I fixed the washing machine. All by myself.
When M came in and saw that I had taken the whole machine apart, he thought I'd lost my mind. He told me a story about some mountain climbers that summitted K2, the most dangerous peak in the world. Three climbers died on the way up. On the way down, the last three got caught in a storm. They suffered from the cold and lack of oxygen and started to go crazy. Some tried to melt snow in their sleeping bags. Only one survived.
M thought I had reached the point where I was melting snow in my sleeping bag. That my life had gotten so crazy and out of control, that I started dismantling my appliances. Sorry. If I were a meth addict, I would be that crazy. I just have never done a big project like this since we've been married. I usually make him do the big things. I was actually quite informed on how to properly dismantle my washing machine and knew exactly what I needed to do to fix my problem.
The drain pump worked fine, the drain hose had no blockage. Further research revealed it was actually my auto load sensor. I have this fancy machine that thinks it is smarter that I am and can choose how much water needs to go into my wash load. I obviously can't tell how much laundry I put in one load because I went to public school and I'm an idiot. This feature is what gives it an energy star rating and I've always hated it. I hate opening the washer to add one more thing to find that there is not enough water. This sensor is now malfunctioning and makes the load agitate when there is no water and adds water at the very end of the last spin cycle. I found out that the sensor is activated by the "fabric softener added" switch. I never use fabric softener, so it was turned off. By turning it on, the machine fills for a full load and doesn't use the auto senor. Problem solved!
I didn't find this solution at any forum that also sells appliance parts. It was a pdf document that some random person posted somewhere. But I was ready to fork out the $70 to replace the sensor. I just didn't want to pay anyone to drive all the way out here to do it for me.
Of course, if I really cared about the environment, I would replace the sensor and continue to let the machine make choices for me. Especially since the factories, appliance parts stores, shipping companies, gas stations, and appliance repairmen need the income. But since I only wash full loads anyway, both the environment and the economy will have to suffer. Just this one time.
