1980s GE Filter Flo washing machine leaking from top

[jczarn]

Hello!
I have a 1980s GE Filter Flo top loading washing machine WWA7050GAL
Recently (and rather suddenly), I've had a problem with a large amount of water leaking out during the spin cycle. Upon further inspection, the water is leaking from the top of the tub, under the top cover.
I tested running the washer with the top cover removed, and didn't notice anything unusual until the spin cycle started. Once the spin cycle starts, the centrifugal force of the rotating tub sends water shooting rather forcefully out the top.
I'm aware that the top cover has a gasket, which normally would help to stop any splashing water from leaking out. But I'm not sure that it's design to keep *that* much water from splashing out - and I'm also surprised if it was just the gasket, why it would start leaking such a great volume of water so suddenly after no problems for many years. The gasket has certainly seen better days, but I don't see any signs of recent trauma.

I took a video of the water splashing out with the top cover removed - I had to stop it just a few seconds into the spin cycle since there was so much water splashing out once it started to get up to speed. The machine was set to use the highest water level, which is what I normally use. You can see the video here:


With the machine stopped, I did try moving the agitator by hand. It seemed to be locked to the rotation of the tub in both directions (I'm not sure if this is normal or not). It was easy to spin the agitator and tub clockwise, but very difficult to spin it counter-clockwise (it felt like a brake was applied).

I've had no problems with leaks until this started to happen suddenly the other day.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! I love these older washers and want to keep it running if at all possible.
Thank you!

 

[DADoES]

 
Water swirling up over the spin basket, as your video shows, is normal.  That's how spin-drain works.

The gasket on the edge of the outer tub sealing against the underside of the machine top is what keeps it from leaking.

Is there any rust-through or deterioration on the upper edge of the outer tub?

 

[yogitunes]

as long as there are no perforations in the outter tub....

next thought would be the top seal....replacing it is simple, locating one may not be so easy...

I would have tested the machine with the top in place, and the rear cover removed just to rule out areas of where the water may be coming from....

so another quick option/solution.....take four small flat washers, there are four bolts at each corner of the outter tub, remove them, and place a washer under the bracket to raise the tub slightly, and replace the bolt through the bracket/washer, the top may require a little more force to press down, and this should form a tighter seal....and see how you make out....

 

[pulltostart]

Could there be a problem with the pump or the discharge hose?  It seems that the pump should be able to handle the volume of water that the spin is creating, but if there's some type of obstruction (either in the pump or the hose) could it compromise the pump-out rate?

 

Strictly a novice talking here.

 

lawrence

 

[washerlover]

I agree with Lawrence…it looks like a pump issue to me. My GE tends to throw water into the bleach dispenser and filter flume on full load spins, but it quickly gets pumped out.

 

[yogitunes]

check out this vid...FF>>24:48 spin out....notice the over flow from the outter tub.....if it didnt do this with a full tub of water, I would suspect the clutch not gripping enough or a loose belt...

standard capacity will do it more versus the larger capacity machines.....

I always thought of it as one sure way the whole machine is getting flushed out versus a neutral drain where the suds/scum would stay near the top area...

 

[combo52]

GE FF Spin Out

The water spinning over the top is completely normal, the top cover seal is critical to keep these machines from leaking badly.

 

Clean up the top sea; and underside of the washers top and try reshimming the outer tub upwards a little as Martin suggested in reply #2.

 

If that does not work completely you can glue a strip if good weather stripping at the top of the gasket or even just glue the washers top to the gasket if you are not worried about taking the washers top up again. We have done that for customers so they can maybe get a little more use out of an old washer.

 

John L.

 

[swestoyz]

WH8X305

There are several NOS WH8X305 GE outer tub seals on eBay. John's idea of adding a layer of weather stripping isn't a bad one at all, or you could try just replacing the whole seal. It will make a world of difference and it won't be rock hard like the original more than likely is.

Would suggest running a bead of RTV along the flange before installing the seal.

Ben

 

[jczarn]

Wow - I'm overwhelmed with the quality and amount of responses here! Such a neat forum to find.

Regarding the upper edge of the outer tub - I pulled some of the gasket off, and there is a little surface rust on the lip, but not too bad.

I did notice some gouges and resulting rust where the inner tub had apparently scraped the outer tub at some point, but it doesn't look like it's rusted through yet.

I did also notice a hose (that goes through the rear right top of the outer tub) that appears to have leaked where it passes through the outer tub, but I don't know how severe it is when the washer is running.

I should also note that the top cover probably doesn't clamp down as well as it should - I'm guessing someone tried to pry the top cover open at some point without releasing the clips properly, as the metal on the top cover is a little bent out of shape where the clips attach (and the enamel is mangled in that area). I tried to bang in back in shape a little. And yes, the gasket is probably not nearly as soft as it should be.

I will go ahead and pick up a "new" gasket from ebay and see how much that helps. I'm still a little suspicious that the problem happened rather suddenly (which is why I was considering that there might be some other problem, like the pump as suggested), but this seems like a reasonable start.

Thank you!

 

[turquoisedude]

Reply #7

I second what Ben said - I had to deal with a shot top tub seal when restoring my 1957 GE WA855 automatic washer and I used the double-barrelled solution he described.  I used a closed-cell foam weather stripping and the blue RTV - the washer has been back in service for nearly 4 years now with no "overflow spin".  

 

[jczarn]

Reporting back with my findings:
I installed a brand new OEM gasket on the top the tub. I sealed the gasket to the tub with RTV silicone. I also sealed the interface between the hose that enters the rear-right top of the outer tub and the tub itself (not sure what this hose is for).

I was able to bang some of the sheet metal of lid back into shape so that the top cover would press down more tightly on top of the gasket - indeed, I had to press down pretty hard (sit on it) to get the top cover to latch back in place again.

The amount of leaking has decreased, but it still definitely leaks. I have tried both the medium and large load settings, and both result in leaking water.

Is it possible that something else has changed that perhaps causes excess water and/or splashing? As I mentioned earlier, the large leak came on rather suddenly when the problem started occurring... it wasn't a slow leak that has gradually gotten worse.

I'll try to spend some more time carefully observing exactly where the leak is coming from.
Thanks!