Worked great for 10 yrs 6 mths then will turn on and then off after 5 seconds. Had repairman out. Said timer control board had shorted. Haven't gotten estimate yet - but warning was that at the same time the motor control board could have been damaged. But won't know until timer control board is replaced. Any advice on whether this is a good bet to fix?

Open the control board and check the control board for a burned resistor(s). They are marked like R11, R12 etc. Post the results.

Gene.

TerryB

Sorry to hear that, it is where I thought you would be going. I am just surprised at that high a cost, was thinking more like $350 to $400. (click on you model number and you can get a diagram with your parts and the cost on this site, which is a very good site for buying parts) Your situation is a good example of what is wrong with the electronics in appliances, they are expensive to replace and don't really do anything better for you than the older models.

I test and repair appliances as a volunteer for a Habitat for Humanity Home store. We accept donations of major appliances (among other things), test and repair and then resell them to support home building. We fix and send out the basic top loading machines all day long, and get stuck with the ones with electronics because we cannot test them and cannot fix them, just replace the the boards if it is economical.

Hope your new machine works out well, and again, to get 10 years out of any machine with that type of board is a good deal.

TerryB

This is the info from the Maytag service manual when your machine has the 5 second problem you describe. Basically the main board is trying to communicate with the motor, and after 5 sec when the motor does not respond the main board shuts everything down. This is why it is recommended that the motor board be replaced at the same time.

Runs For Five Seconds Then Shuts OFF:

Suspect a communication problem between
motor, the motor control board and the machine control board. Check the motor and
motor control system by removing the JP4 connector on the motor control board. Set
the timer dial into the delay cycle and then press the push to start switch. If the motor
operates and the washer goes into a 50 rpm tumble, then the source of the problem is the RD 30 wire leading from the motor control to the P4(2)/RD30 connector on the machine control board. When the machine control tells the motor control to run the motor, it monitors the red wire to determine if the motor
is actually running. If the board does not see a return signal, the washer will shut down.

If RD30 wire is making contact, then suspect possible problems with timer input circuits.


Anyway, you might share this with your friend, it will give him or her something to work with. I assumed this test is what your service call did to diagnose control and motor board failure which is why I did not mention it before, but if not, maybe you will be lucky and it will be jusr a burnt out RD 30 wire.

I do not know if you have a Habitat Home store near you, but if you do donating the appliance is a good way to get a small tax deduction and to do a lot of good. These appliance do not go to the homes that are built.(they get new ones, usually at a discount fromo cooperating merchants which is great). The old ones are either fixed, sold for cash to support the charity or parted out and then here they then go to a recyling center. Here, in WNC we even have a truck that comes out and picks it up for you!

Good luck with your machine, hope the above info helps.