Kitchen appliances
Washing Machine Not Draining? 7 Causes and When to Call a Repair Engineer
A washing machine not draining is one of the most common faults, and usually one of the least serious. Water in the drum means something is stopping the pump, most often a coin or a hair grip in the washing machine pump filter. Here are the seven causes in the order we check them, from fixes at the machine to jobs for an engineer.
In short: Most cases of a washing machine not draining are a blocked pump filter, a kinked hose or a blocked sink waste, all easy to check yourself. A clear filter with a silent or jammed pump means a fault inside the machine that needs an engineer. Never force a locked door: drain the water first and it will release.
Before you start: switch off at the socket or fused spur before touching the filter, hoses or the back of the machine, and let hot water cool. Have old towels and a shallow tray ready.
Washing machine not draining at the end of the cycle
The cycle has finished, or stopped with a drain error, and the clothes are sitting in water.
By far the most common cause is the pump filter, the trap at the bottom front that catches coins, hair grips and fluff until it is packed solid.
Quick check: look low on the front for a small flap or round cap, then see the fix below.
Humming or buzzing but the water stays
At the drain stage the pump hums, but the water does not move.
Something has got past the filter and jammed the impeller, or the impeller has worn so the motor turns without moving water: bra wires and toothpicks, usually.
Quick check: with the filter out, remove anything caught and turn the impeller by finger. Still stuck, or loose, means a new pump.
Drains slowly or stops part way through
It drains far slower than it used to, or stops with water left and shows an error.
A partial blockage: fluff in the filter, sludge in the drain hose, or the hose kinked behind a machine pushed back hard.
Quick check: pull the machine out and follow the hose to the sink waste. Any tight bend is the problem.
Sink gurgles or fills when the machine drains
As the machine pumps out, the sink gurgles, fills or backs up.
The machine is fine: the waste pipe it shares with the sink is blocked with grease and fluff, so water comes back up.
Quick check: run the sink tap hard for a minute. Slow to clear means the waste pipe, not the machine.
Stopped full of water with no error and no noise
It has stopped quietly with water in, no fault code, lights on, as if waiting.
It is waiting. A rinse hold or anti crease option keeps the last rinse water in until you choose drain or spin, and it gets pressed by accident.
Quick check: look for a rinse hold or anti crease light, then select drain and press start.
Filter is clean but it still will not drain
Filter clean, hose free, sink draining, and the machine still stops with water in.
The blockage is before the filter, in the sump hose between drum and pump, where socks lodge. Clearing it means tipping the machine back: an engineer job.
Quick check: with the filter out, shine a torch into the housing. Clear and free means stop and book.
No pump noise at all at the drain stage
When it should pump out, nothing happens: no hum, no movement, then an error.
The pump has failed, or the control board is not switching it on. An engineer tests both with a meter and fits a new pump if that is what it needs.
Quick check: listen at the drain stage. Silence with a clean filter and a free impeller means book.
Found yours? The fix is below. Rather not empty a full drum? Book a repair and we will do it.
How to fix a washing machine not draining: clean the pump filter
Cleaning the pump filter clears the most common cause of a washing machine not draining, and needs only a tray, towels and a torch.
- Switch off. Turn off at the socket or fused spur, let hot water cool and lay towels in front of the machine.
- Find the filter. Usually behind a small flap or round cap at the bottom front, sometimes behind the kick plate. A few machines have none you can reach: an engineer job.
- Drain the excess. Use the short stoppered hose beside the filter, if there is one, to empty the drum into the tray. No hose? Loosen the filter a quarter turn so water trickles out, then tighten, empty and repeat.
- Remove the filter. Unscrew it anticlockwise and pull it out. Some have a clip or screw to release first, or a child safe cap that needs pushing in as you turn.
- Clear and check. Pull out the coins, grips and fluff, then rinse the filter under a warm tap. Shine a torch into the housing, turn the impeller by finger and remove anything caught; stuck or loose means stop and book.
- Refit and test. Screw the filter back in clockwise until firm, refit the hose and close the flap. Run a rinse and spin with the drum empty and watch for drips.
How often to clean a washing machine pump filter
Wash cool, then run one hot empty wash a month. Lower temperatures and full loads cut energy use, as the Energy Saving Trust explains, but a cool wash never shifts the sludge in the sump and pump. A hot empty wash a month breaks it down; clean the filter the same day.
Washing machine faults that only look like a drain problem
If the water goes but the machine still misbehaves, the fault is elsewhere, and each is an ordinary repair: as Recycle Your Electricals points out, a quick fix is often all a machine needs, and cheaper than replacing it.
- Motor, brushes or beltDrum empties but the clothes come out soaking: a spin fault.
- Door interlockWater gone but the door stays locked: the interlock.
- HeaterCycle stalls with cold water in: it is waiting for a temperature it cannot reach.
- Drain hose fitted too lowFills then drains straight away: water is siphoning out and the hose needs a high loop.
Worth repairing
A new drain pump costs a fraction of a new machine, and pumps, hoses and filters are widely stocked: UK ecodesign rules oblige manufacturers to keep them available to repairers for at least ten years after a model is last sold. Nothing goes ahead without your say so: you approve any parts before we fit them.
Washing machine drain questions
What are the most common washing machine faults?
Not draining, not spinning, leaking, noisy on spin, not heating and a door that will not open. Nearly all come down to one wearing part or a blockage, and are worth repairing.
Why is my washing machine not draining?
Usually a pump filter blocked with coins, grips or fluff, then a kinked hose, a blocked sink waste or a rinse hold setting pressed by mistake. If all are clear, the pump or sump hose is at fault: an engineer job.
Where is the washing machine pump filter?
Behind a small flap or round cover at the bottom front on most machines, sometimes behind the kick plate, and it unscrews anticlockwise. A few have no reachable filter and need an engineer.
How do I open the door when the drum is full of water?
Do not force it. Drain the water through the emergency hose or the filter, then give the interlock a couple of minutes to release. Still locked with the drum empty means the interlock has failed.
When should I call an engineer for a drain fault?
When the filter is clean, the hose runs free and the sink drains, but it still will not empty. A silent, jammed or intermittent pump, or a sump hose blockage, needs the machine opened up.