Checking the Drain Pump on Kenmore Elite Front Loader

Thank You..runs like a champ now....I truly appreciate the help.

I just wanted to say "Thank You". I am a military spouse so of course when the husband is away everything wants to break down. I have been trying to wash clothes for 2 weeks. Didn't want to pay $65.00 for diagnostics and then $1 a minute for labor. Did not have the options button but, started a load of clothing and machine is running great. Found the Purex sheets in the acess. Even those sheets are a life saver, I will not buy those any more.

Thank You again,
L.T. Fort Sill

Thanks so much, my husband is out to sea and said he had fixed the problem ( a F-21, and SD on the screen ). Only to have him leave and low and behold the washer stopped working mid-cycle. Came on line and my four year old daughter and I were able to fix the problem in 10 minutes!!! Won't daddy be surprised.. Thanks a bunch..

Thank you!! Owned the unit for just under 2 years. I believe my service contract would have covered this - but I decided to take your advice given all the success stories here rather than wait 2 days for service. Sure enough the little access twist knob that holds debris before it got to the impeller had several coins, pieces of jewelry and misc. pieces of gummed up lint - so I cleaned that out. I did not take the pump out BUT I reached my finger in to feel the impeller blades and found the main issue. It was a balloon that had actually knotted up on the blades and caused the pump to stop. I was able to fish it out with my fingernails working it out slowly. I had a pair of needlenose - but too difficult to get the right angle. I had a wire hanger standing by, but I didnt need it. A few minutes of easing out the obstruction on the impeller blades and good as new. It's always nice when you can say to your wife - found the problem, you'll be back in business in no time. I'm sure she appreciates that. (I know she does, because in our household - 2 days without laundry is a big deal!) It's also a good feeling to come upon your own "AHA!" moment. Thank you for your instructions very much. I would not have tried this, but it sounded pretty obvious that was the likely issue and so many nice folks reported back with positive results.

I never knew there was a filter on the pump line! Mine was full of lint, coins, a screw, straight pins and a pair of nail clippers. Great advise on using the shop vac, did not have a ton of water on the floor, but it sure did not smell good. I have been cursing my washing machine for a year... who knew the fix would be so easy! Thank you for saving me having to buy a new washer! This will now be a regular maintenance item.

So glad to found this website. Don't know if this is the same issue? But my washer spin if I put in on FINAL SPIN cycle. However, if I start the cycle, water just keep going in and straight out the drain so the cycle never started. Will this fix the problem or is my drain motor broken???? Thanks in advance.

You are the man!!! I was just about to call Sears when I decided to look around on the internet under diagnotics codes and ran across your instructions. It was easy to do, took about 10 minutes and saved around $200 in cash...too bad for Sears...ha ha ha ha. Maybe I'll take the family out for dinner tonight! I found a couple dollars in change, a dollar bill, and airsoft bb's (they do a great job plugging up the filter holes). On my machine there was no DRAIN SPIN, NO SPIN option so I just ran a new cycle and had clean clothes! Have a beer on me! - Jeff

Wonderful instructions and advice. I learned that airsoft bb's do a wonderful job of clogging the trap.

Thanks for your help. You made it easy.

My washer doesn't drain, i have cleaned everything you mentioned, but it still doesn't work, i removed the pump, i spinned the impeller, it doesn't run well, it runs, but i can feel some resistant inside the pump, maybe the pump is damaged, but it still spins, when i put it back, i can hear the noise,no water comes out.

Great walk thur,simple and to the point. Checking and cleaning the access should be listed as regular scheduled maintenance.
Thanks a lot....... : - )

Guru, you rock! Totally fixed my own machine for free! Sears wanted $160 just to come out and look at it! Thanks man!

Thank you so much. I thought I would have to pay hundreds of dollars and I learned a little about my appliance. Also it save me time waiting for someone to service my appliance. This site is fabulous!

If you were here, I would HAVE to kiss you! God Bless You! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Yuck! I won't gross you out with what all I found in the trap, except that I have no idea who's watch was stuck in there. YOU fixed my washer and you saved me wad of cash! Thank you so very much!

Bravo! Great advice and a easy fix to a BIG problem....at least my wife thought it was a BIG problem. Thank You!

Worked like a charm. The smelll was wretched - like a small dead animal - but worse. Lots of change.

The screwdriver used in this application is also the tool needed to disassemble the sprinker heads in the dishwasher. Every kitchen needs one of these tools to keep with the disposal wrench.

Easy chore for even an old lady.

Excellent - and simple instructions that should be part of the damn manual.

