Washing machine blues..or how did I diagnose the problem?

[ohiofarmer 3,333]

 

  My wife had some bad news that we my ad a tub full of water in the machine.

   New stuff is junk and I never fixed one before.One step at a time was to get the clothes ready to dry even it it means the clothes line.

   I dipped out all the water I could and the spin cycle was very slow, so the shop vac took it out of the tub. Still the spin cycle was pretty slow but I was hoping that I would not have to tear into it and buy parts not needed. 

    I did figure it out eventually without getting any more tools than described here.

    Make your diagnosis and I will hold off on what I think it is before I try to tear into it.

[ri702bill 8,962]

Google the make & model for common problems. All washing machines are NOT the same.....

[stevasaurus 23,061]

Bill is correct.  Google your washer, I found all kinds of help vidios and tore down my front loader and replaced the bearings and seals in the drum and the door seal...parts were $40 with all tools that I have. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ohiofarmer 3,333]

I am pretty sure it's the water pump. The spin was not letting the water out and the more water I got out the better it worked. I finally put the shop vac on the drain hose and the machine reached full speed on the spin cycle

    I will look it up but the fun is in saving money to keep the lifestyle and money in the pocket.Juat like fixing tractors,it's all in finding everything out before tearing it apart.

[stevasaurus 23,061]

They really are not hard to work on.  Ours was like 12 years old...which means it is not worth having a guy come and fix it.  I watched the videos, some also showed the kit I would need.  I took a chance and ordered the parts, they were correct.  Take pictures and keep parts seperate.  It runs like brand new and it's been 2 years now.    

That little door on the bottom left of my picture has my pump in it.  There is a valve there you can open to empty the water in the drum.  You just may need to clean the pump or hose out.  

[Wayne0 921]

My last washer needed a transmission. I went to the dump and found the same machine in the white goods pile. Brought it home, took what I needed and brought it back.

That was quite a while ago. Probably can't do that now.

I just had to fix my "new" 5yo.dryer.

[squonk 42,513]

We smelled something burning in the kitchen a couple of month's ago. Went away as quick as it came. Next day the dishwasher had an error code of water level too high. Yup the pump burned up. The pump itself was like 25 bucks but my kitchen is built in such a way that I have to jack up the countertop just to get the machine out to even diagnose it. Then the rigormilrow to get the pump out. We decide just to replace the whole shootin match. I put the old machine out by the road. It's mostly  plastic. It was gone within a couple of hours.

[ri702bill 8,962]

1 hour ago, stevasaurus said:

There is a valve there you can open to empty the water in the drum.  You just may need to clean the pump or hose out.  

I have a similar LG hE washer. the removable lint filter is behind that little door. It needs regular cleaning to remove lint buildup that CAN bind up the pump - ask me how I know....

[oliver2-44 10,354]

About 10 years ago I had to replace the pump on a Sears eWasher. The new pump motor had the least metal required to make a motor. Plastic frame that used the plastic as bearings, waxed card board splash shield, no outer housing. But it worked. 

[ri702bill 8,962]

4 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

About 10 years ago I had to replace the pump on a Sears eWasher. The new pump motor had the least metal required to make a motor. Plastic frame that used the plastic as bearings, waxed card board splash shield, no outer housing. But it worked. 

Ah, yes!! "Cost reduced", as they say. Our in-house Test Lab was always quite busy with Life-Cycle testing of our own Automotive products with cost reduced components in them to see if they would meet the customer spec - and nothing more.

Here is an eye-opener. Our Design Group would strive to come up with creative solutions so that all our new products would achieve 150% of the specified number of cycles.

The testing continued until the product failed. IF it achieved 300% (3X Life), testing was halted and the product was deemed (by Corporate) to be "too good". Go back and cheapen it up, Too good meant "too expensive"........

[peter lena 9,087]

@ohiofarmer  have our whirlpool  HD  washer / dryer  over 30 years , been very solid  with few issues , want to say 5-6 years back , had a number of relays and switches fail , did a related look up , on line , heavier  parts have had no issues , dread  buying anything today ,  it just is not there for durability . pete

[ri702bill 8,962]

There is nothing to be confused about Steve - Cost Reductions are a way of life in Corporate America, whether is's cars or toasters. Gotta show the Shareholders they can make money hand over fist, ya know.....

All the non-hourly staff at the place I worked were given personal & team cost savings goals that were expected to be met. Not meeting your personal goal, even if your team surpassed theirs was a sore subject that would have a negative impact on your next year's Performance Review.

The absolute worst "goal" handed down was equal to the cost for my family plan Healthcare cost kicked in by the Company. We were all expected to justify our existance by having the Company be free of that expense.......

Edited 2 hours ago by ri702bill