GE front load washer will not advance, agitate, or spin, but will fill and drain

Appliance Repair Questions › Category: Washing Machines › GE front load washer will not advance, agitate, or spin, but will fill and drain
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Anonymous asked 10 years ago
My GE WSXH208A1WW front load washer will not advance through the cycles. It will fill and drain when advanced manually, but will not agitate. The most I can currently get out of it in terms in movement is a slight movement of the motor after it first fills, but then it stops. What I have done so far: I have replaced the timer motor and the door lock mechanism. Still the same problem. The tech guide says that if the motor does not move check the time line switch or the door lock switch. After replacing both those parts I'm at a loss. Testing: The tech guide recommends testing the voltage between pins 5 and 6 on the speed control unit and it registers .4 volts. As I manually advance the timer you will see some split second spikes in voltage (as high as 65 VAC) but nothing close to the 120 the tech sheet indicates I should get. I have also confirmed that there is 120 VAC going into the door locking mechanism. My guesses to date: I got another bad timer motor, there is a plug that is not connecting correctly, there is a bad wire, or I haven't got a clue! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Appliance Repair Staff answered 10 years ago
Hi, Have you checked the belt? If your washer has ZERO movement then the belt is the first thing to check. Have you tested the main control board? If the washer won't spin the motor control board might be defective. The motor control board provides power to the motor as well as direction and force. Have you tested the motor? If the washer won't spin the drive motor might be defective. This is not common. Check all of the other related parts to this symptom before replacing the motor. -ARQ
jessperro replied 10 years ago

Thank you so much for the prompt reply. I did check the belt and took it off while going through some of the testing. It is fine. There is some movement by the motor just a couple revolutions when the washer first fills at the beginning of the cycle, but nothing after that.Should I test the motor for resistance or voltage or both? How do you test the control board?I should also add some brief history of how the problem emerged. The first sign was the washer timer not advancing unless advanced manually. Some times the washer would get stuck in the final spin and would go for half hour (or until noticed). Other times it would try to drain the water and wouldn’t stop until noticed or advanced. These started at random times until it the washer would not advance at all without manually advancing the timer. These symptoms all preceded the first repairs.Thanks for the help!

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 Staff replied 10 years ago

Is the washer doing the EXACT same thing after you replaced the timer motor or have some fault issues changed?

jessperro replied 10 years ago

Exact same issues after replacing the timer motor and the door locking mechanism.

jessperro replied 10 years ago

I tested the motor and and all the resistances (for each of the pins) were correct or within the range. I wasn’t exactly sure on testing the motor for voltage so I tested the voltage coming through the six pin plug (disconnected from the motor) and I got different readings based on the was setting. Heavy wash setting = 295 VAC and 277 VAC. Medium wash = 30 VAC. When one of the wash setting was not engaged it had a VAC of .4. Was this the correct way to test the motor voltage or is there another way? Thanks.

markeiik replied 10 years ago

Check all the machines wiring, sounds like there may be a short somewhere.