---
title: "Washer will not drain"
description: "Electrolux washer will not drain: e21 is the maker's code for a pump-out taking too long, and its own first answer is not a part: a kinked drain hose."
url: "https://electroluxmiami.support/symptoms/washer-will-not-drain/"
date_modified: "2026-09-11"
Appliance type: "Washers"
---


# Electrolux washer will not drain

### What to do in the next ten minutes

Pull the machine forward and walk the drain hose along its whole length looking for a fold. Then open the pump filter behind the panel at the bottom front — it is designed to be opened — and clear it. Have a towel ready; there will be water.

### The filter almost nobody opens

Every front loader of this generation has a pump filter behind a small panel at the bottom front, and it is meant to be opened by the owner every few months. Almost none are. In a South Florida household washing beach towels it collects sand as reliably as it collects lint, and a pump that has been working against a loaded filter for two years is a pump that will fail early. Opening it is five minutes and a towel.

The drain hose is kinked

The maker names it first. A machine pushed back into a closet folds its own hose against the wall.

The pump filter has loaded up

Coins, hair clips and, in a coastal household, sand. It is a maintenance item that almost nobody knows exists.

The pump or impeller has failed

A pump that hums and moves nothing has a jammed impeller; a silent one has failed or is not being asked to run.

Walk the hose with the machine out

The maker's own first step and it costs nothing.

Open the pump filter

Behind the bottom front panel. It is a designed access point, not a dismantling job.

Listen during the drain phase

Humming, straining or silence. Three different answers about the same part.

The cycle ends with water still in the drum

What it usually means

E21, and the maker's first answer is a folded drain hose

The pump filter collects sand here, not just lint

A silent pump and a straining one are different parts

What to do in the next ten minutes

Pull the machine forward and walk the drain hose along its whole length looking for a fold. Then open the pump filter behind the panel at the bottom front — it is designed to be opened — and clear it. Have a towel ready; there will be water.

The filter almost nobody opens

Every front loader of this generation has a pump filter behind a small panel at the bottom front, and it is meant to be opened by the owner every few months. Almost none are. In a South Florida household washing beach towels it collects sand as reliably as it collects lint, and a pump that has been working against a loaded filter for two years is a pump that will fail early. Opening it is five minutes and a towel.

### Can I drain it manually?

Yes — the pump filter housing usually has a small drain hose beside it for exactly that. Have a shallow tray ready, because there is more water than you expect.

### It drains but very slowly.

Same list, earlier stage, and worth dealing with now. A partially blocked drain path makes the pump work continuously and shortens its life.

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