Who knew that THAT is where socks go when they seem to mysteriously disappear in the laundry!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!! This worked perfectly. Found lots of coins, my son's guitar picks, a needle to inflate soccer balls, hair scrunchies, and the thing that was creating the most havoc was a little fabric bag by Oakley to hold sunglasses. It was fully inflated with water and looked at first like a stuffed animal.
Didn't have a shopvac, but held a huge popcorn bowl under the access opening and let water slowly trickle out. When bowl was full I resealed access cover, dumped water and repeated process. Not a drop of water got on anything!
Only problem I had with my machine was that I couldn't do the diagnostics check. I was able to set, DRAIN SPIN, and then NO SPIN, but my machine doesn't have an OPTIONS button so I had nothing to push 4 times. Tried pushing other buttons, but nothing worked. Luckily, I closed everything up, ran the machine, and it works perfectly!!!
Thanks again. You are a lifesaver!!

Excellent solution. Worked for me as well. My trap was clogged with a half dozen color catcher sheets. After unplugging, I closed it all up, plugged in the machine, and it works fine. Only other thing to add is that inside the front panel under the door are instructions to the repair guys as to what the error codes mean. Why this is not in the manual is beyond me. Nor is it clear why they don't tell you that instructions are included there. Thanks to jsrock for posting this super helpful info!

Great advice for the F2 error code on the Duet Whirlpool washer. We followed the directions and used our Shop Vac with the nozzle to **** more debris out of the black flexible drain hose. By squeezing the hose with your hand and using the ShopVac to **** out the debris we were able to dislodge chunks of a carpenter's pencil, $2.86 in coins and a button. The advice to use a garbage bag to to catch the water was a great piece of advice. Our washer was locked so we had no way of emptying the drum before we opened the drain access. We had a lot of water in the drum.Thanks!

Thank you SO MUCH for this information!!!!!  I was able to follow your detailed instructions and it solved my washer problem.  You saved me the $65.00 service call and any other fees they may have added.

Thanks for the detailed instructions. Very helpful. $1.87 in change,8 bobby pins, 2-hair thingies and lint.

Ok, I followed the steps and found in the plastic filter a sock, pen, two hair pins, two plastic tooth picks, two hair bands, a plastic nickel size disc and a bunch of lint. I am running a load of clothes and so far so good. The pump is still very noisy so maybe because the (F2) has been off and on for two years, it might have worn the pump out. Now I know what to look for now. Thanks!!!

Ok followed directions so far so good and did not have to tilt because ours are stacked. Found Zicam stick, lint, a spring, two dimes and a nickle. Thanks!

I went and bought a new pump and installed.  Still seem to be getting the FO2 or SUDS.  Is there anything else I should check?  Is there something else that could be blocking the water?  This washer has always seemed to make clothes smell moldy etc.  Would love thoughts....repair man coming tomorrow and I want to avoid it if i can.

I checked my filter and could not find anything significant. I lookd into the black hose and only a bit of scum that I cleaned out. However at the top of the black hose I felt something that feels like plastic ball. Is there suppose to be anything there.( possibly to prevent larger objects from gettting to the filter. I would not think so. )

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! What a simple task, unfortunately I did not see these directions until I had already popped the bottom panel off and just destroyed it!!!! I did not know about the three screws and assumed it just popped out. What a dummy. I guess I'll be ordering a new bottom piece and reinstalling but pump and filter are fine. A small wrench, about .42 cents, q-tips & lint were our culprits.

Saved me big buck$ too. Thanks. 30 minutes later the sock is pulled out of the pump and the drain works fine. Thanks again!!!!

Thanks jsrock516,
Following your instructions, I have fixed our Kenmore washer with a F02 failure code. A small face towel was in the ACCESS. Now the washer is working great. Great instructions.
Harkpau

Thank you so much. Was going to have to wait 6 days for a repairman. Read this and my washer works like new now. Baby socks! Go figure...

Four socks! Four 2-year old child socks! That's what I found inside the drainage valve blocking the flow. Got that out of there, put it back together - good as new!

WHOOOOOO! NO SERVICE CALL!

GREAT ARTICLE!

Had an F21 error, I followed the directions... used my shop vac to remove the water from the but, took the lower cover off. loosened the trap cover slightly, used my shop vac to **** the water out of the trap as it leaked around the cover NOT A BIT OF WATER ON THE FLOOR.

Nothing in the trap but TA DA! TWO BALLOONS IN THE INTAKE FOR THE PUMP MOTOR LEFT FROM MY SON'S PANTS POCKET!

Hooked the balloons with a bent piece of 12ga wire and out they came. Re-installed the trap cover and lower cover and IT IS WORKING GREAT!

