Can't speak to the grinding noise or drain pump issues but I have Elux washer and know the smell you are talking about. Run the washer clean cycle with bleach as recommended then when done, pull back the gasket from the drum. Not just the large flap although run a towel in there as well because there is likely residue there as well but the bigger culprit I've found is the tight fit between drum and gasket. I have found that if I force the corner of a towel in there then use something to keep it pressed in and run it all the way around the drum, there is nasty residue that comes out that is the source of the smell. As inconvenient as it may be, keep your washer door open after use. The washing machine mfgs all say that's no longer necessary but I call BS - it helps.

Thank you!

I will try wiping out the gasket. I do clean cycles regularly and leave the door open because my first HE machine had the infamous mildew problem, but I haven’t really deep cleaned the gasket because there wasn’t a mildew smell.

I also read somewhere else that with over sudsing it helps to wash something dirty without detergent instead of just rinsing the load or cleaning the machine. I usually just wash the same cycle again without detergent or add an extra rinse so I’m going to try it. My load this afternoon took an extra 45 minutes to finish and was full of suds afterwards, although no suds error. It then took another 45 minutes to complete a normal 12 minute rinse cycle. Hopefully cleaning the machine will allow me to at least wash a load or two between now and the time it can be serviced.

I watch my machine while I work out so I see what's going on.

For me with my Electrolux, I use up to the minimum amount for liquid detergents and one tablespoon (maybe two) for powders for regular sized loads (less for smaller loads)

I can NOT use Persil liquid. No matter how little I use I get suds galore (same with any pods).

There should only be bubbles when washing...no suds.

Electrolux's washers don't spin after every rinse (except for Active Wear at least on my older model before the change to the timer in the dial).

Rinses are not that great...and if there are any suds, they just don't rinse out well.

I hate the drains on the newer machines. They turn on and off too much during draining (I think causing more failure). Mine says on for three minutes, then turns off only to turn on again if the sump fills with water.

I don't know what could be causing the grinding noise.

Some sudsing is not nearly as much of a problem as people believe. There's a huge difference between "some sudsing" and OVERSUDSING.

Liquids tend to suds-up more than powders, particularly at high temperatures such as a Sanitize cycle with on-board water heating.

Foaming/bubbles during rinse can be from aeration of the water. Check an item, such as a wash cloth or small towel, after a final rinse that has evidence of some foaming/bubbles by swishing/squeezing it in a small amount of water in a sink. Does the water feel "slippery"/soapy? If not, then there's likely not a problem.

Sudsing is caused by surfactants in the detergent. Some detergents are formulated with surfactants that purposely "latch on" to the fabric so that a residual trace remains.

A *very small* dose of liquid fabric softener, or better, cooking oil, can help dissipate suds. Someone I know who developed a boutique non-sudsing powder detergent found in his research that fish oil was used as a suds-control agent in a "famous" low-sudsing detergent marketed years ago, if I recall correctly.

@DLM2000-GW, I figured out what you mean by pulling back the seal, not just behind the gasket but behind-behind. The build-up was awful.


I just read that it can happen from washing too often with cold temperatures or quick wash cycles. I wash a lot of dark and delicate clothing on cold, but isn’t this pretty common in modern clothing care? My daughter also often washes her school uniforms using quick wash during the week when she has items that need to be refreshed or are very lightly soiled. I do use hot water on dish towels, and my guest towels/extra towels are white and I wash them on hot, though not very often, but that’s about it. Even the sheets for my master bedroom say to wash on cold. Do I just need to run a cleaning cycle more often?

I’m relieved it might resolve the residue and infrequent suds issue, and may be unrelated to the grinding/working sound.

@dadoes, thank you. The load this afternoon that kept going forever had suds left in the door when the cycle was finished, but I used detergent below the minimum line even though it was a large blanket. That’s not what you mean, right? I think I must have rinsed it and rewashed it 3-4 times before the bubbles cleared. when I thought it was finally rinsed and I took it out it still felt sort of foamy. I tried adding a dirty towel to the load and the towel is perfectly clean and the blanket is better. I don’t know what magic made that help so much! I just added one more cycle, the shortest “hot” cycle I could select, and added fabric softener but only halfway to the mark.

Keep in mind that washers nowadays are restricted on water temperature, particularly on the designated Normal/Regular cycle, which is the basis of energy ratings (so it's the most restricted).

Warm on Normal/Regular may be 75°F to 85°F, which is pretty much cold.

Hot may be 95°F to 105°F, which is essentially warm.

