This is a real head-scratcher. My front-loading Frigidaire fills and drains, the timer mechanism appears to be functioning properly, but the machine will not agitate or spin. I confirmed that it's not the speed control board (by replacing it and getting the same following results). I successfully rotated the belt and pulley to see that the drum was moving freely. Now don't ask me why, but I tried that again with the machine in cycle, and suddenly it engaged and started agitating! Happy day! For about 10 seconds... Then the motor stopped and stayed still. I rocked the pulley again, and again the motor kicked in, spun back and forth for about 10 seconds, and stopped.

I've found that if I carefully give the big pulley a few back-and-forth nudges with a stick, the motor will kick on and agitate on its own for 5 to 15 seconds, then stop. Likewise, at the end of the cycle, with a little prompting from my magic stick on the big pulley, the motor will start spinning like a tazmanian devil. I tried it empty and with a full load and was able to fully complete two full cycles with the aid of my kick-start stick (except that it only spun at the end - isn't it supposed to spin during rinse also?). I did about 1/2 the work, agitating the drum with my stick, while the motor kicked on and off from my prompting. Weird. It's like the motor is tired, and needs to be kicked awake, but will run for just a moment before it goes back to sleep again.

I can't figure this out. Is the motor bad? Or is there a solenoid that might cause this? Or is it an electric/electronic signalling issue in the wire harness? I don't want to buy and install a new motor without a good idea that it's the problem. Thanks!

I am also surprised at the lack of feedback here. Here's what I've done and learned since. I had already ruled out the control board, since installing a new one didn't solve the problem. I just ordered a new motor from AppliancePartsPros, put it in, and it worked. I thought. Did five or six loads of laundry without issue, and all of a sudden last night it's not agitating or spinning any more. I'm stumped, especially since the new motor did the job perfectly for a little while. I haven't taken the back off yet to see if I can "prompt" the new motor like the old one. I guess that's next. I'll let you know how it goes.

A couple of things for your problem: I assume you've taken the back off, since you replaced the pump. Does the pulley/drum rotate freely by hand (power off)? When you run the washer, does it fill and pump out? (You can do this with it empty.) Is it just the spin cycle that isn't working, or does it not agitate either? If the answer to these questions is yes, you may have the same problem as I. I'm sure this isn't a recommended method, but I very carefully helped the big pulley rotate back and forth with a stout stick during the cycle, to find that the motor would engage (and then quit). I actually did a full load of laundry this way, helping the motor do its job, but you can't do all your laundry standing over your machine with a stick. :eek: You can also test the motor with the belt off (use a pencil eraser on the end of the motor pulley). For me, the original motor operated exactly like it did with the belt on. The new motor seemed to run through its agitate/spin operations perfectly before I put the belt on.

That doesn't solve your problem, but it gives you some additional diagnostic options. If your motor seems to work but needs "help" to get motivated, you may have the same problem as I. I'm about to take the back off and get on it again. I'll let you know what I learn. And maybe someone with some expertise will give us some insight on this forum.