If you are having trouble with your top or front loading washing machine not filling with water, here are some quick fix tips. This guide will show you what to do if your washing machine will not fill with HOT or COLD water. Both of these issues can be fixed by doing a few simple checks.
The main causes your washing machine is not filling with water MAY BE:
1. One of the water valves (hot or cold) supplying the washer with water has been turned off or closed.
2. Your washer has a shutoff valve on the back that may be in the closed position.
3. There may be a water filter on your washer that is clogged and tells the washer computer (control board) to not allow water to enter.
4. A hose or water connector on the back or inside the washer is defective or clogged.
5. The water to your home has been turned off temporarily (the city may be doing work outside and did not notify you).
If the washer is brand new…
Check the back of it to be sure there is not a shutoff valve in the closed position near the water hose connection.
Many of the newer front load HE machines have a shutoff valve and sometimes during shipping it is put into the closed position.
So your problem with your washing machine not filling with water may be as simple as just turning the valve to open.
Your washing machine may have a shutoff valve in the
water connection assembly, make sure it is not closed.
If the washer is not new and is suddenly NOT filling with water…
Your NEWER washer may have a water filter installed.
If so it may be clogged and telling the computer to not allow water to enter.
If your washer has a special filter, clean or replace it and test the washer for water flow.
If there is no filter on your washer then you will need to take further steps to find the problem.
Check to be sure the water supply valves that supply
water to your washer are not closed or off.
To determine if a valve may be shut…
Unplug the washer and slide it out from the wall to leave space to access the water valves.
Locate the 2 water valves (one is for hot water and one is for cold water).
If both water valves are open (hot and cold) then there is a problem in the washer or the water supply hoses.
Check to be sure that somehow the washer water valve has not been shut (may or may not be something on your washer but if so it is located on back of washer).
If you assume water is going to the washer and ALL valves are open, go to the next step below.
The HOT and COLD water lines will connect to the back
of your washer similar to the picture above.
To determine if water is being supplied to your washer…
Turn off the 2 water valves and remove the hoses from the back of the washer (not the wall).
Hold the ends of both hoses pointing into an empty bucket and open the valves.
If water flows then you know the hoses and valves are not clogged or defective. (This procedure will verify water flow to the washer and you can rule out a problem with the hoses or valves located on the wall)
While you have the water hoses disconnected, look into the hose connections on the back of the washer.
Make sure that there is nothing clogging the screen or in the hose connection.
If there is anything clogging the screen or blocking the connection, remove it and reinstall the hoses and test washer.
Some other tips and suggestions…
On most washers, if water flow is going to the machine but the machine will not fill with water, you probably have a bad water valve on the machine itself.
You can remove the water valve or hose connectors and see if there is anything visibly wrong with it.
Sometimes they crack and block water flow to the washer and may leak.
Washers that have a water shutoff valve on the back can sometimes fail in the closed position.
There are also hoses that are in the machine that may be clogged or possibly pinched.
This issue can be fixed yourself but taking the machine apart may be necessary to access all the hoses and water lines.
Feel free to ask us washing machine questions by using the comment form below and we will troubleshoot your issue for free and in a timely manner.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
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I have a Maytag commercial washer MAT12PDDAW with no power to cold water inlet valve, o hum no voltage. Wire has good continuity and is clean both ends. Cold supply hose and screen are fine. New inlet valves. Swapped with good circuit board, still no cold power. What is next?
Ryan,
Please give us the model number of your Maytag Bravos Washer.
If all solenoids test ok, is it possible an unseen blockage has occured in one of the water lines?
A crimped or pinched water line once everything is put back in place?
Hard water or FOD in a solenoid that still shows to work electrically but not mechanically?
Faulty voltage going to a solenoid?
Let us know what you find.
-RR
I have a Maytag bravos mct washer.
Initial diagnosis since this washer is 10 yrs old was the water inlet Valve had a stuck or faulty solenoid in it.
The mashine does the very 1st washer sprinkle i believe for the temp sensor then it does the water fill in the soap dispenser.
Then when it does the slow spin were it adds just a little water it does nothing but spin slow then speeds up then stops.
I did not have a the large fold out diagnostics manual paper for some reason with this when i purchased it.
So after reading several comments and questions on the net it seemed to be simply a bad solenoid or 2 so i purchased a complete new valve.
Now after installing have the same results.
So went to 2 different appliance stores only to get the “we can come out for $60-100 to run diagnostic and evaluate the issue.”
I was not going to do that.
I ran the auto diagnostic test mode and everything worked for all the solenoids but still refuses the initial water disbursement whether its in any of the wash temp/rinse temp modes for every type of wash cycle.
I pulled all the connectors under the panel and used dielectric grease, checked every water line for possible plugging but nothing found.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Can you help me I have a kenmore washer I hooked up my washer to the water lines and I turned it on and it filled up with water until and did a cycle and then I got in NF on my dash of my washer and it’s draining fine spinning fine but it will not give enough water to do the full Cycles can you tell me what I have to do I have taken out the screens out of the back of the machine to clean them and it’s still doing the same thing
Tom, I had this same problem in my garage. I replaced the cracked valve and I have the same symptoms. It will run water in for a few seconds then shuts off. Did you figure out what the problem was?
Hi – we have an Electrolux FFFW5000QWO that only fills with water on delicate and the LED lights only light up on delicate. We have checked all the hoses, screens and water intake and pressure and all is fine. We ran diagnostics and it shows E11. Tried resetting to factory defaults by holding down options and spin at the same time. This appeared to work but washer did not fill with water. Any ideas on what the problem is? Thank you in advance.
Samsung 2 yr old mildly used front load washer stoped mid cycle. Indicator lights say water should be flowing in to rinse— I hear a hum but no water enters. I turned off and tried other settings-/ it won’t advance to spin or rinse. A small load of sudsy soaked clothes are in the machine