LG f1443kd drain pump replacement

[MancSki]

This isn't so much a question as a repair report, hope that's appropriate.

I've spent the last couple of days exploring this machine which was making a very rough buzzing noise. Having decided that the problem was the drain pump (smelly water, washing wetter than expected, development of noise) I consulted youtube and various discussions for advice. There are quite a few vids and threads giving detailed instructions but all seemed to be discussing a slightly different model to mine and the disassembly for mine turns out to be much easier than most advice would suggest.

If like me you did a search for "LG drain pump" and have seen the LG disassembly vids that talk about removing the door seal and the front panel, pause briefly and check if you have a separate small (kick) panel at the bottom. If so there is no need to mess about with removing the lid, door seal and front panel. Just lever off the kick panel with a screwdriver and the white plastic box on the left (2 screws and slide to the right) to access the pump assembly.

You will find the 3 pipes held on with spring clamps, the smaller ones are easy enough to remove but the bigger one is a pig. Wide pliers or adjustable pliers are best.

Take a picture of the wiring before removing the wires (yeah, wise after the event).

Replacing the pumps is fairly straightforward and is well covered on Youtube but replacing that big pipe proved a proper struggle for me and is the main reason I decided to share. Take the spring clamp out, squeeze the tabs together and loop a cable tie over them to keep the spring under tension (opening the clamp), pull tight. Slip the clamp back over the pipe, re-attach the pipe and when you're happy with the position, cut the cable tie with a sharp blade, careful to avoid the pipe. The spring will close, holding the pipe fast.

This is a much smaller job than it first appeared but I only know that now as I've spent two days finding out.

The replacement motors (x2) are EAU61383505 which is a different part number to the old one 4681EA2001E(N) and other models shown on YT vids.

 

Respect to this site for ongoing help.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks for taking the trouble to join up and give others the benefit of your experience Mancski. The strong clip you mention has a special tool for removing. It can be handled with pipe pliers but it's usually very feisty and hard to keep under control without the proper tool. Good tip about using cable ties.