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SBW#41 – Stackable Washer/Dryer Water Valve Replacement

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Have you ever went to your washer and found it dripping water in the tub or after the washer has completed its cycle your close is still partially wet? If so, you may want to read more and watch the video at the bottom as I will explain how I have fixed these problems.

Opening up that washer lid or if you leave it open to avoid a musty smell only to find a slow drip can be disheartening knowing that your first thought is “my washer is broken, I’m going to need a new one!” Seeing those $ in your mind from either buying a new one or needing to call a repairman can be a real downer. However, you don’t have to let it be. Chances are if you’ve just had a steady dripping when the washer isn’t running, one or both of your water valves are bad. The bad news with today washers is it’s a valve assembly and not just one so you’ll need to replace the entire assembly yourself, call that expensive repairman, or even worse, buy a new washer.

Because I’m frugal, I’m going to replace the water inlet valve assembly. While I show how to do it on a stackable unit the same steps can be roughly used for a standalone unit. Shut off and disconnect everything (power, water, etc) so you can slide it out to get to the back. With stackable units, the front panel may slide down such as mine. With standalone units, the entire case slides off the back. Depending on your model, you’ll need to figure out how to get inside the washer unit and while I cannot show every model, I will show you how I did my stackable unit.

One thing to note, I link to the part I had to use (AP3363282) in my washer. Your part may vary and I recommend using Appliance Parts Pros to find your part number using your model information. You can even buy it there if you want or you can use Amazon to find the part.

First things first, disconnect that power cord. You don’t want to take any chances given the fact you’re going to be dealing with water and certainly don’t want to end up electrocuted. Once you have that power cord disconnected go ahead and disconnect everything else you need to so you can get to the back. For me, that meant the hot and cold water supply hoses, water discharge line, and the dryer vent. I left the gas line connected since it is a flex line but shut off the valve just in case.

For me to disconnect some stuff, I had to slide that heavy unit out but this needed to be done anyway because I needed to get to where the water inlet valve assembly is screwed into the back. Plus, you need to disconnect the water supply hoses from the water valve assembly.

Have a bucket on hand though because you’re going to get water drainage when you disconnect those supply lines and discharge line.

Once everything was disconnected that I needed to I slid the unit out and found the two screws along with the bottom front panel. Unscrew those and the front panel should be allowed to slide downward. This will allow it to tilt out and be removed from the unit.

Next, push the top of the washer tub out of the way as much as possible, provided your valve is in the same location as mine – the top right. You’ll need to get back there with a flat screwdriver or the appropriate sized socket to loosen the rubber fill tube that comes out of the water inlet valve assembly. Loosen the hose clamp and with a flat screwdriver slide the tub off. Next use the flat screwdriver to disconnect the power connectors from the assembly. Take note of which power connector goes where.

Now that we have all the internals disconnected from the water valve assembly you need to unscrew the mounting screws holding it to the back panel. To do this, I had to reach around back with a Philips screwdriver and take the screws out. Reach back into the unit and slide the assembly out.

You’ll need to move the mounting bracket from the old water valve assembly to the new one. I used the same self-tapping screws on the old one rather than the new one’s screws.

Now, it’s time to reverse what we’ve done so far. Place the water inlet valve assembly back in the inside of the washer cabinet with the supply line connectors slipping through the back panel. These held it in place for me so I was able to reach around back, hold onto them while screwing the mounting screws back in.

Next, I slipped the tub fill tube back onto the water valve tube, reconnected the power connectors back to their correct locations.

At this step, I wanted to make sure everything was leak-free so I slid the unit back enough until I could connect up the supply lines and the discharge hose. I plugged the unit in and gave it a test fill partway up. No leaks! I drained it out and unplugged the unit.

One last thing to do before replacing the front panel is to visually inspect all components within the washer cabinet. If anything looks worn out or broken, now is the time to replace it while you have it open.

I reattached the front panel by putting the tabs back in the slots and lifting from the bottom with a screwdriver for leverage. Put the screws back in to hold the panel back on and reattached the remaining connections I disconnected in the back. Slid the unit back and place and gave it a full wash cycle run.

I had to replace the hose clamp due to trying to over-tighten it to stop it from leaking. However, all this ended up doing was stripping it out. So, I did have to put some silicon grease on the backflow preventer to get it to seal. This model is kind of tricky because this rubber device slips inside of the black discharge line and over the white outlet from the washer. Getting soft plastic to squeeze a soft rubber backflow preventer onto hard plastic took some trial and error. In the process, I managed to pop it out and pour water all over my shoes!

No more drips in the tub and no leaks! Done! Oh, don’t forget to turn that gas valve back on if you have a gas-fired dryer.

As always if you have any questions or comments post them below or on my YouTube video comments section and I’ll do my best to respond.

I’ve included a few links to the equipment I used and Amazon Links below for the equipment and materials I used.

Equipment and Materials

I hope you find this video useful and can use some of the tips presented. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or experiences you have had below.

Some of the links in my video description and article above are Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you would like to make a different purchase from Amazon, you can also use the storewide link.

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