[Baddaddy Chad]

This afternoon my wife was running a small load of laundry and the washer stopped working sometime during the spin cycle. There was a hot electrical smell; not a burning electrical smell, just hot. I loosened the back plate and removed the cabinet. Mounted to the back plate is a capacitor which was quite warm and leaking an oily substance from the bottom. As I was disassembling the machine, I heard a click like a thermal switch resetting. The motor was quite hot. Motor turns freely; transmission turns freely as well. No obvious signs of any heat damage. No signs of burning on any wiring or on/in the motor. Question is: could a faulty capacitor cause these issues? What else should I check?

Additional info: 10 yrs experience in Aviation electronics so can definitely work my way through a schematic. Quite mechanically adept and not afraid to wade into a repair.
3 weeks ago the house heat pump unit went out. The outside fan was very hot and the compressor refused to run. The repairman found a failed run-capacitor. So this is why I asked about the faulty capacitor above.

[MayTech]

Capacitors should never leak oil. replace it and run, it should be fine. Check and make sure the oil is coming from the capacitor and not spin off from the transmission.