Just over a year ago, we bought a new G.E. Adora front loading washer (WHDVH626FWW to be exact). For the most part, it’s been a great unit. Very quiet except during the fastest spin cycles.
Twice in the last year it has stopped in the middle of a load and failed to drain the water out of drum.
The problem is that the outlet drain has plugged. There’s a coarse “screen” that traps lint and clothing, preventing them from getting into the drain pump (and thus, causing much more serious problems). Both times this has happened, there was a small article of clothing that slipped past gap at the front of the washer drum, thus finding its way into the trap and, eventually, clogging it completely.
The fix is remarkably simple thanks to GE placing the screen in an accessible location.
- First, remove the 3 screws holding the lower front panel in place.
- With the front panel off, locate the lint trap as shown below.
- Place a large bowl underneath to catch the water that drains out. Note that the bowl pictured was barely large enough. I suggest getting a bigger one. If you don’t have the pedestal, you’ll have to be creative to find something to catch the water.
- The drain simply threads out with normal threads (lefty loosey). It should be hand tight. Be prepared for a fairly disgusting mess of junk to come out with the screen — lint, toothpicks, 2 (!) baby socks, etc. in my case.
- Clean up the screen and thread it back into place. Re-install the cover and you’re done.
I’ve found that leading up to the wash load stopping without draining, that the wash times get much longer than normal — like 3 hours. So, if you’ve determined that the cycle length is too long you probably have a partially plugged screen that the washer is struggling with.
Thank you for this very well illustrated post. I had the same problem. Now, my washer is working, I’m about $3 richer from found change, and found the spare key to my car.
Thank you so much! I had the same problem and fixed it myself while my husband was at work. I only dared to do it because of the great explanation and the picture. I also found a spare key and some change, along with a key fob. I’m also a service call richer.
Thanks, you saved me rooting around for the clog. Without your help I would have started at the back and wasted my time looking for the clog.
Had everything from pens to tiny stars and batteries in the mess!
Thank You, THANK You, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
So easy! I was dreading the phone call to the repair man (and the bill). I decided to do a quick internet search first, and I found this! Your posting is extremely appreciatied!
I would have been perfectly happy with lousy illustrations and translated-from-korean instructions, but this is great. I have exactly the same washer and problem.
The Web has obviously become a peer-to-peer distribution systems for useful particles of knowledge that used to be uniquely held in human heads.
Peter — I couldn’t agree more. It’s exactly the reason I started doing this.
To the rest: Glad to have helped
Thank you so much for this information. You just saved me from making a phone call to the repair service and whatever bill was associated with that one!
Thank you again…
Thank you so much! My washer was only a little over a year old and I was getting really mad. I thought I had to buy a new washer. I will share this article with everyone I know!
I am so happy to have found your blog. My husband wanted me to call the “Maytag Man” because he thought it was going to be a tough job. But before I did, I tried a search…and low and behold..your blog was the first that popped up!!
Thank you for your clear directions and your insight into putting this in your blog!
I will be presenting my husband with the bill..LOL…I think a massage and facial would pay for my services!!
Jen — my wife & I got a good laugh out of that, but I’m affraid she just might take it a bit too seriously
I just wanted to Thank You. My washer is less than a year old and I have already had one service call and am working on my second in a month. The first gentleman could not figure out what was wrong. My washer ran for hours on the same load and overflowed out on to our floor. Needless to say they are in the process of fixing the damaged floor as well. We are currently waiting on them to find another servicer to come and repair the washer as it only worked for 1 month after the previous one was out. You have saved me the trouble of locating a service provider as they can not find one in our area. The last guy must have canceled his contract. I have spend over $50 at laundry mats, been with out my washer for a cumlative 3 weeks and have damaged more than $100 in clothes at the laundry mat. You have no idea how much you have helped me. A family of 5 can go through a lot of laundry. Thank you again.
L. Howell
Thank you very much for this posting, couldn’t figure out why the clothes were still soaking wet, short of a phone call, we looked it up on the internet and waahh lah – what a great deed you have done, by reading the posts I can see this has helped out so many. Found my daugther’s hair clips and about two bucks in change!!!
add our family the list of people finding weird and wonderful things in that trap and putting the washer back into service using your blog page as a resource. We found $2.12 in change, two kid’s necklaces, a glass car fuse, some stones and a pile of crud. I’m very glad for the smart engineering on this product and a customer friendly decision to put the drain in an easily accessible place. And this over a year since you posted it! -Regards -Ken
This was great. My washer smelled, wouldn’t drain, and kept shutting off during cycles. Now, after cleaning the trap, we appear to be like new. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you for these awesome, easy to understand, yet detailed instructions! I just “repaired” my washer and probably saved myself a couple hundred bucks. This is the 2nd time our washer has become clogged, and that is with me being very careful about emptying pockets. I am so thankful that you posted these instructions and pictures, it made it so simple! Thanks again! Happy washing!
Mine was only 3 months old, but the little bit of coinage( 4 pennies, 2 nickles, and a dime) and a rubber band that had snaked throuth the filter up to the pump impeller blades in the exhaust hose
were enough to stop the spin cycle.
Seems to work now!
Thank you for the tips and pix!
Regards, Terry
thank you thank you thank you thank you….to infinity.
Perhaps you deserve some thank you cookies, since there are no words that seem to fit my gratitude!!
