---
title: "Whirlpool-built Kenmore washer error code F21"
description: "Whirlpool-built Kenmore washer error code F21 — whirlpool wrote this code, not Kenmore. On a washer wearing this badge, F21 means: A drain problem."
url: "https://kenmoremiami.support/error-codes/whirlpool-washer-f21/"
date_modified: "2026-09-01"
Appliance type: "Washers"
---


# Whirlpool-built Kenmore washer error code F21

### Whose code this actually is

Kenmore did not write F21, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is Whirlpool’s, and it appears on the washer that Whirlpool built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool-built and LG-built washers wear one badge and share almost none of their code scheme, so the wrong table here sends you to a pump when the machine is reporting a lid.

### What it means

A drain problem.

### Which Kenmore models can raise it

The Kenmore washer whose model number begins 110 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are Whirlpool’s, which is why Whirlpool’s table is the one that applies to F21 and no other manufacturer’s does.

### What happens next

- Filter, hose and standpipe, in that order.
- The numbered equivalent of the long-drain condition.

### Where this usually goes

The job this most often becomes is [washer drain pump replacement](/services/washer-drain-pump-replacement/), and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore washer in this county works in hard water and a warm laundry room, so a code that arrives with slow draining or long cycles is very often the supply or the drain rather than the machine. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears F21, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.

### Where this meaning came from

Whirlpool’s own documentation: *Front Load Washer error codes — Whirlpool Product Help*. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer’s document instead.

What this one means

Whose code this actually is

Kenmore did not write F21, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is Whirlpool’s, and it appears on the washer that Whirlpool built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool-built and LG-built washers wear one badge and share almost none of their code scheme, so the wrong table here sends you to a pump when the machine is reporting a lid.

What it means

A drain problem.

Which Kenmore models can raise it

The Kenmore washer whose model number begins 110 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are Whirlpool’s, which is why Whirlpool’s table is the one that applies to F21 and no other manufacturer’s does.

What happens next

Filter, hose and standpipe, in that order.

The numbered equivalent of the long-drain condition.

Where this usually goes

The job this most often becomes is washer drain pump replacement, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore washer in this county works in hard water and a warm laundry room, so a code that arrives with slow draining or long cycles is very often the supply or the drain rather than the machine. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears F21, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.

Where this meaning came from

Whirlpool’s own documentation: Front Load Washer error codes — Whirlpool Product Help. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer’s document instead.

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