I have a General Electric washing machine that will not go into spin cycle or drain water from the tub.

The washing machine is a very gently used three year old appliance. It has been in use for only two years of its life.

I am pretty stumped with this problem. When the wash cycle ends, the machine will sit and make a 'clicking' sound and will not go into rinse mode. When the dial is manually set at rinse, the machine will agitate, and then when ready to pump the waste water from the tub, will only make a 'humm' sound. The machine will not go into spin cycle either. Currently, the tub is full of water.

Where do I begin trouble shooting?

How do I get the waste water out of the tub so I can begin to work on the mashine?

The machine does not appear to have a removable back panel...does the machine have to have the bottom panel removed to work on it?

Thank you so much for your help!!!!!!!

-- clove (clovis97@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002

Answers

Ok-to get the water out of the tub, use a clean(new) keroscene pumper thinginy-the little hand held squeeze pump you use to fill a keroscene heater. (ok-you mechanical vocabulary types in the back of the room can stop laughing now.) These are cheap-couple of bucks or so, and I use one all the time to get water out of the bath-tub (don't ask)

As to the rest of your question-I havn't a clue-somebody else needs to jump in here.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

There is a good chance you have a sock stuck in the pump, the clicking is the relay trying to start a jamed impeller. Hand bail the water then pull the washer out from the wall, some form of access will become obevious. Take loose the drain hose, fish out the blockage and reassemble, run a complete cycle to be sure before putting it back. The black burnt stuff you will find is scorched lint and dust that was attracted by the motors magnetic field, use a vacuum or compressed air to remove it. Think happy suds!

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), March 19, 2002.

I had one that did that,, transmission went out on it,,replacement cost of as cheap as gettting an used appliance

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 19, 2002.

I'd vote for a sock blocking the pump. Depending on where the washer is located you may be able to use a garden hose to siphon the water out.

If you have a plastic hose it may want to float so you may have to use something to weight the intake end. Coil the hose into the tub so the water drives all the air out. Once you have the hose completely filled with water, crimp or block the outlet end and gradually pull the hose out to where you can release the water. As long as the outlet is lower than the inlet, the siphon will work.

After draining the water look at the front of the control console and see if there's a screw in each corner. Some washers have a console that's hinged at the back and swivels up and back after removing the two screws in the front. If that's the situation, look at the sheet metal on the sides and front. If it's continous, it probably hinges at the front and tilts towards the front once the screws under the console are removed.

Good luck

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), March 19, 2002.

Clicking noise makes me think you have the problem we had last week.

Turns out the tub stopped turning because a whole bunch of long nails were stuck in there after being left in a pants pocket. It was easily fixed. The repairman said the newer machines are designed so this doesn't happen (as often?) Also, the newer machines have solved the stuck sock thing.

Also--you can get a hand pump at the tropical fish dept (or camping dept--if you are looking for the kerosene one) at Walmart. Alternatively, you could siphon it out with a hose (how dirty were those clothes?)Good luck!

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

Ann,

We had the exact same thing happen last week. Guess the menfolk need to get better at emptying our pockets?

Chuck

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), March 19, 2002.

Another way to drain something using a hose is to put the end of the hose into the water and make sure it stays submerged. Connect the other end to a faucet. Turn the faucet on long enough to fill the hose (still making sure the submerged end stays that way). Turn the faucet off and disconnect the hose as quickly as possible, and lay it down right away. As mentioned above the drain end must be kept lower than the end in the tub, but since it will be outside this isn't usually a problem.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), March 19, 2002.

hey chuck,,we can always stop working on the "honeydo" lists,,

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 19, 2002.

I've had this with a washing machine before. It sounds like the timer has gone out. If you can push it in and turn it manually for each setting then the timer is not working. Susan

-- Susan (slkolb34@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

Ha ha Chuck--I see you read between the lines. Since I can't build like the menfolks can--it sure is important to keep quiet when these things happen so my building gets done:)

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

This is just a help on siphoning. Lay your hose as you wish, always off level,hold above tub,step on hose on floor, fill hose from filler to floor, place filler end in tub and take your foot off of hose, the siphon will start by itself. Good luck! bill

-- bill szallThis (billisaszall@earthlink.net), March 19, 2002.

Do you by any chance wash bathroom rugs (rubber backed) in the washer? Just last week a friend of mine had a problem similar to yours - and she found out the back of the machine was filled with little pieces of rubber from the backing of the rugs. IT was blocking everything up. HEr husband was able to remove the back of the machine and all the gunk.

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

With our above mentioned problem similar to yours, I would have to manually move the dial from the regular spin cycle to the delicate spin cycle to get the machine to spin out. My sister-in-law is still using this machine that way. So, Chuck did empty his pocket to get me a new one. Thanks babe!

-- wife of chuck in md (connie@mission4me.com), March 20, 2002.

sounds like the selenoid to engage spin cycle found next to transmission there are 2 one for spin one for agitate they can only be seen from under side of machine empty machine you may have lost cutter-pin on selenoid or def. selenoid of bad wire

-- nick (ray_@sympatic.ca), March 21, 2002.