valve is bolted to the back panel.

Well, I followed your hint and siphoned the water out. Put it in "spin" ... *GRRRRRR* ... drum doesn't turn. Looks like the tranny is busted and at the age of the machine I guess that means buying a new washer.

Great, this just had to happen days after the compressor in our chest freezer died and took a lot of nice food with it. Ice cake and all. A new freezer is on the way but we couldn't let the salvaged food spoil. So I am barbecueing every day now and Monday we had filet mignon. Ribs tonight. Then another filte mignon. Yum!

Yes, we have a good store. Or had, last time it looked like it was going out of business. However, I just did the Thompson test and that revealed that the transmission is toast. Won't make sense to replace that on a 14 year old machine, is my guess.

We don't like top loaders anyhow because the agitator ruins shirt collars too fast, guess we'll shop for a new front loader now. Any hints which ones are good? Preferably a simple one with the least amount of electronics in there, or ideally none :-)

You're lucky. Years ago we had a freezer in our carport storage room that we visited maybe once a week to pull stuff for that week's use.

Of all dumb things the connector between the thermostat and the compressor failed. The stench of rotten meat was overpowering :-(

More recently I discovered that the garage freezer was on the same circuit with a GFCI located in one of our bathrooms. One of the grandkids popped it, but didn't say anything. Fortunately I noticed before anything major was ruined... lost a few popsicles ;-) But I added a loss-of-power alarm to that outlet until I can pull a separate line for the freezer. ...Jim Thompson

On my washer, it could be something as simple as a broken drive belt. Or, a loose setscrew, or a sheared pin. Getting from 'broken washer' to 'broken tranny' isn't the big step you need. Diagnose the problem further.

Front loaders are so... so... so Obama green, and lousy washers :-(

And all those extra seals... all made in China :-) ...Jim Thompson

In 1973 when I was first married and still in school, a neighbor gave us a washing machine.

It was still full of water !!

We drained it, I started tearing into the main pump.

To my surprise I found a pair of the neighbors wifes underwear in the pump. Removed it and the machine worked fine. The blue underwear said "Tuesday" on it.

So when ever my wife said something was broken, I would say "it must be Tuesday" .

So, check your wifes underwear drawer first, you may find "it must be Tuesday"

;-)

hamilton

How do you know they were his wife's panties?

I was just gonna say that :-)

I learned my lesson as well. I'll either build or buy a hi-temp alert when the new freezer arrives.

d text -

That's great advice Tim, When my washing machine pump started leaking the appliance dealer in town, not only had the part in stock, but told me how to get at it easily. In this case it involved removing the front and side shrouds. They now get all of my 'limited' appliance business. Good customer service should be rewarded!

George H.