whirlpool direct drive washer - spin cycle broken :<

[kyle]

hi all,

newer model (< 1yr old) whirlpool washer. i bought the washer from someone who said they bought it for their son but son never used it because he moved to california before he could use it, blah, blah blah.. who knows, right?

anyways, here is the problem:

all cycles work fine, until it gets to spin cycle.

while on spin cycle,

-if i lift the lid, "motor" noise cuts off -if i close the lid to the point where the lift switch is re-engaged, the "motor" noise cuts on, however no spinning occurs. -if i have the lid up, and try to turn the basket, it will not budge -if i simply have the lid down, on spin cycle, and watch the drain hose, i can see some water pumping out vary sporadically (pulsing every

5-10seconds maybe) .. which leads me to believe faulty water pump or something clogged not allowing it to drain well? the catch is that inside the bowl i see no water. so where is all this magical water, eh?

i dont have a sales receipt for the washer.. but it&#39;s less than a year old.. can i call the 800# on the lid and will they walk me through instructions and such, or are they jerks?

if you think this job of diagnosing / repairing might be over 5-10 hours of work, let me know, as i can simply toss the washer out and just put in more hours at my job and just buy a brand new washer... without these problems..

thanks all to those who help!

[Proctologically Violated©®]

Try energizing the motor directly--make sure that when you do this, you disengage the motor from any leads going back to boards, etc. Will proly have to cut wires, re-splice them w/ wire nuts. Presumably it&#39;s a multiple speed motor, but maybe "direct drive" means it&#39;s beltless, and some kind of transmission is still there. Hopefully there is a wiring/speed chart, but if not, I have found that usually white is the neutral, black is the high speed, and the various colors are intermediate speeds. The capacitor is internally wired, so you only have to connect the white, and one color at a time. At least on my multi-speed shit furnace, so ineptly installed by fuknYost & Campbell, here in Westchester, NY.

First, tho, try to jump the lockout switch, so&#39;s you can see what&#39;s going on w/ the lid up. I had a drain problem, turned out the drain hose had slipped down and kinked.

[gfretwell]

You have nothing to lose by calling them. If it is really that new (they can tell by the serial number) it may still be on warranty and not really your problem. I wouldn&#39;t tell them you bought it used, only that you don&#39;t have the reciept and you are not sure how long you had it.

[kyle]

hi all,

i have a question.. i am searching for a new washing machine because the repair man gave a death sentence to my current one.. and i read somewhere about "transporting brackets" or "drum brackets" that are used for transporting washing machines.. and it will not spin while these brackets are installed.. which is exactly my problem!!

where are these located, besides the obvious answer of, underneath.. :>

what could i be looking for when looking underneath ? i want to try this tonight before i go buy a new washer!!

Proctologically Violated=A9=AE wrote:

[kyle]

after further investigation, it seems like the machine would behave differently than what it does when the brackets are still there... sooo nevermind... ahh well, off to purchase a new washer!

kyle wrote:

[nospamtodd]

With a direct drive washer, when the motor is not energized, the brake is activated and you can&#39;t turn the basket easily. If you are not getting any spin action in the spin cycle with the motor energized, then more than likely the motor coupling is broken. The coupler kit has a pronged plastic piece that goes on the motor, another on the gearcase, and a rubber disk in between. You can tilt the washer back a bit, and look up into the slot of the gearcase, between the gearcase and the motor, and see the coupler. Usually a broken coupler will make noise similar to putting a baseball card on a spinning bike wheel, like when you were a kid. But sometimes a broken coupler makes no noise. You can search on the internet for instructions on how to change the coupler. You can do it from underneath if you have nimble fingers, or you can take the cabinet off for better access.

Shipping braces are most common on front load washers during transport, because there is very little to keep the guts of the washer stable otherwise. On a top load washer, stability during transport is important, but not as critical as on a front loader. Some manuracturers use a styrofoam disk just inside the lid to keep the basket from moving during transport. On your direct drive, about the only thing that is like a shipping brace are 2 or 3 pins that are released upon delivery, by pulling a yellow strap on the back of the machine. The strap pulls out cotter pins, and the shipping pins fall into a little cup. You can look underneath the washer and see the pins sitting in their individual cups. With the cotters removed and pins fallen, your basket should move freely front to back, side to side, when you grab the agitator and move the basket with it. If a pin doesn&#39;t get released, then it is like a frozen shock absorber in a car and you will get a lot of vibration and bouncing of the basket during spin. I doubt that your washer has unreleased pins due to its age.