I am having the same problem with my ge, different model, and I see no one has answered you. I'm just another customer--you can see my post on here. The drain pump on mine was easy to unplug and remove. Once out, I took the electrical part and faceplate with hose intakes on it. I was left with the impeller assembly (has a little fan type piece on it that spins. Even though mine was encased in plastic, I was able to soak and rinse it out in bleach water and a lot of slime came off. The impeler turns due to a magnet on the shaft, soft water causes slime to build up on the magnet and it stops turning. Had I done this months ago, I would probably be okay. In my case, I think something is permanently messed up, or I did not get it clean enough, in which case, I will probably have to try buying a new one.

In my experience with fish tank pumps, once sand gets inbetween the magnet on the impeller shaft, it makes long grooves in the magnet. Even a slight groove affects the distance of the magnet to the motor that turns it and can make it not work, or work on rare occasions, or suddenly stop working. More sand gets trapped in the grooves and the problem worsens.

There was also sediment and crud in the hoses as well. After, I ran through just water with soap and bleach. Filters on the water lines to the washer help or a whole house filter. My mom says always run a load of bleach water through the washer after a dirty load of cloths and to remove loose dirt before putting them in the washer. Hope you get some real help here.