The Ups & Downs of Fixing the Washing Machine

I really hadn’t planned on writing a post about fixing the washing machine today.  Today’s post was supposed to be about taking a picture & turning it into fabric art.  Much, much more fun than fixing large appliances.  Since I fought with the washer all weekend & on into today, that was not to be.  So, if you need a little pick me up for your Monday, read on – I’m sure you’ll get a good laugh from my washer woes.  If I don’t laugh, I’ll be crying, then my mascara will run.  Nobody wants that!

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The Problem

This problem has been going on for a while now that I think about it.  I’d open the washer to put the contents in the dryer & it’s still full of water.  Then I would turn the dial to the point it normally drains & hear the water gurgle away.  That didn’t happen on Saturday.  I restarted the load & the water remained.  Not being a quitter, I tried again, & forgot about it until Sunday morning.

Here I go, trudging into the laundry/bathroom in my slippers & pjs, to change out the laundry.  Nope.  By this time the water was a very dark gray bordering on black because it was a load of my husband’s work clothes.  After perusing the interwebs, I realized I was going to have to bail out the water.  Yay.

First, I removed the clothes to an empty storage bin & deposited them into the tub.  Then I grabbed this cup…

We use it to wash the dog & it was handy.  Do y’all realize how much water a full washing machine holds?  A lot.  I scooped it out, cup by cup, into the empty storage bin.  As I’ve said before, I’m not the Hulk, so I could only put so much into the bin and still be able to carry it to the tub to be emptied.  Finally, I had most of the water out.

After I bailed out all the water, I had to deal with the clothes.  My shower has a hand held sprayer, which came in handy for rinsing the clothes out.  Then I had to try to wring as much water as possible out of them.  Not so easy with jeans!  I hung up the shirts around the shower & laid a pair of pants over the tub to dry out some.  They were way too wet for the dryer & it was raining, so no hot sun to help with the drying.

I told my husband what was going on & that he needed to take a look at it sooner rather than later.  He decided it could wait until after work Monday.

The Discussion

You know, sometimes I forget about things because I’m doing other things.  Things like a bunch of wet clothes hanging around that eventually need to go in the dryer.  Of course, I don’t use the bathroom in this story on a regular basis.  My husband does.  Anyway, the clothes didn’t get put in the dryer.  This led to some, ahem, “discussions” early this morning about someone not having work pants to wear.  Really?

Anyway, again, I was a little peeved this morning & there may have been some smoke coming out of my ears.  I decided, I’ll show him!  I’ll just fix it myself!  That’s the PG version of what went through my head.

After some Googling & interweb searching, I decided it would be a piece of cake to check the pump for clogs & see if we needed a new pump.

The Repair Part I

First I needed to remove the front panel, which had no screws like the first video I watched.  Sigh.  Searched again for “Hotpoint” washer panel removal.  I needed a putty knife, which I couldn’t find, but I did find this awesome plate with holes in my tool box.  ???

It worked!  Now to find the pump…

Not as easy to get to as the lady with a pearl bracelet on was suggesting in her video!  Look at all that dirt!  How does dirt get inside a washing machine?

Needless to say, I grabbed the vacuum and gave it a good cleaning.  Everything I read/watched suggested I needed to place towels &/or a bin around the area.  This was to help catch any water that comes out when you disconnect the hoses.

I did the best I could with a towel because there was definitely no room for anything else.  It seemed like enough since there wasn’t that much water left in the tub.  Remember me saying I had restarted the washer;, like twice?

Yeah, that’s water, lots of it.  All in my floor and the bottom of the washer.  It just gushed out like a geyser!  All that water came out of the pump and the hose that fills up the washer.  Yay.  Time to grab the shop vac.

The Repair Part II

I wound up having to pull the washing machine out from the wall, climb over the dryer, & shimmy between the cords & pipes.  This was all so I could clean up the water under neath the washer.  There was also all kinds of other things plus dirt & grime behind there.  Once that was done, and the washer was back in place, I could finally finish removing the pump.  Of course I kept the shop vac handy too!

Those two little bolts were all that stood between me an freeing the pump.  Can you believe I got the socket size right on the first go?  Maybe my luck was improving!  I removed the pump expecting to find some random pocket junk stuck inside.  What is that??

When I first saw what was inside, I thought it was cement!  I poked it with my special fix it tool…

It was like beach sand!  Where on earth did that come from??  I can’t even remember the last time we went to the beach.  I think it may just be sediment or something.  Either way, it was keeping the pump wheel from turning.  Weirdness.

I got everything cleaned out & hooked all the hoses back up.  Time to test it out!

You can’t hear it, but that’s the sweet sound of water draining!  Yay!  I give myself a high five & I’m about to text my husband that “I fixed it!”  But then.  I turned it off & started to walk away & what do I hear?  Dripping water!  God bless America!

I take it back apart & see that the draining hose is not attached well.  I mean, it’s not like it’s easy to get to & see what you’re doing!  It’s the hose at the back with the silver clamp.  Sigh.  More water clean up!

I finally maneuver it around just right and get it secured.  I hope.  Fingers & toes crossed I test it out.  No drip!  Finally, the washing machine is fixed!  Just in time to wash all the towels I messed up while fixing it.  Sigh.

I hope y’all are having a better Monday than me!  Come back Wednesday & I’ll have something prettier that washing machine parts to look at, I promise!