picked up a used unit and put water in it and plugged it in and tried timer settings. it will drain and spin but no agitate. doesn't sound like anythings happening at all on wash but i hear a hum like the motor may be running or attemping to?? also pinched water level switch with my hand but had no effect. i can turn agitator by hand freely in both directions with no effort or noise. machine also makes rather nasty sound when spin brake engages! almost like ground glass scraping! thanks!

You might have a bad transmission. I would remove the two control panel screws, tilt it back and remove the two ripply clamps and the lid switch connector. Remove outer panel and the pump. Turn the motor shaft clockwise. If hard to turn, you probably have a bad transmission or a jammed coupler. Just pull motor and check by turning the coupler conterclockwise. If ok and the agitator turns back and forth, you may have a bad timer.
run the washer in agitate and see if the motor runs. If not, you have a bad timer. You can remove the cover off the timer to check for burnt contacts to verify. Part # AP3607885.

jumped lid switch at plug and ran it thru a cycle,all appears to work. brake sounds ok with load in drum. takes about 5 revs to stop. maybe i'll replace my old belt drive whirlpool with this 1? since i have a spare for parts i picked up last year that had weak spin.