Washer Not Draining
A top-load washer fills and agitates, but never drains. Work hose, then filter, then pump — in that order.
Scenario briefing
The call
A customer reports their top-load washer fills and agitates, but the water never drains. Clothes are left sitting in standing water.
No error code is displayed. The machine sounds normal through wash and agitation, and re-running the cycle changed nothing.
Work the sequence: external restrictions first, parts last. Prove the failure with a reading before you replace anything.
At the end of wash, the control energises the drain pump and the pump pushes water out of the tub, through the coin trap, up the drain hose and over the high loop into the standpipe. Once the pressure sensor or level switch sees an empty tub, the machine moves into spin. The whole drain path is low-pressure — it only takes a small restriction to stop it.
Subsystems in this failure pattern
- Flow path: tub outlet, coin trap / filter, pump housing, drain hose, standpipe
- Pump drive: control output, wiring harness, pump connector, pump motor
- Cycle logic: level sensing and lid interlock deciding when to drain and spin
Why this diagnostic order
The drain path is a series circuit of water and electricity. Everything outside the machine is free to check and fails most often, so it goes first. The coin trap is next because it is the most common internal restriction and mimics a dead pump exactly. The pump is condemned last, and only once you have proved it was commanded, powered, and still moved nothing.
Step 0 · Required
Safety Gate
Confirm every item below before the diagnostic area unlocks. This mirrors the pre-work checklist you owe every customer.
0 of 5 confirmed.
Step 1 · First checks
LockedDiagnostic decision
What should you check first?
Complete the safety gate to continue.
Component map
Drain circuit — component view
System layout — relative positions
Progress
Step 1 of 4
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4