If you have a washing machine that is not pumping out the water and stuck full of water – don’t start here. This is the final advice if you’ve tried all the advice on my article won’t drain water. However, if you can hear or see that the pump is running, but water still isn’t being pumped out and you can’t find a blockage – then continue with this article.
Pump has no blockages, filter is clear, and it runs but it still won’t drain water
So if your situation is that no water is being pumped out, but the pump is apparently running, and you’ve checked the pump and filter for blockages and found nothing here are the possible explanations..
There is a blockage but you just haven’t found it
Small objects may not be noticed. They could be underneath the impeller, wrapped round the impeller or stuck inside the pump chamber out of sight.
An elastic band or elastic from a hair bobble, a small piece of torn strap from a bra, a large piece of grit or stone, a small screw, a piece of plastic etc. items like these and other similar obstructions could all cause the impeller to slow down and not be capable of creating the vortex required to force out the water. Rubber bands and similar can wrap around the impeller restricting its movement.
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Other items could get trapped underneath the impeller out of sight and also restrict its movement. In all these cases it should be detectable by trying to turn the impeller with a finger or screwdriver (with the machine unplugged of course!). It should move freely.
However, some impellers may feel like there’s a small resistance which when overcome allows the impeller to jump 180 degrees round. Then another small resistance needs overcoming before it jumps round again. Without knowing how free an impeller should be it’s hard to diagnose but if one is quite tight all the way round it is probably obstructed.
A button of a specific size could be small enough to get through the pump filter and even past the impeller, but then get jammed inside the pump outlet chamber where the drain hose attaches to. This would be invisible unless the drain hose is removed and you look into it.
Another common blockage here that can remain undetected is a small piece of a bra wire that got through into the pump outlet chamber and has jammed inside. Subsequently most of the fluff and threads that would normally pump away can get snagged on it and build up into a blockage.
There is a blockage in the drain hose or connection under the sink
A button of a specific size could be small enough to get past the pump and into the drain hose, but be too large to pass through the drain hose or through the plastic spout on the u-bend that the drain hose may be connected to.This could completely stop water from being pumped out, or it could even manifest as an intermittent fault.
I’ve seen several cases where a button is jammed halfway up inside a drain hose or in the opening of the plastic spout of the u-bend connection but it spins round and acts like a butterfly valve. When swivelled round one way water can get past, but then the water flow can swivel it round again so that it stops the water flow. To check for this you’d need to disconnect the drain hose from the u-bend and examine the end of the drain hose and inside the spout itself to check for blockages.
If necessary, the drain hose can also be taken off the machine to see if you can detect any obstruction. I’ve managed to clear some large obstructions by shoving the end of the drain hose onto the cold tap at the sink and turning on the water. Be careful though, you can easily end up spraying water everywhere. I use a large dishcloth over the hose and hold on tight. If there’s no blockage though or it’s something that’s swivelled round and not closing off the flow you shouldn’t feel much pressure.
The pump itself is faulty
If the impeller is broken it could be spinning on the shaft. In other words although the pump rotor is spinning it is not turning the impeller that forces the water out or due to slippage on the shaft it is not turning fast enough.
The pump could sound like it’s running but in fact it is not revolving at speed inside, however, I would expect it to sound different to normal.
It’s even possible for the pump to be oscillating instead of revolving because of a fault causing it not to spin properly. You would have to use your imagination to find out if either of these are the case. It’s relatively rare.
Watch out if your problem has only occurred after connecting the washing machine to new plumbing after moving house or after someone has put new plumbing in your current house and after connecting the washing machine it will not drain when it did before – Watch out for the blanking piece in new plumbing installations – particularly at new houses
This one is likely to be rare, but worth mentioning. I’ve recently had email contact from Michael, who had a strange fault where he could find no blockages, the pump was running, and it initially pumped a little water out then stopped.
After some struggle and determined investigation he eventually discovered that one of the suspension springs on his Hotpoint Aquarius washing machine had broken (under the lid).
This had caused the main drum to drop, which squashed the sump hose (the main hose leading from the bottom of the tub to the pump) causing it to kink. When he replaced the spring, the tub was held in its proper position and released the pressure on the sump hose allowing it to pump out properly again.
Related pump troubleshooting advice:
- Washing machine won’t empty water (From DIY repair help common washing machine problems)
- How do I clean my pump filter – where is the pump filter?
