Checking Pump for Blockage in a GE Washing Machine

How to Know When the Pump Might Be Blocked

• Aside from water failing to drain properly from your GE washing machine, you might hear a sucking or gurgling sound when the pump is blocked. Whatever is blocking the pump from pumping, is probably allowing air into the drain line, which is what’s likely causing the odd noises. The sounds will usually stop when the washer automatically advances to the next cycle or shuts off. Additionally, you might find a puddle of water beneath your GE washing machine if the blockage damaged the pump and made it leak.

Checking for a Blockage

• A pump can become blocked if a small article of clothing, such as a sock, bib or handkerchief, gets between the inner and outer washtubs. GE designed their washing machines with two tubs to minimize the chance of clothing blocking water from draining, as only the outer tub is connected to the drain hose. However, every now and again, a piece of clothing might find its ways into the outer tub and wind up in the drain hose and block the pump. Account for each clothing item that you put into your washing machine at the start of a cycle.

Locating a Blockage

• Some disassembly of your GE washing machine is required to remove a blockage from the pump. GE recommends that you schedule a service appointment to have a trained technician check for a blockage and remove it if one is found, however, depending on your knowledge of washing machines, you might be able to do it yourself.
  Refer to the manual draining instructions in the washing machine's manual to get started. Once the washer is drained, remove the washer’s cover by lifting up the control console on a top-loading washer and unscrewing the screws that hold the cover in place and take it of. Just take out the screws and lift off the top panel on a front-loading machine. The inner and outer washtubs should be visible, in addition to the drain hose to one side of the tubs. Detach the drain hose from the outer top and drain outlet and then remove it. Although the pump is behind the drain outlet, sometimes you can see the obstruction peering out from the outlet’s opening and remove it without further disassembly. If you can’t grasp the blockage from the opening, contact GE for a service appointment; the technician might have to fully remove the pump to get rid of the blockage, which will require that he take out the tubs.

Considerations

• A kink in the drain hose can also prevent a GE washer from draining, and this might initially appear as though the pump is blocked, notes the GE website. Take off the top cover of the washer to inspect the drain hose. Straighten the hose if needed to allow water to drain efficiently. Additionally, GE recommends that you verify the length of the washer’s drain hose when one of its washers has problems draining. A pump in a GE full-size washer model can only pump up to eight feet and a pump for a compact or portable washer can pump no more than five feet. Shorten the drain hose on your washing machine if it’s longer than what a GE washer’s pump can handle.