It is supposed to initially drain without spinning. It will drain without spin for a full 2 minutes regardless of how long it actually takes to drain the water. After the 2 minute drain the motor should pause for a few seconds and then start again at which point it will start spinning and continue to drain. If there is no pause after drain, the timer is bad. You are pausing the motor by lifting the lid. The pausing of the motor causes the gearcase to shift out of neutral.

Eric

This is a Whirlpool direct drive design washer. All of these built since around 1985 have a neutral drain gearcase. They are supposed to initially drain without spinning. They must agitate for at least a few seconds which is what sets the neutral drain mechanism. Then directly after agitation, they will drain without spinning. If they happen to drain and spin simultaneiously, then the neutral drain mechanism is failing. This is common on older models. Also, if the washer is located in a very cold location, the cold oil in the gearcase can cause the neutral drain function to not work. If the washer fails to go into spin after the motor pause, after the 2 minute drain, then either the neutral drain failed to release or the clutch failed to engage and is slipping. The way to determine which is happening, is to run the washer with the cabinet off, lid switch bypassed, and observe the clutch hub. After motor pause, if clutch hub does not spin, the neutral drain is failing. If clutch hub does spin but basket does not, then the clutch is slipping or there is something else wrong with the basket drive such as sticking brakes or a bad drive block.

Eric

Yes, the drive motor drives the pump and the gearcase. In fact, the pump is running any time the motor is running including during agitation. During agitation, the motor drives the pump in a direction such that it does not force the water out the drain hose. When washer is in drain or spin the motor is running in the opposite direction and is such that the pump is forcing the water out through the drain hose.

Eric

You got an incomplete answer either because that person doesn't know what their talking about or you didn't give them the whole story. Every Whirlpool direct drive washer built since about 1985 has a neutral drain gearcase. That means it initially drains without spinning. The first direct drive models that came out in 1981 were called direct to spin. They did not have the neutral drain function.

When the washer goes into spin, it is still draining, so yes, it drains and spins at the same time but not during the first 2 minutes after agitation stops. That is the neutral drain period where it only drains, but does not spin. Here is a quote from Whirlpools direct drive training manual.

A system change was phased into production on all
direct drive washers which will let the washer pump
out the water before the basket spins. This system is
referred to as “Neutral-Drain.”
Some previous direct drive washers pumped out the
water while the basket was spinning. This system
was called Direct-Into-Spin.
A new gearcase, timer and water level switch are
required with the Neutral-Drain system. This new
gearcase has the part number and the word Neutral
stamped on the cover.
NOTE: Gearcases cannot be interchanged between
the two systems because of the operational differences

of the Neutral-Drain mechanism.

Eric