New washing machine, old 1 1/2"drain pipe - I am stumped

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Hello,

I have bought my grandparents' home, which was built in the 50s or 60s. The drain pipes are under the concrete floors in an unattached utility room. The drain pipes are 1 1/2" throughout the building it appears. The washing machine drain pipe connected to a utility sink, but in between the two is the drain leading out of the building to a french drain. The washing machine and utility sink for the top of a capital T, the drain out of the building forms the lower part of the T. There is a floor drain half way down the lower part of the T. Even draining into the sink, which was no problem in itself, the washer does not drain fully, and I have to reset it to drain two or more times depending on the load size. I at first believed the pipe leading out of the building was clogged and it was backing up. I cut it off, water only dribbled out. I used high air pressure and water pressure to try to clear out the pipes I believed were clogged (both while plugging one of the three pipe ends), draino, cables and a snake, but cannot get any debris out of the pipe. The washer drain had a nipple which allowed the washer drain hose to fit very snugly. I removed this nipple and the adjoining elbow because I feared it was getting air locked. Water then splashed to the ceiling, but still nothing more than a dribble out of the drain pipe on the outside of the building. The water plumed into the sink before, it seemed to be all clear getting to the sink, and the cable ran up the lower part of the T without hitting anything, it felt totally clear. I'm sure the washer holds more than the sink did, but it seems like once it got too high, it stopped filling and did not allow my washer to drain, and for some reason it will NOT pour out of the drain out of the building. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be or ANYTHING else to try?
 
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Hi Sarah

I'm confused, are you sure you're using the correct term with 'french drain' ?
Anyway, perhaps you could post a couple of photos of the pipework, it might then give us an idea what's going on.
 

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