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The title says it all, or most of it. 25 year old Whirlpool washer fills, but won't agitate. No noise at all. I replaced the timer/control switch about two years ago and it is working fine (I pulled the cover and watched it spin).
Manually advancing the control switch does nothing. What are the most likely culprits?
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Could be a bad water level pressure switch. When this switch is activated, it switches from fill to agitation. Need to see a copy of your wiring diagram. There should be more to the model number. Is it XSW0, XSW1 OR XSW2?
Eric
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My Whirlpool is the LA5668XSW2. Thanks.
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Couple more data points:
1. After siphoning out the tub, I pulled up the knob on the timer, and the machine immediately began to fill again. (I shut it off after a second) This tells me the control knob is working properly.
2. The lid switch is working based on a continuity check.
3. The water level switch shows good continuity in both positions (empty and full). I tested full by blowing into the fitting. I am ignorant whether this is a valid test of switch functionality.
4. the tubing from the water level switch down to the bottom seems OK, but I'm not sure. I blew into the tubing, and it gurgled down below. Not a rigorous pressure test.
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Can you post a clear photo of the wiring diagram? Should be inside the control panel but possibly somewhere else on that old washer.
Eric
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I think I have this narrowed down to either the motor start switch, or the motor. I plugged in the machine with the case off and let it fill with water for a small load. When it reached full, the water stopped and there was an almost inaudible thunk. Thinking the motor was stuck, I rapped gently on the end of the motor, and saw some spark action in the connector going to the motor start switch. Unplugged power, and inspected the connector, finding the Orange and White wires looking burned (see photo). Not sure how to interpret this - is it the motor, or the switch? Wiring schematic also attached. fredbleen attached the following image(s):
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A faulty (dirty) connection has caused the terminals and wires to overheat. You must replace the terminals in the connector. There is a release tab inside the connector that will allow you to pull the wire/terminals out. You can use a very small screwdriver (jewelers), small stiff piece of wire or other suitable means to move the tab to pull the wire/terminal. You will then have to cut and strip the wires and crimp the new terminals onto the wire. You must have good clean wire strands or it's going to happen again. Keep cutting the wire back if you have to until you get to good clean wire strands. If the wire is then too short to make it to the connector, you will have to splice in a new piece. I would also take the cover off of the switch to inspect the two sets of contacts inside. They can be cleaned if necessary if they are not in too bad shape, otherwise, you can replace the switch. Also check the connectors on the motor overload switch. Whirlpool 352088 Terminal, Female (disconnect Black) - AppliancePartsPros.comhttp://www.appliancepartspros.c...h-8529896-ap3125984.htmlEric
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After replacing the terminals on the orange and white wires, the washer runs fine. The motor start switch shows evidence of some arc-ing, but it is not dead yet.
The replacement terminals I bought were not exact duplicates of the ones in the connector, but they were the correct width. We'll see how long it lasts.
Thanks Fairbanks, for your help. This will probably be the last bit of life support I will do on this old fossil.
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