Approx. 1994 washer: fills & agitates, but won't spin or drain. Does make a slight buzzing sound. When I first discovered it there was a "over-heated motor" smell. After letting the motor cool I tried it again and heard the buzzing sound.

Have disconnected the hoses to and from the pump... no clog. Checked the drain hose all the way to the wall drain, no clog. Removed the pump and it turns easily. The motor shaft that drives the pump also turns easily. Checked the lid switch for continuity and it also is functioning properly. The tub turns by hand, but w/ slight resistance... dragging brakes? Is this the problem?

If it does agitate, check the pump and hoses for an obstruction.

Nat

Found the coupler... a 3-piece affair, right? One 3-pronged plastic piece to the motor, 1 to the trans, and the other connecting those 2 to each other. Nothing broken or frozen, motor turns easily, transmission turns easily and makes the agitator turn. Maybe, if there was an obstruction, it spilled out w/ the remaining water when I disconnected the pump, but I think I would have seen something.
Is there any reason to pull the agitator and look under there? It moves easily, too. Also, don't see anything between the plastic outer tub and the perforated inner steel tub. But, like I said in the original post... there is a humming or buzzing type of sound that occurs when the spin cycle should be starting. The type of sound you hear when an electric motor wants to start, but can't.

Maybe I should I put the whole thing back together again and see what happens. It's just that siphoning the water out was a pain, and the ensuing flood when pulling the pump.

If you haven't put it back to gether and providing you tore it down properly with backplate, control panel attached, tub assy and baseplate standing with just the wrapper off. Remove motor and set aside leaving wires hooked up. fill machine and see if motor runs,jumper lid switch and see if it runs in spin. if not jiggle wires on motor and check capacitor, jiggle knob on timer and see if it will make it run and not hum if it doesn't run you have a bad timer or a bad motor or a problem with the wiring.if it does run that will tell you the electrical is probably ok and your problem is mechanical, that will narrow it down anyway

Problem solved. After looking over the electrical diagram I ruled out the motor or capacitor. The machine filled and went through the wash cycle but stopped on the rinse and would go no further. I ruled out the motor as it worked in the wash cycle. The timer is new, old one had a burned contact. I noticed that when it got to the rinse cycle the timer stopped and lost power. Only 3 things would cause that; 1, no power to the machine. That was out because it washed. 2, if the knob were pushed as if to change the cycle. I didn't do that. 3, it won't go into rinse if the lid is open. That was the problem! The lid switch was bad, I jumped the switch out of the curcuit and the machine is now working normally. You just have to remember if you open the lid during rinse/spin the machine will not stop. I may order a new switch or just leave it as is.