Drain Pump with Pulley

I found the water pump bearings were going bad from humidity. I replaced the pump with a new one and it runs quiet again.

First unplug the washer for the electrical outlet. You will need to tip the washer back to get to the bottom of the machine. There you will see the belt that drives the transmission and the water pump from the motor. Remove the belt and set it to the side. Then you will need to gain access to the top side of the machine by gently using a screwdriver to pry the front of the top up off the front panel on both sides then hinge it back out of the way. Use a nut driver to remove the two screws on the inside edge of the front panel and remove the front panel. Once the front panel is off you will see the water pump on the right hand side as you face the front of the machine. Remove the hose clamp on the water pump with the flat head screw driver or nut driver and use a pair of pliers to remove the compression clip on the water pump. Remove the 4 bolts holding the water pump in place. Reverse the entire process to put it back together. This job was very easy and I was only without a washer for 2 days because of partselect.com.

The pump was very easy to replace (3) screws, easy to reach with front panel off. (Less than 5 minut job. The brake assembly and thrust bearing was a little harder to do, but not bad at all. I found it best to flip the unit upside down to do the brake assembly. Replaced #10-24 x 1/2" screws with 2" long ones. Remember to do this (1) at a time, then back all (6) off a little at a time to release tesion on the 200lb spring. Swap out parts and tighten back down with 2" screws and then swap them back out for the 1/2" ones (1) at a time. I tipped the unit back on its side to install the bearing & pully kit. This takes some of the weight off of the main shaft allowing you to insert the spacers and split ring. The replacement parts seem to be of eqal or better quality to the originals. Machine runs quiet and smooth.

..First I sought the source of the water leak, by removing the louvered panel on the rear (4 nut headed screws hold it in place) and observed for water leaks during a wash cycle. This required that I re-position the washer and route the fill and drain hoses in order to stand behind the washer during its cycle to observe through the rear panel opening.

...There was no visible leakage of any of the hoses or connections but I could see the water puddle on the floor was coming from under the water pump located in the front corner.

...I wasn't able to peel the sides off the washer. I disconnected the rear hoses for hot and cold water and the drain hose. I removed the plate on the rear that orients the drain hose.

...I tilted the washer 90 degrees to its front using 2 x 4's to cushion the front so the machine would not be scratched.

....I removed the drive belt underneath. It was easy to remove by hand and did not require loosening screws on any of the pulleys.

...I disconnected the black exhaust hose from the tub with a screw driver and the white drain outlet hose with water pump pliers.

...I then reached into the front corner of the machine through the opening in the back and removed the water pump which is held in place by 3 nut head screws. I used a ratchet set to do this.

...I observed the water pump which is almost all molded plastic. The bushing area in the center attached to the impeller appeared to be wet and rusted. I assumed this to be the source of the water leak. I found the replacement on line at PartSelect site and ordered it. It was much cheaper at PartSelect then other sites.

....When the replacement pump arrived 2 days later , I compared it to the pump I removed. It matched physically including the pulley so then I installed it and re-assembled the washing machine in the reverse order from disassembly.

...I left the louvered panel off and observed the water flow for leaks during the first wash after re-assembly.

...There were no internal leaks and no puddling on the floor, so I replaced the louvered panel and put the washing machine back in place.

The water pump was a bit noisy during the 1st load
but otherwise the machine ran well. After the 1st load the pump is quiet and the machine runs just as it did before the puddling occurred. It is fine.

After having done this I can say, it was uncomfortable and cramped to reach in through the rear panel opening to remove and replace the water pump. But I could not find a way to lift the top of the machine easily so I could removed the side panels to have better access to the water pump and hoses. If anyone knows a way to do that without unplugging and removing the electronics panel, that would be useful information. Please post it.

It can be done the way I described here because I did it, but that may not be the easiest way if the side panels can be easily removed it would probably be an easier repair.

The washer (bought 9 years ago) suddenly started squealing (metal on metal sound) during the spin cycle. After turning the washing machine off and unplugging it, the washer was tipped back and propped up on a milk crate to see the belt on the bottom. There was some rubber dust from the belt, so something had seized-up to some degree. The belt was removed and each pulley was tested to see if it made any noise. Upon spinning the pulley of the water pump a scraping sound was heard. Definitely not as loud as when the washer was on, but it probably would have been if it was spinning faster.

The washer was put upright again and the lid taped to the top to secure it before lifting the top. The top was opened by sliding a putty knife between the top and front panal near the left and right corners. There are two metal clasps that will release the top with gentle pressure, do not pry on the top. The top was lifted up and set back gently so as not to bend or break the hinges. There are two small screws on the upper inner right and left side of the front panel that were removed using a nut driver in order to remove the front panel.