Temperature recommendations on clothing nowadays sometimes is more of a CYA for the garment manufacturer than an outright requirement ... it really depends on the individual item. I have a set of 100% cotton sheets that are labeled wash in cold. I typically wash them at 125°F (or higher) to no specific damage or shrinkage. There's no way I'm washing sheets in COLD water, LOL.

Fabric softener only halfway to the mark .... halfway to what mark? A couple teaspoons should be way plenty to kill residual suds on a repeat cycle with no detergent added.

I NEVER use cold in my ELectrolux.

Warm is luke warm at best so quite OK to use on delicates or colors.

I use hot on my whites and for my elderly parents colors/whites.

I really don't have much fading at all on any of the loads I do weekly.

Is it possible the water isn’t heating up at all? The hot cycle I just tried didn’t seem to even get warm, I’m trying sanitize now. I don’t remember if the Electrolux felt warm during sanitize cycles when it was new so it may not indicate anything, but the door of my old HE machine did warm up during hot cycles.

I had a problem recently with my Electrolux front loader. Cycles were taking longer than the time indicated, as long as twice as long. Sometimes I would find the clothing soaking wet at the end of the cycle. Sometimes the machine would seem to get “stuck” while in the wash portion of the cycle- it would make a grinding noise and not move. The repairman found a sock partially stuck in the machine- halfway in and halfway out of wherever it was stuck (perhaps where it drains- I don’t remember exactly what he said). It was an adult women’s crew sock, not a baby sock. I now wash my socks in mesh bags!

Oh and the repairman didn’t find the problem until his second visit, when he really investigated and took apart the washer. (At the first repair visit he just balanced the washer and it seemed to work OK.) I had bought an extended warranty so I kept complaining until the machine was fixed.

"I wash a lot of dark and delicate clothing on cold, but isn’t this pretty common in modern clothing care?"

What dadoes said....the garment mfrs are CYA and do not care about our washing machines.

That blanket . . . Washing a blanket, unless it has been dragged through the mud or large dogs have slept on it for a couple of weeks, won't need more than 1/2 Tbsp of detergent, I currently have our cotton matelasse queen size bedspread in the washer with that amount of detergent and hope it is not too much. Seriously. No pets ever on it, just needs its semi-annual freshening up.

". I tried adding a dirty towel to the load and the towel is perfectly clean and the blanket is better. I don’t know what magic made that help so much!". The dirty towel gives the excess detergent something to grab onto and work on. I swear by this method! If my above mentioned bedspread ends up overdosed, I will toss something(s) from the laundry basket into the washer and do another load, sans detergent. It saves water and time (like hours in trying to rinse the excess out ). Experience has taught me that.

And when things are really sudsy, I empty the washer, run a quick cycle with nothing in there to flush out the excess, then do the "add a dirty item routine" with another cycle.

@DLM2000-GW, I figured out what you mean by pulling back the seal, not just behind the gasket but behind-behind. The build-up was awful.

Gross, isn't it? And so counter productive because what we're doing is trying to get things clean but swishing them around in water that has that build up of skin oil, soap, dirt and whatever else. ewww.

Is it possible the water isn’t heating up at all?

That may depend in part on your hot water set up. If you have a traditional water heater and it isn't very close to your washer, the water may barely be warm by the time the minimal water used in a FL has been released into the drum. Do you have a sink near your washer? How long does it take to get hot water at that location? That's probably a good indicator of how long it takes for your washer. OTOH if you have an on demand type of set up you should be getting hot water quickly although there are plenty of people in these forums that have issues with those systems, too. We have a recirculating system and hot water is released immediately. I just started a load and checked the water temp at 114 but that's not as it comes out of the hose, that's in the drum already somewhat cooled by the contents and the drum itself but the water is steaming. At the sink next to my washer, hot water comes out at 127 - too hot for me to hold my hand under. If you have a sink near your washer, check your water temp and see if it's hot quickly or delayed. If it's delayed, run the water till it's hot at that sink, then start your laundry - it should be hot faster to your washer.

On-demand (tankless) water heaters do not compensate for distance from the heater to the usage point ... the same delay applies.

Good info dadoes - I know little about tankless systems and thought they were always located close to use.

Yes, if anything, tankless systems are even more sensitive to length of pipes -- and a lot of tankless systems are incompatible with recirculation systems. That's why tankless systems are frequently installed as close as possible to where the hot water is needed. This is difficult if you have a house that has laundry, kitchen and bathrooms at opposite ends of the building. You might need more than one tankless heater. Or alternatively, you can install a boiler (i.e. something very similar to a tankless heater) and an indirect storage tank. That solution works beautifully, but initial investment is high.

