Amana Washer Not Draining? Causes & Fix

Most Likely Cause#

An Amana washer that will not drain is, most of the time, a clogged drain-pump filter — the coin trap that catches coins, buttons, and hairpins before they reach the pump. When it fills with debris, no water can get out. After that come a failed drain pump motor that hums but moves no water, a drain hose kinked or gummed up with soap scum, and a lid switch or door lock that never tells the board the machine is safe to spin and drain.

Amana runs on simplified Whirlpool platforms, so the parts are common and the fixes are usually straightforward. These symptoms turn up most on the NTW4516FW and NTW4519JW top-loaders and the NFW5800HW front-loader — and on all of them, the coin trap is the first thing to check.

What Usually Causes It#

Clean the coin trap — start here#

On a front-loader the filter sits behind a small access door at the bottom-front; on a top-loader it is inside the pump housing. Put a towel and a shallow pan down first, because water will come out. On a front-loader, open the access door, pull the small emergency drain hose if the model has one and drain it, then slowly turn the filter cap counter-clockwise and remove the debris. Clean it every few months and this fault rarely comes back.

Pump, hose, and the door switch#

If the trap is clear but it still will not drain, listen during the drain phase: a hum with no water moving, or dead silence, points at the drain pump motor, which typically lasts seven to ten years and is reached from the front bottom panel. A drain that is just slow suggests the corrugated drain hose is kinked where it leaves the machine or clogged internally with scum — pull the washer out and check the full run to the standpipe. And if the machine never even tries to drain or spin, the lid switch (top-loader) or door lock (front-loader) may be failing, so the board never gets the "secure" signal; press the switch by hand and you should hear it click and the drain begin.

Draining it manually first#

Before any of this, you often need to empty the tub. On a front-loader, open the filter access, put the emergency drain hose into a pan, and pull its plug — or, if there is no emergency hose, ease the filter cap open with towels ready. On a top-loader, disconnect the drain hose from the standpipe and lower it into a bucket so gravity empties the tub.

Diagnostic Sequence#

1. Empty the tub using the emergency drain hose or by lowering the drain hose into a bucket.
2. Clean the coin-trap filter and clear any debris.
3. Listen during a drain attempt: a hum with no flow means the pump.
4. Pull the machine out and check the drain hose for kinks or clogs.
5. Press the lid switch or confirm the door lock engages so the board allows draining.

Repair or Replace#

Cleaning the coin trap and clearing the hose cost nothing, and a drain hose is an inexpensive universal part. The drain pump and the lid switch or door lock are moderate parts, and because Amana uses Whirlpool components they are widely available and affordable. There is rarely a big-ticket outcome here. If the trap and hose are clear but it still will not drain, you can book a visit to have the pump and door switch checked in one trip.

FAQ#

The questions we hear most about an Amana washer that won't drain are below.