Washer Will Not Drain or Spin: A Diagnostic Walk-Through

This is one of the easier appliance failures to self-diagnose, and one of the most rewarding when you fix it yourself. We see a lot of customers call after they have already done the filter check and ruled it out. That tells us we need to come run a pump test. Here is the order we actually work through.

Step 1: Check the drain pump filter

Almost every front-load washer (LG, Samsung, Bosch, Whirlpool Duet, Maytag Maxima, GE) has a small access panel at the bottom front of the machine, typically lower right. Open the panel and you will see a small drain hose and a circular filter cap.

1. Lay a towel on the floor underneath. Water will come out.
2. If your machine has the small drain hose, pull it out and direct it into a shallow pan to drain residual water.
3. Unscrew the filter cap counter-clockwise slowly. Water will continue to drain.
4. Pull the filter out. You will likely find a sock, a hair tie, a button, a coin, or a buildup of lint and pet hair.
5. Clean the filter under tap water. Check the housing behind it for foreign objects.
6. Screw the filter back in, replace the drain hose, close the panel.
7. Run a drain or spin cycle to test.

If that fixed it, you are done. If not, move to step 2.

Step 2: Check the drain hose at the back

The drain hose runs from the bottom of the washer up the back and into a standpipe or sink. Two failure modes here: the hose is kinked behind the machine (pull the washer out and inspect) or the hose is sitting too low in the standpipe (must rise above the bottom of the tub to prevent siphoning). Fix either and test again.

Step 3: Test the drain pump itself

If the filter is clean and the hose is fine, the pump motor is suspect. With the front panel off, you can see the pump. Listen for it running during a drain cycle. If it hums but does not pump, the impeller is jammed or the motor is dying. If it is silent, the motor or its harness is dead.

We replace the pump as a unit. LG, Samsung and Bosch pumps are different part numbers and we stock all three.

Step 4: Check the lid lock or door lock

If a washer thinks the door is open, it will not drain or spin. Lid locks fail open or closed; either fails the safety check. We test with a multimeter at the lock terminals. Top-loaders with electronic lid locks and front-loaders both have similar fail patterns.

Step 5: Pressure sensor

The pressure sensor tells the control board how much water is in the tub. If it reports "still full" when the tub is actually empty, the board will not advance to spin. The sensor sits at the top of the tub, connected by a small tube. Tube clogs and sensor failures are both possible.

Step 6: Control board

Last suspect. If everything above tests good and the washer still will not advance, the board is the culprit. We replace as a last resort because the part is expensive and the failure is rare.

Most common error codes you will see during a drain failure

Related

For full washer service details, see our washer repair page. For LG-specific code notes, the LG brand page goes deeper. For Whirlpool and Maytag the Whirlpool and Maytag pages have the cross-platform notes.