Fault diagnosis: What's wrong with my washing machine?

Once you know the sequence of operations involved in the wash cycle, it is often possible to identify the cause of a fault by noting when it occurs. 

With a leak the water itself provides an added clue:

In all these cases contact qualified repairer

Turn off the water supply and undo the hose connections at both ends – they should never be more than handtight. Remove the washers from the connections and replace if they appear worn or there is water staining around the connection points on the back of the machine.

Using pliers, carefully draw the hose filters out of the back of the valve bodies. Rinse filters under running water and, before refitting, remove any debris lodged in the valve inlet, making sure none of it getspushed into the valve itself.

Unplug the machine, turn off the water supply and disconnect the inlet hoses. Next, remove the top panel to gain access to the valves. Disconnect the electrical connections to a valve by gripping the terminals, not the wires, with a pair of long-nosed pliers. Then ease them apart.

Remove the screws securing the valve to the back of the machine. Don't try to pull the hose to the detergent tray off the valve outlet – a ridge on the end of the outlet resists force. Instead, use a flat-bladed screwdriver to lever the hose off. Fit the new valve in the reverse order.

Replacement door handle kits are available for most models. To remove the faulty handle, you must first take the door off the machine by undoing the hinge fixings. This often reveals a small cut-out, normally hidden by the hinge, in the door inset.

Starting at the cut-out, use two flat-bladed screwdrivers to carefully lever the inset away from the outer rim, stepping one screwdriver over the other until the two parts click apart. With the inset removed, dismantle the handle mechanism and use the replacement kit to fit the new one.

Test the tension of a drive belt by pressing it midway between the pulleys; it should have about 15mm of play. On some machines, one of the motor mounting bolts passes through a bracket with a slot in it, allowing the motor to be moved and belt tension adjusted. If a glance at the bolts shows no slots, your machine has an elasticated belt, which has to be replaced if it stretches.

To remove a belt, twist it so that its wearing surface faces out and start to rotate it, making sure you don't pinch your fingers between belt and drum pulley; the belt will flip off the drum pulley. Loop the new belt over the motor pulley, then stretch it onto the drum pulley by rotating it. The drum pulley is slightly crowned to enable the belt to centre on it; slide the belt in or out on the motor pulley until it is correctly aligned vertically between the two pulleys.

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