With the front panel removed the water pump was visible in the front, lower left hand corner on the base. The two hoses were removed from the pump by moving the hose clamps up the hose, using pliers to loosen the clamps and then pulling off the hoses with a slight twisting back and forth. I put a few towels around the pump before removal to soak up the water that came out. The three bolts holding the pump in place were removed using a socket wrench and the pump removed.

The new pump was replaced, hoses were put back on, front panel replaced and the top relatch. The washer was tipped back again to get to the bottom to put on the new belt.

That was all. It worked great.

Notes:
1) Several people had mentioned having similar problems with the water pump and had observed a metal ring that had been pushed up where the pulley is connected to the shaft. I also observed this on the sqealing pump. The metal ring seem to work its way out and scrape on the metal mounting plate on the bottom of the pump. So if you see this ring, it is probably the pump.

2)I cleaned the pulleys since there was some rubber dust on them. Also you can remove the belt easily by pulling it slightly off the large pulley and then turning it off. When putting the belt back on, put it around the small pulleys first and then start it on the large pulley and turn it onto the large pulley. More leverage with the large pulley.

Unplugged Machine, Turned Off Water, Disconnected water and drain hoses. Let water run from hoses ino bucket.
Removed back plate where drain hose goes into back of machine. Used pliers to close the clamp holding to drain hose to remove it. I stuffed the exposed water pump opening with towels to keep water from spilling.
At this point I leaned the machine over on its front so the back of the machine was facing skyward. I placed a towel over the motor in case water spilled it would not get on the electrical components. I removed the belt on the bottom of the machine from the water pumps pully. I then removed the three screws mounting the pump to the bottom of the machine. I disconnected the other hose from the water pump that comes from the wash tank with the pliers. Once disconnected I stuffed the ends of both with towels to keep water from leaking out.
I took the new pump and connected the hose from the washer tub with pliers, mounted the pump back to the bottom of the tub with the three screws, replaced the belt, and reconnected the drain hose, and took the towel off the motor. I then replaced the back plate and set the machine upright. I connected all the hoses back up and plugged it in. It worked great. If you spill water on the motor you can dry it with a hair dryer.

I used a putty knife to disengage the clips that attach the top of the washer to the front panel. The top will lay back without having to hold it however, I didn't trust it to stay up on it's own so I used a bungy cord and straped it onto a wire rack that hangs on the wall above my washer. Next I removed the two screws, one on each side, located on the inside of the front panel near the top of it. Then I gently pulled the front panel towards myself so that I could lift it off of the clips located at the bottom of the panel. The pump assembly is located at the front right corner inside of the washer. I disconnected the two hoses that run to the pump assembly and using my ratchet, I removed the 3 screws that hold the pump assembly in place. There is a belt on the bottom of the washer that goes around three pulleys, one of which is the pump assembly pulley. After I removed the pump assembly, I took the belt and laid it to the side. I then installed the new pump assembly. After I put everything back together, I gently tipped the washer over on it's side as far as I could and reinstalled the belt around all three pulleys. I started with the pulley on the left side and then the pulley in the middle and finally, the pump assembly pulley. I have washed a total of seven loads of laundry since I did the repair and have had no problems.

I unplugged the electric power cord and disconnected the two water hoses and the drain line from the wall. It was messy as water leaked from the disconnected hoses. I tilted the washer forward and leaned it against a bench for support. This exposed the bottom of the washer from the back. I removed the v-belt from the three pulleys. The motor mount was spring loaded making it easy to remove the v-belt from this pulley first. After removing the v-belt, I then removed the 4 screws to the small plate on the back of the washer to gain access to the water pump. I then removed the two water hoses from the water pump using vice grips to squeeze the clamps and slide them off of the hoses toward the water pump. After removing the two hoses (a little messy again), I removed the water pump by using a socket ratchet to loosen the four bolts. I replaced the water pump with the new pump and then reassembled everything in reverse order.

I found your site and looked at possible "symptoms" of the problem. Went to my washer propped it up with a 2 x 4 and manually spun the belt and sure enough the pulley on the drain pup was shot and grinding metal on metal. Ordered the new pump with pulley and a new belt (might as well change it when I had the thing in pieces).

1) Opened the front of the machine and then propped up the machine.

2) Placed a pan underneath to catch the water that remained in the pump when I disconnected the two hoses attached to it.

3) Removed old pump with socket wrench

4) Replaced with new pump purchsed from you all.

5) Reconnected the two hoses.

6) Installed new belt.

7) Closed up machine and BAMM! works like it was brand new!

You all Rock! Cost of parts and 20 or so minutes of my time is a lot less than calling a repairman or replacing the machine!

Thanks for the help!!!

First I tipped the washing machine onto its front. I removed the belt on the bottom of the machine. Then I removed the screws that held the cover in place on the back of the machine. Next I removed the two hoses that were connected to the vertical pump using pliers to pinch the clamps. I then removed three screws that held the vertical pump in place. I took the new verticle pump with pulley and mounted it to the washer and putting the washer machine back together using the previous steps in reverse order.