There are really three different complaints hiding behind "my washer won't drain." In one, the tub is sitting full of gray water when the cycle ends. In another, the water is gone but the clothes come out dripping because the machine never spun. In the third, the washer drains fine until a certain point in the cycle and then stops with a code. Each has a different likely cause, so it pays to notice which one you have before you start pulling things apart.
Which "won't drain" do you have?
| What you see | Most likely causes |
|---|---|
| Tub full of water, cycle stopped | Clogged pump filter or pump, kinked or blocked drain hose, clogged standpipe |
| Water gone, clothes soaking wet | Machine didn't spin: door lock or lid switch, unbalanced load, too many suds, drive problem |
| Drains slowly, then stops with an error | Partial blockage, weak pump, a pressure sensor that misreads the water level |
| Water backs up out of the standpipe or floor drain | A plumbing clog, not the washer |
That last row saves people money. If water comes up out of the pipe the hose feeds into, the washer is doing its job and the house drain can't take the water. That calls for a plumber, and we'll tell you so if we see it.
First, get the water out without flooding the floor
Turn the washer off and unplug it. On a front-loader, the door stays locked while water is in the drum, and forcing it can break the latch.
Look low on the front of a front-loader, usually at one corner, for a flip-down cover. The pump filter hides there, often alongside a skinny capped hose meant for emptying the drum. Put a shallow baking pan and plenty of towels down first, since a full drum holds more water than any pan. Pull the little tube, uncap it, and let the water run out a pan at a time. Only once it's mostly empty should you unscrew the larger filter cap, slowly, turning counterclockwise.
Top-loaders usually have no filter. Scoop the water out with a saucepan, or unhook the drain hose, drop its end into a bucket sitting lower than the waterline, and let it siphon.
The pump filter: where socks go to hide
With the filter out, you'll probably find some mix of lint, hair, coins, hair ties, bra underwire and the occasional small sock. Rinse the filter and shine a flashlight into the opening. You should be able to see the pump impeller, a small plastic vane. Reach in with a finger and turn it gently. It should move, with a little resistance from the magnet, but not grind or stop dead against something.
Screw the filter back in snugly, add a quart of water to the drum, and run a drain-and-spin cycle. If the pump now clears the water with a steady hum, you've found it. Cleaning this filter every couple of months keeps it from happening again.
The hose and what it drains into
Pull the washer out far enough to see the drain hose along its whole length. Kinks are the usual problem, especially after a machine has been pushed back into a tight closet. In stacked laundry closets, which are common in the condo buildings of downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring, there's often barely room for the hose to make its turn, and a washer nudged a few inches can pinch it flat.
Then look at where the hose ends.
A standpipe in the wall
Lift the hose free and dump a few gallons of water down the pipe by hand. If it backs up or drains slowly, the clog is in the house plumbing. In a condo or apartment, that pipe usually ties into a shared building line, so call building maintenance before you try a snake on it. The hose should also hook into the standpipe loosely, not be sealed into it with tape. An airtight connection can siphon water out of the tub mid-cycle, which is a different problem that looks like a fill fault.
A laundry tub or floor drain
You see these in plenty of older basements, from Chevy Chase to Hyattsville. Lint builds up in laundry tub drains and floor drains the same way it does in the pump. An inexpensive mesh lint trap over the end of the hose catches most of it.
When the water drains but the clothes are soaked
If the tub empties but your laundry comes out heavy with water, the washer probably skipped the spin. Before blaming a part:
- •Check the load. A single bath mat, a waterproof mattress pad or a wad of jeans on one side will make most modern washers refuse to spin. Redistribute and run spin only.
- •Check the detergent. Regular detergent in a high-efficiency machine, or too much HE detergent, makes suds. Many washers sense heavy suds and pause or skip the spin to clear them. A plain rinse, with no soap added, clears them; measure more sparingly on the next load.
- •Check the latch. Front-loaders need the door locked to spin, and top-loaders need the lid switch to register a closed lid. A latch that clicks but doesn't lock, or a lid that closes without the usual click, is a common failure part.
Signs the washer itself needs work
Call it in when:
- •The pump hums but water doesn't move, even with a clean filter and a clear hose
- •You hear no pump at all during the drain part of the cycle
- •The same drain code keeps coming back after the filter is cleaned
- •The drum won't spin with a balanced, normal load and correct detergent
- •There's a burning smell, or water appears under the machine
A technician will test the pump, check the hose between tub and pump (a second hidden spot for socks), look at the pressure sensor and latch, and read the control's fault history. You'll hear what failed and get a price before anything is replaced. Drain codes differ by brand; if you own an LG, the LG washer guide covers what its codes mean.
For condo owners, the stacked washer-dryer guide goes into building rules and access. To get a washer looked at in our service area, call or book through our washer repair page.