Thank you thank you!! It was so easy! It took 10 mins tops…and it solved all the issues. AND my husband thinks I’m a genius!
Thank you so much for this post. I was preparing to call the repair service and knew we would probably have to wait a couple of days. We found Mongolian coins (from my son’s summer internship), earrings, hair pins and assorted other stuff. This is a wonderful thing about the internet. Thanks again!
Thank you for the post. Did not see anything in the troubleshooting area of the owners manual??
I found about .50, a baby washcloth, and a decapitated action figure!!!Awesome!!!
Thanks again
GREAT POST!!! Worked right away!
Just Awesome! I’d take you out to lunch if you lived in my area! (downriver michigan)
Thanks so very much.
Great post! Thanks. I can’t wait to wash my next load. I don’t have a pedestal so I used a 1 inch cookie sheet and just did a little water at a time, when the pan filled, dumped water into a roasting pan. Bunch of dimes and a couple of golf tees were our highlighted finds.
Great blog, great picture. Thanks so much, I was ready to call the repair man when I saw this. Had all the same problems listed here, and they are gone now!
yes thank you so much!! I found a quarter, a penny a small screwdriver, a paperclip and much nasty hair.
Thanks now i dont have to pay someone $100 to come and do it. My wife is gonna be so happy!! woo hoo
Thank you so much I almost paid 250.00 for service to come and do what you showed us here. Thanks thanks thanks thanks
i cleaned the trap, i have unplugged it and tried again. it spins a few times and then just sits there. ?? help!
Nobody is happy unless momma is happy. We are now happy. Thanks a mil.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Living in a small town, the service call was going to be $$$$$. NO WHERE IN THE MANUAL DOES IT EVEN SHOW THIS.
I’ll just add to the millions of thank yous! THANKS!!!! Found a bunch of crap along with batteries (of all things)!
Thank you sooo much ! I was about to call a plumber to check my house drainage pipe ( $$$ ) It took me just a few minutes to fix the problem… I found a toy cow, earings, pen, and 2.78 in change, and a bunch of lint.. Thanks again.. easy easy easy fix..
Great instructions! FOund a $10 bill, 5 $1 bills and a bunch of change… came out ahead instead of paying for a service call! Thanks loads!
This is great. The washer has not been right for months. Was about to call the repair man figuring I needed a new control board. We found $3.35, necklace, cloth and a bunch of lint. Than You.
YES! You are the man! I figured, after restoring a century home, this is something I should be able to handle, but had no idea where to look. A simple internet search and your very well explained article, 10 minutes of my time and it’s as good as new! ALSO, if you don’t have a pedistal, a plastic lid from one of those LARGE tupperware storage containers hooked right under the drain spout will do the job nicely!
Thanks again
Just want to add to the thank yous. The washer has not been working right for quite a few months and I was about to give up. This is one great site,you gave a great description and it was the perfect fix. It was a cheap fix and I got a reward from it $1.64 in change, 2 pencils, 2 small nails and lots of lint out of the trap. Now that I know where it is and that this model has one (a lint trap) now I know what to check first. Thank you again.
More huge THANK YOUS. My washer is only a little over a year old and I couldn’t understand why the cycles were taking so long and the clothes were soaked when the cycle final ended. Last Sunday was the final straw as the washer kept adding water, but none would drain out. I had a mess. Over 6 gallons of water to empty out of my GE front load washer. Calling a repairman hurts so much on a new washer…$$$$. I found this site and your solution and it took all of 30 minutes. The toughest part was putting the front back on as I don’t have a pedestal. Thanks too for the warning about the water coming out of the drain. I was ready with shamwows and a small bowl. I opened the drain a little bit, gathered water, then tightened down. It took about 5 minutes and I had all the water drained out. The culprit in the filter was a piece of duct tape about 5″ long perfectly wrapped inside the filter to clog it up. I used the washer this AM and it worked perfectly. Again, thank you so much.
Nice!!! Found 1.87, my kids missing sock, and now have a happy washer. Many thanks!!
I was so excited to once again solve an appliance problem when I read these posts. I was hoping to strike it rich and find tons of change. What I got was 26 cents, tons of hair, crayons, rocks, leaves, more hair, hair clips. The washer works great and I wholeheartedly agree that the absence of this procedure from the manual is certainly meant to make naive homeowners call the repair man. Thanks to all who share their successes. It took me 5 minutes to do this. I also decided to run a bleach only (no clothes) cycle as the stupid manual recommends to do. My wife left me with this one thing to do today on my “honey list”….she’s gone for the next 8 hours….yeehah!!!! Playstation 3 time. When she gets home I plan to show her the picture of the crap I pulled out over the past 8 hours….she’ll believe it!!!
This is great info. I found $3.87, 2 lost locker keys,lots of hair, and a small keychain. I hope that everyone reads this before they call for repairs. This is a simple task after you do it the first time. I do not have my washer on a stand so I only unscrewed the plug a little bit at a time and let it drain slowly. Using a smaller bowl I just kept filling it up. It took about 4 fill ups and before I could pull the plug all the way out and clean it.
oh my God, I was at a lost as to what I needed to do to get my washer draining again. Could not find anything on the GE web site, all they said was to clean the plug but no info on how to do it. This web site along with the detail pics were a life saver. Thank you so much for the info :<)
Thank you so much! I spent all evening trying to deal with the idiots over at Sears and then I saw your posting. You made it so easy! I wish there were more people like this. Thanks again!
Melanie