Direct answer: If your washer won't stop draining, the most common causes are a drain hose installed too low and siphoning water back out, a cycle that never fully canceled, or a washer drain pump being held on by a control or pressure-sensing problem.
Most likely: Start with the drain hose height and placement, then do a full cancel/reset and watch whether the washer is actually pumping water or just stuck in a drain portion of the cycle.
First separate what you have. Some washers are actively pumping the whole time. Others drain, pause, refill, and drain again because the machine thinks the tub never reached the right water level. That difference matters. One quick reality check: a bad pump usually causes no-drain or weak-drain complaints more often than nonstop draining.
Don’t start with: Don't start by buying a washer drain pump. Plenty of washers keep draining because the hose setup or water-level sensing is wrong, not because the pump itself failed.
You hear the drain pump humming or rattling almost nonstop, and it stops only when you unplug the washer or cut power.
Start here: Start with cancel/reset, then check whether the control is commanding drain because the washer still thinks water is in the tub.
Water enters, then disappears right away down the drain, so the washer never seems to fill normally.
Start here: Start with the drain hose height and how far the hose is pushed into the standpipe. This is classic siphoning.
The washer reaches drain or spin and just sits there pumping, sometimes with a few pauses, but never completes the cycle.
Start here: Check for a partial clog, pressure hose issue, or a door or lid problem that keeps the washer from advancing.
There is little or no water left in the tub, but the machine keeps acting like it still needs to drain.
Start here: Focus on the water-level sensing side first, especially an air dome or pressure hose problem, before assuming the pump is bad.
If the hose is too low, sealed too tightly, or shoved too far into the standpipe, the washer can pull water out as fast as it fills and keep trying to correct itself.
Quick check: Unplug the washer during fill. If water still keeps flowing out through the drain hose, the setup is wrong and the washer is being siphoned.
A power glitch or interrupted cycle can leave some washers parked in a drain routine until they are reset.
Quick check: Use the machine's cancel or pause function, then unplug it for a few minutes and restart a simple rinse and spin cycle.
If the washer never gets a clear 'tub is full' or 'tub is empty' signal, it may keep draining or bounce between fill and drain.
Quick check: Listen for normal filling, then watch whether the washer immediately dumps that water out or acts like the tub level never changes.
A weak drain, jammed pump impeller, or door/lid issue can leave the machine stuck at the point where it expects the tub to empty and lock conditions to be met.
Quick check: Check whether the pump sounds strained, water leaves slowly, or the washer shows a door/lid complaint or refuses to move into full spin.
This separates siphoning from an electrical or control problem fast, and it keeps you from chasing the wrong part.
Next move: If unplugging stops all draining and the tub starts holding water normally on the next test, the issue may have been a stuck cycle that cleared with a reset. If water keeps leaving with the washer unplugged, go straight to the drain hose setup. If the pump only stops when power is removed, keep checking control and sensing causes.
What to conclude: A washer cannot power a pump while unplugged. If water still drains, that is gravity and siphoning. If draining stops with power removed, the machine is being told to drain.
Bad hose setup is one of the most common reasons a washer drains while filling or seems stuck in endless drain.
Next move: If the tub now fills and holds water normally, you found the problem. Run a full cycle and keep an eye on the drain point for the first load. If the hose setup looks right and the washer still keeps draining only when powered, move on to reset and cycle-state checks.
What to conclude: A siphoning washer can look like a bad pump or bad control, but the machine is often just reacting to water being pulled out of the tub.
Washers sometimes get stuck in a drain routine after a power interruption, an interrupted cycle, or a failed attempt to unlock or spin.
Next move: If the washer returns to normal after reset, monitor it for the next few loads but do not buy parts yet. If it immediately goes back to draining or never moves past drain, the washer is still seeing a condition that tells it to pump out.
A washer that cannot prove the tub emptied, or cannot read water level correctly, may keep the drain pump running long after the water is gone.
Next move: If clearing debris or reconnecting a loose pressure hose stops the endless draining, run two test loads before calling it fixed. If the washer still drains with an empty tub and no visible blockage, the likely fault is now in the water-level sensing circuit, door/lid feedback, or the main control.
By this point you have ruled out the easy stuff. The remaining causes are usually a washer door latch or lid lock issue, a pressure-sensing fault, or a main control that keeps the pump energized.
A good result: If you confirm a latch problem, replace the washer door latch or lid lock assembly. If a tech confirms the control is feeding the pump constantly, replace the washer main control only after fitment is verified.
If not: If you still cannot separate sensing from control, stop before buying expensive electronics blindly.
What to conclude: You are down to the less common faults that need either a clearly matched replacement part or proper electrical testing.
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The first thing to suspect is siphoning. If the washer drain hose is too low, pushed too far into the standpipe, or sealed too tightly, water can pull right back out as the tub fills.
Sometimes, but it is not the first bet. A drain pump usually fails by not draining or draining weakly. If it runs nonstop, the bigger question is why the washer is telling it to run.
Start a fill cycle, then unplug the washer. If water still keeps leaving the tub through the drain hose with power removed, that is siphoning or a drain setup problem.
That usually points to the washer not getting the right water-level or door/lid feedback, or to a control that is stuck commanding drain. An empty tub with a pump still running is not normal pump behavior by itself.
Not until you rule out siphoning, reset the cycle, check for a partial clog, and look for door/lid or pressure-sensing issues. Control boards are expensive and easy to misdiagnose on this symptom.