This page saved me at least $200 for a repair visit! THANKS SO MUCH!

I had a lots of lint, hair, bottle cap, stones, jewelry, coins, broken Christmas ornament, several straight pins? and even a panyliner in the trap! My machine does not have "Option" button so I hint Drain and Spin...so far so good ! Thanks !!!

Great free advice.. Found 4 tweezers $2.00 in coins and socks. I wish this was in the troubleshooting manual.. Thanks for saving me $200. My washer is working finallly after two weeks of messing around. I had gone as far as cutting of a piece of my drain hose. You made me a life member

Thank you very much. My washer is working now. Your instructions were very clear. I cant believe i did it. I had coins a tooth pick and beads in my trap and a sock in my hose leading to the trap. I did-nt even know there was a trap.

90 cents, a sock, an inkpen, and a while bunch of lint later...my washer is working again!!!  Thank you SOOOOOO much!

Thank you so much. Why couldn't Sears just tell you to clean out the pump on a regular basis - simple maintenance. Now htat i think about it, the washer has been draining slow for months. I could not believe what we pulled out of the filter. What a great website!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this advice!!! When my washer wouldn't drain the first thing my husband said was we had to call someone out in the morning. I didn't want to spend the time or the money to do that so I looked online and found your advice. I am so glad I did!!! My husband did just as you said and it worked the first time! You saved us time and money and we are grateful! Thanks again!!
(I had gunky hair and 1 hairband in mine)

2 hair bands, a ring and a toy. When I first tried it, it still didn't drain. The second and third time worked. I'm getting ready to put it back together. Thanks!

Thank YOU!

Thank you so much! It worked - there were 3 socks in the trap clogging the drain!

you are a god!!!  thank you!!

yes! thank you so much, the pump basket (the bit knob you turn open) had a rock in it (from our kid's pocket!). Once removed the machine worked fine; and $!25 service call saved! Do this before calling sears!

Thank You, it worked perfectly.

Hi! Thx for the tip! This was so helpful. My only issue was that my model didn't give me the diagnostics mode as directions explained. I was able to run a rinse/drain cycle for the fill-time, then switch to the spin/drain cycle to make sure all was working. Thx. You're a life saver. Fred

Thank you! thank you! thank you! We got it done!--- it was so simple that even i could do it : ) In my case, there was only one screw rather than 3.... the only cost i had was for the screwdriver, as it was the torque type-- (torx?)..... just think of how much was saved.... and this is a single mom here, never done anything like this-- wow, so rewarding (though really, it was so simple, wasn't it?).... what a big difference it made just to remove a tooth pick, penny, and a few other little what nots and gunk, not much in there, but as soon as i pressed rinse drain, that baby started turnin' again! thank you mr. jsrock... and especially, thank you Jesus! (mother of 5 in IL....)

Thanks so much for posting this tip! It's very annoying that the user guide doesn't have this as an obvious solution to a drain problem.

In our case, we found a sock, two straps from my daughter's dress that had disappeared, 2 quarters, 2 nickels, 4 dimes, 1 penny, various beads & jewels from my daughters' play things, hair clips, hair bands, and a bunch of hair and dirt. Amazing...

Excellent fix!

I printed your instructions and was able to easily follow them completely. Didn't find much in the trap but it was pretty nasty with gunk. Washer seems to be working just fine now.

Thanks a ton!

Also, there is a product called Affresh that is supposed to take care of moldy washer tub smell and some of the build up of left over soap/fabric softener.

How do I unlock the door to get the wet clothes out?

This is a great solution.  Our washer would take forever to finish the last minute or two of the cycle.  I kept spinning and would take up to an hour or more, sometimes we'd just cancel the cycle.  I followed the instructions, and it worked like a charm.  One trick I did was I put the hose of the wet vac right on the pump drain as I twisted it to open.  Water would flow out slowly from the bottom and into my wet vac.  It took maybe 10 minutes to drain before no water came out anymore.  Then popped out the drain catch and found my 6month old's sock, super crusty from soap residue blocking the catch.  I removed it, cleaned out some lint, and put it back as indicated in the instructions.  Ran the diags, good to go.  Thanks alot !!

Thanks so much. It took all of 5 minutes. Turns out 11 finish nails, a broken lighter, a mower key, 52 cents and 2 children s socks can really clog up a washing machine.

thanks sooooooooooooo much! you were right on with EVERY DETAIL of the process!!

Thank you!  Thank you!  The pump was clogged with a sock.  It was very easy to do, and saved me from paying Sears, not to mention going a week without my washer! MUAH!!

Thank you so much! not only was I able to fix my washer but it was $15 dollars that was clogging up the drain!!