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Hello Stacy, just check that it isn’t anything to do with unbalanced loads which will stop it doing a full spin won’t spin small loads
Also make sure no option buttons limiting spin speed have accidentally been selected and that the wash cycle chosen definitely should do a full spin. After that you may need an engineer.
hey Andy, working on my washer and I suspect the pump. The washer will drain completely intermittently, or it may begin to drain and quit, or it will not do anything. When it starts to drain and quits, it typically makes a clicking/grinding noise. Sometimes when it doesn’t drain it just makes that clicking/grinding noise, sometimes it sits silently doing nothing.
I’ve checked all hoses and basin. I’ve disassembled the pump and cleaned it out, seemed to work properly.
I switched my focus to the pressure switch where I verified the hose to the basin was clear. Then I tested the switch with a multi-meter where I checked the two end connectors and the multi-meter read almost zero, testing the middle and outside connector remained at 1 even when air was blown into the switch. I think that is the opposite of how it is supposed to behave, but haven’t been able to confirm.
Any guidance?
I obviously can’t say for sure, but it reminds me of an obstruction intermittently getting into the pump. Plastic items can do that. They float about and get sucked into the pump intermittently where they grind against the impeller. They can jam it or slow it down. When you tilt the washer back or lay it down and take off the hoses there’s nothing there. Sometimes the obstruction goes somewhere out of the way and doesn’t cause a problem for a wash or two. I had many cases where it was a battle to get them because when I waited for the grinding noise and unplugged the machine it somehow floated back up into the drum.
It may not be that at all, but something to ponder about. The only other alternative is a faulty pump. Pressure system can’t cause the pump to make noises.
I am intermittently getting an OE code on my washer. Sometimes it works fine and then about once every 5 loads it gets to where it should drain and it just stops and starts draining. In between the stopping and starting there is eithers a humming noise or total silence. Sometimes it will finally drain enough to spin and other times I have to drain it out the front to get it to spin. We have taken it apart 2 times and pulled out and checked all the hoses and the pump but haven’t found anything. Yesterday, I had to drain it manually on the last spin. When I went to remove the clothes, they were still soaking wet and there was water that had backed up into the cups where you put in the detergent and fabric softener. Since the pump seems to be just turning on and off sporadically, could the problem be caused by a faulty water pressure switch?
If it’s humming when the pump should be running the pump is likely to be blocked or jammed either because of an obstruction or because it’s faulty. If you can’t find an obstruction the suspect would be the pump. A fault on the pressure system would cause the pump to not get activated so no humming sound.
I have a Whirlpool Gold washing machine.after the wash cycle the machine usually spins and drains while at the same time putting some water back into the tub.now the pump runs and you can still see water coming into the tub area but this machine does not drain. all the hoses are clear the pump seems to be working fine because it still moving water could it be a butterfly valve? there’s a section that has three hoses coming into one area one from the pump 1 to the drain and one that squirts back into the tub.
Hello Mitch. If water is pumped back into the drum it’s usually a system to aid washing with less water. Many washing machines use it these days but as far as I know they always have a separate wash pump. There should be a pump called a recirculation pump which pumps the water back into the drum in order to shower the laundry and a separate pump for draining. I’m just wondering if this is the case in your washing machine your drain pump maybe blocked or have a fault but you are thinking it is still running because water is pumping into the drum?
Hello,
Our washer drain pump hums has no blockages. I replaced the pump, but the new one does the same thing. We have been using the washer by manually dropping the hose into the floor drain as all other cycles function fine. Is their a relay or capacitor that modifies the current before it gets to the drain motor which only serves the drain motor? If so, the old pump was likely fine as well. The model I have has a small fan on the opposite end of the motor spindle. I tried spinning this with my fingers to see if would get the thing going, but no luck. It does spin freely and there appear to be no blockages.The machine is a Daewoo DWF 1068p. thanks for any thoughts you might have.
Thanks for this article. I was just searching for an engineer when I came across this and decided to have another look at the machine. In the end it was a button stuck in the pump which came out when blowing into the draining hose. Saved me time and money, many thanks!
Thanks gk.
Dan, You need to see if the fan is spinning when it is pumping out. If it is, then the pump is working and the fact that you replaced it shows it’s not the pump. In such circumstance the only other explanation is a blockage somewhere unless by any chance there is a voltage issue but I suspect it’s a non UK machine? and I don’t repair those top loaders, so couldn’t say for certain if there could be a voltage supply issue. It certainly wouldn’t be anything I would consider on a UK front loading machine.