Symptom-first diagnostic directory

Washing-machine symptoms

Washing-machine symptoms: leaks, slow drains, loud spins and bad smells in front-load and top-load washers, with the cheap checks to do first: the load, the hoses, the filter and the gasket.

Washer faults sort by what you see, hear or smell. Water on the floor points to a door seal, a hose or the detergent drawer, and the first job is to find where it starts by running a short cycle with dry towels around the base. A machine that will not spin or leaves clothes soaking is usually a drain problem: a clogged drain-pump filter, a kinked drain hose or an unbalanced load that the machine could not correct. Grinding or squealing during spin can be bearings, a worn belt on belt-drive models or a coin or object in the pump, and a burning-rubber smell deserves immediate attention because it can mean a slipping belt or a motor under strain. Sewage or musty smells almost always come from the drain trap or from residue trapped in the door gasket and drawer.