Just thought of another place to check for smell - not sure of your particular model, mine has a drawer with a removable soap cup but in addition the entire drawer comes out as well. Mine has a clip in the back to release it and I've found plenty of residue, mold, yukky stuff in and around the drawer itself and the chute it slides into. The nooks and crannies make for all kinds of places where things can collect and grow.

I can't explain the sounds you are experiencing but maybe there is something stuck in the recirculation pump? Your machine relies on that to help wash and rinse the clothes.

And please please PLEASE stop washing everything on cold. Cold water causes clothing fibers to constrict, causing the fibers to hold onto dirt and body oils. Cold water also solidifies any body oils and causes these oils and other residue to stick to all the inner workings of your washer. That combined will continual overdosing of detergent just makes your clothes more dirty. And it causing that nasty film to build up. That nasty film is full of smelly bacteria (i.e. biofilm). I suggest going on a detergent "fast" for a week or so and use absolutely no detergent to wash any of your laundry. You have so much detergent residue built up if your laundry and your washer you will see suds even washing the same clothes several times with no detergent.

You never told us what detergent you use. What are you using and how much? Most detergents are VERY concentrated and you can wash an entire large load of laundry using only one tablespoon of detergent. YES, only one tablespoon! Trust me.

Cold water guidelines on laundry essentially means wash at 85F, which is the "warm" setting on your washer. I have an HE washer and wash everything on "hot" which is 98-100F. I have no issues with premature wear or fading. I also add an extra rinse to every cycle. I have no smelly washer or sour smelling clothes. Everything is fresh and clean smelling and well rinsed. You can have that too if you follow my advice.

In your model, there is a mixing chamber where the detergent is premixed with water before the completion of fill. The mixing and re-circulation will alternate during most of the wash bath. On my machine, the mixing motor, re-circulation pump, and drain pump have all had issues. Imagine the sound of grinding coffee beans. So much for doing laundry will people are trying to sleep...

MRB

Thank you, I use very little detergent for typical loads but it is hard to judge how much to use in unusual circumstances, and those come up a lot at my house because my son has kidney and bladder issues and has frequent accidents. I do wash his clothes on hot/sanitize so already I’m doing 1-2 loads more hot loads a week that I hadn’t taken into account. One example is the blanket I washed - it’s a blanket that is dragged around the house by my son, ends up covered in food, and typically has to be washed once a week (no, he’s not 3, he’s a teenager which is almost worse). It’s very large and fluffy, not a throw blanket, but very lightweight so it takes up a lot of room in the washing machine when I load it but shrinks down when it’s wet. I need to pay better attention to how much detergent to use on these kinds of things and keep a note in the laundry room so I don’t forget. I think if it’s buildup, it’s from these unusual loads and infrequent hot cycles. It seems resolved now, though.

Ugh, the idea of risking washing my expensive dark jeans and sweaters and all of my delicates on hot is just too much for me. There are other loads I can see washing on hot because the water temperature is much lower than I realized, so I’ll start there and maybe work up courage. In the last two days, since I have done a few hot loads, the cold water loads seem to be performing better.

I think some of the issue has been resolved and what is left will be easier to sort out by the service call, so I’m going to call this week. My husband suggested keeping track of the types of loads and when it makes the grinding sounds for a few days before scheduling so I’m not just saying “it makes a grinding sound.”

Regarding the hot water set up, I don’t have a laundry sink, I had to choose between a laundry sink and a tall cabinet, and it is next to a bathroom, so I went with storage. The sink is maybe 12 feet away, in the next room. I’m going to try running hot water to that sink until it is actually hot before I do a warm or hot load. The sanitize cycle I did last night is the first load that has actually felt even the slightest bit warm to me, but I have done a couple of sanitize loads the last couple of days and just didn’t have time to check on them.

On a positive note, while troubleshooting I’m finally making progress on my piles of laundry!

I think the grinding could be the recirculating pump. So far I can’t see it linked to water temperature, spinning, or a certain type of cycle. The sounds seems to come up so randomly that not knowing anything about how the circulation pump works, just assuming it would probably turn on and off at different times in different cycles, it makes the most sense. It’s enough to help me justify another service call! My husband usually fixes everything, including stretching our last washing machine a year or two beyond when it started to die, but i want one last shot with the electrolux service before we void what’s left of the warranty.