We bought our home 3 years ago and the washer and dryer came with it. The serial number is CT2921724, so I’m guessing it was made in 2006? We had not had any issues before.
Two days ago, the unit stopped working after the fill cycle, so it wouldn’t continue to agitation cycle. So I "bridged" the gray and white wires that were connected to the lid switch to test the lid switch. It worked, but only for a little bit of time.
At that point i smelled smoke and the unit stopped working again. I waited for a half hour and tried it again (I was trying to spin the clothes that were in there and expel the water.) More smoke smell.
After an hour, I removed the clothes and tried the spin cycle with only the water in the bin. This time it did spin, but slow. In fact it did not create enough force to drain the bin.
This morning I tried the spin cycle again (did not want a science experiment and was contemplating adding chlorine to the water. This time it began to spin with force the water was draining, when a loud "clicking" sound was coming from behind and low. I don’t want to burn out the motor. What is your diagnosis?
Yes, the washer was manufactured in July of 2006. When you say it stopped working after fill, was the washer totally quiet or was the motor humming? Motor is at lower middle/front of washer cabinet. Do you have to leave the jumper in to make it work or is the lid switch working? The washer should drain initially without spinning after a normal agitation cycle. If it isn’t doing that, there is at least a problem with the gearcase. You may have something in the pump causing the noise and motor binding problem. I would remove the cabinet, jump out the lid switch, pull the pump off the back of the motor and see if it will spin properly. It’s fine to run it with cabinet off. Make sure your lid switch jumper is 16 gauge wire and makes a tight fit with the connector pins. Full motor current goes through and you must have a good connection. If it is not the pump causing the clicking sound, post a video to youtube so I can hear/see whats going on.
Eric
I pulled the pump back off and the motor still made the clicking sounds. I posted a video on you tube named "kenmore washer APP.com"
So I partially assembled and tried to run it through its cycles. It filled fine and began the agitation cycle fine. There are no clothes so it is lighter. But halfway through the agitation cycle I am beginning to smell the smoke again so I shut it down.
I pushed the cycle forward to drain and it completely silent. No hum. No smell. No noise. Still full of water, not rinsing. Won’t spin. Is it over heated from the agitation cycle?
Check the connector at the motor. Unplug it and check for corrosion on the terminals or burned terminals/wires. Also check the plug at the timer. Search on youtube did not find your video. What is the link to the video??? Is the lid switch working or not???
Eric
I broke the lid switch, so no. It has a jumper now (16 gauge.) I just posted a second you tube video. Both are titles Kenmore washer APP.com
It does not come up when I search on that. Just copy and paste the link here so all I have to do is click on it.
And that’s in agitation mode, not drain/spin? I thought the clicking was in drain/spin.
fairbank56 said:
And that’s in agitation mode, not drain/spin? I thought the clicking was in drain/spin.
I think it is both. First of all, it didn’t drain. What you saw in the second video was me forcing a full bin of water into the spin cycle. That’s when that large clicking occurred and you can even see Something Inside the motor lunging forward. I think this is the source of the noise.
However, when I place it directly in spin cycle it starts and spins without a hitch. Could it be the weight of the water in the bin?
I think you should have a tech look at it. Need to take some live line voltage checks at the motor while it’s operating to determine if there is a voltage drop problem. The clicking in the motor is the centrifugal switch kicking in and out because the motor is running too slowly. This could be due to a number of things including voltage drop issue, clothing between the tubs, a bad basket drive, sticking brakes, faulty timer,faulty gearcase…etc. Sorry, but this back and forth exchange between expert and rookie isn’t going to work this time. The pump will have just a little bit of resistance.
Eric
As the expert, for a 7 year old machine, knowing the diagnosis probabilities, would you invest in a technician visit and the repair fee? Would it be smart money to replace the unit?
Well, I recently spent several hundred bucks on repair parts for my own 11 year old washer because I refuse to buy any of the junk they are selling nowadays. The machine you have is a Whirlpool direct drive design which was in production for nearly 30 years. It’s still in production for commercial units. The replacement design that Whirlpool came up with is a totally different belt drive design which has had a huge amount of problems and they have only been in production for 3 years. All new washers have to comply with ever increasing government restrictions on energy use including how much water they use. The only decent top loader left are the Speed Queen models that run $800-$900 but again, they have a low rinse water level due to government restrictions. As for the repair of your washer, it may be something very simple such as clothing stuck between the tubs or a bad motor switch but at this point, you need someone experienced to troubleshoot the problem.
Eric