Washer Tips

Locked Pump Bearing

When the water pump bearing seizes, the water will not drain or recirculate. Sometimes you can smell the belt heating up the stalled pump pulley. It is wise to stop the washer at this point and get some more data or you may be replacing both a pump and the belt.

Procedure for Gathering Failure Confirmation Data

1. Unplug the washer.
2. If water was left in the tub following the belt or pump failure, you will want to get as much of it out of the tub as possible. A Shop Vac Works Great For This, or  Start by bailing out the water with a large plastic picher or glass. Now you can work the washer out from the wall. Lower the drain hose into a shallow container so that the end of the hose is no more than 6 inches off the floor and the water will siphon out of the washer, or using your shop vac suck the watrer out of the hose. Lift the end of the hose up a couple of feet if you need to stop the flow to empty the container.
3. Move the washer out from the wall far enough to get behind it and remove the rear access panel using a 5/16 inch nut driver, or pull it away from the wall and lean it backwards up against the wall so that you can look underneath it.
4. You are going to determine if the pump pulley turns so if it is too dark to see the pulley, get a flashlight for the next step.
5. Look under the washer for the pump or kneel down behind the washer and locate the pump pulley to the right and back behind the transmission. Grip the belt in front of you between the motor on your left and the transmission main drive pulley to your right. Move the belt to your left toward the motor. This will move the belt across the pump pulley such that if it turns, it will turn in a clockwise direction when viewed from the top. If the pump pulley doesn't move and the belt just slides past it, the pump bearing is seized and the pump must be replaced. It's important that you attempt to turn the pulley in the clockwise direction. If you turn the pulley counterclockwise, it will turn off the shaft; especially if the shaft is seized, and give the illusion that the shaft is turning free.

Pump Replacement

1. With the water out of the washer you can procede to tilt the washer back to a 45 dgree angle or lay it on is back or it's front, I personnally pull the washer a few feet from the wall then just lean it back up against the wall.. If you have a dolley you can lift the washer up from the front of the cabinet and lay it front side down in a convenient place to work from the bottom of the washer. If you don't have a dolley, lay a rug that won't be damaged by a little water in front of the washer and then pull the washer over and lay it down with the front of the cabinet on the rug.
2. Remove the two 5/16 inch sheet metal screws that secure the rear access panel and set the panel aside, if you are doing it from the back.
3. Place an old rag or some paper towels on the cabinet under the transmission gearcase. Most gearcases will start to drip transmission grease when placed on their side, if you just lean it back at a 45 degree angle like I do you will not have this problem. This is not a serious problem but you wouldn't want to leave the washer in this position overnight. The rag or paper towels will catch the grease so that when you tip the washer up again, the grease will not run down on the floor.
4. Expand the hose clamps on the pump inlet and outlet hoses, using a Claburn pliers for single wire clamps and a regular pliers for double wire clamps. Slide the clamps down the hoses a couple of inches and pull the hoses off the pump.
5. Remove the two bolts holding the pump using a 1/2" socket wrench.
6. Slide the pump out and buy another one just like it be sure you get a factory pump (it will say FSP or Whirlpool on the box or bag that it comes in) as they will last you much longer. There are several kinds of pumps. The most common pump has two ports (inlet and outlet). One three-port pump has a side outlet for water circulation through a manual lint filter. Another three-port pump has a bottom outlet to circulate water through a top-mounted detergent and bleach dispenser.
7. Align the top hole in the pump frame with the threaded hole in the transmission gearcase. Start the threads with the bolt in your fingers. DO NOT shove the bolt into the gearcase threaded hole and start cranking with the socket wrench! You can easily strip the threads in the gearcase. After finger starting the top bolt you can run it in a couple of turns with the socket wrench but don't tighten it yet. Grab the water pump and twist it until the bottom bolt hole aligns with the threaded hole in the gearcase. Again, try to start the bolt threads by hand if you can otherwise put the bolt in the socket and extension (without the wrench handle) and try to get it started. Now tighten both bolts.
8. Put the hoses back on the pump ports and slide the clamps back down to the ends of the hoses using a pliers.
9. Pick up the transmission grease catching rag and right the washer.
10. Reconnect the hoses and power cord and test the machine for proper operation