We are having a severe cold snap and so the pipe where my Sears Kennmore 80 Heavy Duty washer drains is frozen. I disconnected the black drain pipe at the back and have it draining out into the yard (this is temporary for a few days until we thaw). The problem now is when I start a cycle, the water just flows and flows right through. It doesn't fill the tub to then move on to the agitation, etc part of the process. All other parts of the process work. Did I cause this when I disconnected the drain tubing out of the rear of the machine?

Hi Bpartridge...

If I understand you correctly then you did in fact cause the issue as you have the drain line lower than than the tub of the washing machine and water is basically just falling out of the machine as fast as you fill it.

To fix this, connect the drain hose so it loops up above the tub of the machine and then let it drain back down and onto the ground outside for now.

To fix that frozen drain pipe, if it's a metal drain, you may be able to use a paint stripper heat gun and heat the pipes to thaw the PTRAP itself out. Once the ptrap is thawed your drain should work again. If the drain pipe is plastic you can still heat the ptrap, but do it slowly, over time so it doesn't burn the plastic. The result should be the same.

Let us know if you want to discuss more.. OK?

MARK