This washer was purchased new in the early 1970's I believe. I took a look behind the back panel and I see it has a belt, but everything else down there is unfamiliar to me.

It hadn't been used in over 2 months. Today it filled and agitated fine, but it wouldn't drain. I moved it to the spin cycle and it would not spin at all. I removed the drain hose from the wall drain and laid it on the floor. At first water trickled out very slowly, then all at once it gushed and flowed real well like a garden hose. I did not notice any type of clogging material in the water that drained out. About 3 inches of water in the tub would not drain out. I tried the spin cycle again and this time it started spinning but at a very slow speed. It never got up to it's usual high speed, and the 3 inches of water did not evacuate with the slow spin.

I filled it with water again and the exact same things happened.

What should I do? I tried blowing into the drain hose to see if bubbles would appear in the tub, but I guess I couldn't blow hard enough, nothing happened. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I removed the pump and checked all 4 hoses that attach to it. 3 hoses were completely unobstructed. The bottom hose had a good amount of wet lint in the trap bend, not enough of a clog for a complete blockage. I cleaned it all out. I also checked the self-cleaning filter which is downstream of the pump, and it was clear. I also emptied out the reservoir that is upstream of the pump, but not much was in there. Now the problem is, when I re-attached the reservoir, pump and filter and then filled the tub with water, it still won't drain, but now it won't drain at all even when I set the drain hose on the floor. Not a single drop comes out, whereas before a small amount would trickle and after a minute or so a gush would occur and water would drain out rapidly.

Other observations -

About a year before this no-drain problem developed, water stopped being pumped up into the detergent dispenser at the beginning of the wash cycles. The machine was washing and draining fine, but no water went to the dispenser. This problem had happened before and corrected itself after a while on its own.

When the drain cycle begins, I hear a noticeable single CLICK, and I hear another loud CLICK when I turn the machine off to stop its attempt to drain. I don't hear an actual pumping sound, just the click.

The pulley on the pump screws into the pump housing until it's tight. It acts more like a belt guide than as a pulley. That seems very odd to me. There was an abundance of powdered belt particles below that pulley. I'm not sure it rotates with the movement of the belt.

There is a metal handle on the pump that I can move left or right and it seems to be a switch of some sort but I have no idea how it functions. Maybe that's what's making the loud CLICK when I start/stop the drain cycle, not sure.

The plastic part of the pump, it looks like a pancake, is held together by clips. Should I remove the clips and take a look inside? I don't want to do get in too deep and be unable to re-assemble it, but if it's uncomplicated then I am willing.

Help and advice is much appreciated.

Without opening up the pump I was able to free up the pulley and get the pump innards to spin with the pulley. I just kept gently turning the pulley back and forth until it broke free from whatever was impeding it, and then ran lots of water through the pump until the pulley and innards were moving pretty freely. I also found and cleared a clog in the hose running up to the dispenser. The washer is running great now.

Bob thanks very much for your help. I think it's wonderful you provided actual part numbers for a replacement pump, awesome!

My only remaining concern is that when I laid the washer down on the face of the cabinet to be able to access the pump, screws, and all the hoses, thick black liquid lubricant dripped from above somewhere. I'd say about a quarter of a cup was lost in all. It doesn't drip out when the washer is standing up, only when I lay it down. I didn't notice a fill tube or dipstick or anywhere obvious to add more lubricant. As I say, the machine is running great. Should I be concerned about the lost lubricant? If I should add more, what type of lubricant is it, and where would I add it?

Thanks Bob, I'll avoid the can of worms and keep my fingers crossed.