If you own an LG™ front load washing machine, I would bet that at some time you will have some water leaking on the floor. I bought one over 2 years ago from the Sears™ Outlet (aka scratch and dent) on Front Street. I bought the LG™ because the motor to turn the drum is attached to the drum directly which means there are no belts to maintain or break. My previous Kenmore™ washer had a belt that broke and sliced a couple of supply lines and it was 5 years old so I made the choice to buy new vs. pay the repair.
One of the great things about the internet is all the do-it-yourself repair forums. When my Kenmore™ had an issue, I typed the model number in a search engine along with the brand and came up with a bunch of sites that mentioned a common issue with the door lock hardware failing. I was a little intimidated by tearing into the machine and made the service call. Guess what happened?
The service guy said it was the door lock. I got the price for him to do the repair and decided to order the part on-line and do it myself which saved over $150. Since then, I've been able to repair appliance stuff myself using these DIY forums and videos.
Two weeks ago, my LG™ started leaking water. I thought the drain was clogged but it wasn't. I thought it was a pump issue since I had an extension hose that made the dirty water go from the bottom of the washer and then up 5' to the drain. I ran the extension hose directly to the nearby toilet to see if the pump had enough strength to drain the washer and it did so that meant my pump was okay.
Eventually, I came across the problem. Turns out the rubber hose Mousetrap™ contraption that connects the tub to the pump tends to break. I moved the washer around and used vice-grips on the pipe clamps to get the contraption lose. I strongly recommend the vice-grips because the clamps are extremly tight and hard to squeeze while stuck in a corner with hands and arms fumbling around in the dark, tight space.
I took the contraption out and sure enough, it had a break right where the internet said it would be.
I found the part here and ordered 2 of the replacement parts so that I have one handy when this happens again. Since I had to wait 5 days to get it and we do a lot of laundry, I used some old black sewer pipe compound to try and plug the leak (didn't work).
Once I got the part, it was a pretty easy fix by laying the washing machine on its side so I could replace the pipe from the exposed bottom. I hooked everything up and bleached the floor and sides of the machine to get the leaked water smell out and everything is working great. It took less than 5 minutes to fix it.
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