Whirlpool Washer F21 Error? 6 Fixes for the Long Drain Code

Your Whirlpool front loader stops with water in the drum and F21 on the display. It is the long drain code: the pump ran for about eight minutes and the water level did not drop. On the Duet and its Kenmore and Maytag cousins the fix lives behind the lower front panel, and it is one of the most satisfying repairs a washer offers, because you get to see exactly what your family has been leaving in their pockets.

The sorting question: at the point the machine gives up, do you hear the pump running (a steady hum or a rattle), or nothing? Running means blocked, so start at the coin trap. Silent means the pump has no power or has died, which is cause 5.

Start With These 30-Second Checks

1. 1Look at the drain hose behind the machine for a kink or a hose that has slipped out of the standpipe.
2. 2Look in the drum for suds; a foam layer from too much or the wrong detergent slows the pump enough to trip F21.
3. 3Ask when the trap was last cleaned. If the answer is never, that is your fix.
4. 4Press Power off, then run Drain and Spin once. A one-off timeout clears; a real blockage shows F21 again within ten minutes.

1. Clear the Coin Trap in the Drain Pump

The drain pump has a removable trap on its front that catches coins, hair grips, buttons and socks. On Duet models it is a large plastic knob behind the kick panel. Cleaning it is the F21 fix in the great majority of cases.

1. 1Unplug the washer.
2. 2Remove the three screws along the bottom edge of the lower front panel, tilt the panel out at the bottom and lift it off.
3. 3Put a shallow pan and towels under the round trap knob at the front of the pump. Turn the knob counter-clockwise slowly; water comes out as it loosens, so pause and let the pan fill, empty it, and continue.
4. 4Pull the trap out and remove everything in it: coins, hair, socks, a bra wire. Rinse it under the tap.
5. 5Reach into the housing and turn the pump impeller with a finger. It should turn freely with a slight ratchet. If it is jammed, find what is behind it; a hair grip wedged in the impeller is a classic.
6. 6Screw the trap back in firmly, refit the panel, plug in and run Drain and Spin with a towel in front.

2. Check the Drain Hose Height and Route

The pump lifts water to the standpipe. Too high, too far, or a hose pushed too deep into the standpipe, and the pump cannot empty the drum in eight minutes even when it is clean.

1. 1Unplug the washer before you pull it out from the wall.
2. 2Straighten the hose and re-route it so the machine does not crush it when pushed back.
3. 3Check the standpipe height: the outlet should be roughly 30 to 96 inches above the floor, and no more than about 4 to 6 inches of hose should sit inside the pipe.
4. 4Pull the hose off at the machine end over a bucket and run water from a jug through it to prove it is clear.
5. 5If the standpipe itself drains slowly, clear the trap below it with a snake; see washer not draining for that job.

3. A Blocked Pressure Switch Hose

The machine knows the water level through a thin hose from the bottom of the tub to a pressure switch at the top. If that hose is clogged with gunk, the machine believes the drum is still full after the pump has emptied it, and reports F21 with a dry drum. This one fools a lot of people.

1. 1Unplug the washer before you open the top.
2. 2Remove the top panel (three screws at the back) and find the small hose running from the pressure switch, a round disc with wires, down the side of the tub.
3. 3Pull the hose off the switch and blow gently through it towards the tub. If it is blocked, work it off at the bottom too, over a towel, and rinse it under the tap.
4. 4Refit both ends, put the top back and run Drain and Spin. If F21 only ever showed with an empty drum, this was the cause.

4. Too Much or the Wrong Detergent

Front loaders need HE detergent in small doses. Foam thickens the water and the pump cannot move it in time. The machine sometimes shows a Sud warning first, but on older boards F21 is the only sign.

1. 1Run an empty Drain and Spin, then an empty Rinse. Foam still in the drum means the residue is deep; run a Clean Washer cycle with a cup of vinegar or the Affresh tablet.
2. 2Cut the detergent dose to two tablespoons of HE liquid for a normal load.
3. 3Pull the detergent drawer out and scrub the slime out of it and the housing behind.
4. 4Leave the door ajar between washes so the drum dries; residue builds up faster in a damp machine.

5. Replace the Drain Pump

If the trap is clear, the impeller spins, the hoses are right and the machine is silent when it should drain, the pump motor has failed. On Duet-type machines it is one of the easiest pump swaps there is, because it sits right behind the panel you already removed.

1. 1Unplug the washer and drain the drum through the trap as in cause 1.
2. 2With the kick panel off, unplug the pump's electrical connector and test the motor with a multimeter on ohms. Around 10 to 20 ohms is a live winding; open circuit means it is dead.
3. 3Release the hose clamps on both pump hoses with pliers and pull the hoses off over the pan.
4. 4Undo the mounting screws (usually three), lift the pump out and fit the new one in the same position, hoses and clamps back on, connector in.
5. 5Refit the panel, plug in and run Drain and Spin with a towel down, watching the hose joints for drips.

6. When to Call a Pro

Book a technician when a new pump runs and the drum still does not empty (a blocked hose between tub and pump, which means the front of the machine comes apart), when F21 appears with F02 or other codes together, or when the machine also leaks from underneath.

1. 1A burning smell from the pump area: unplug it and do not run it again.
2. 2The pump tests fine but gets no power: a control board or wiring fault.
3. 3F21 together with a loud rumble on spin: the bearing may be going and the slow drain is a symptom.
4. 4A machine over 12 years old needing a pump and a bearing: the two repairs cost more than a replacement.