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Brand: Whirlpool Model Number: WTW4800XQ2 Main Symptom: flashing lid lock, no agitation, no spinning What happens & when: Fill light comes up and machine starts filling. Lid lock comes on sold briefly, and then starts flashing It stops flashing and the Fill light stays on, but there is no activity, Then, 10 -15 minutes later the machine starts filling. After it is filled, without any agitation, it drains. Thne, it fills again with rinse water and never spins. It drains the water and Done light comes on..
Error Code (if any): F7E1
Parts or tests already tried: error codes
Photos / video link:
To be clear, after machine fills, it does not immediately drain. it sits there filled for up to 20 minutes and then drains. It fills with the rinse water, and thne after some time, that drains with no subsequent spinning.
F7E1 indicates a basket speed sensor fault. If possible, the next step would be to run the tachometer test. When this test fails, about 90% of the time the issue ends up being the shift actuator/encoder mounted on the bottom of the washer and attached to the gearcase.
A tachometer test can be done by entering a diagnostic test mode. With the appliance in standby, rotate the cycle knob as follows with a half second pause between rotations. Counter-clockwise 1 click, clockwise 1 click, clockwise 1 click, clockwise 1 click, counter-clockwise 1 click, then clockwise 1 click. The status LEDs should flash at this point. The cycle knob can then be rotated clockwise until only the Wash and the Done LEDs are illuminated. Pressing start will enter the Tachometer Verification Mode. Rotating the spin basket by hand should cause the status LEDs to cycle on and off one at a time. The quicker the rotation, the quicker the LEDs will cycle.
Before replacing anything, inspect the wire harness going to the actuator. Occasionally vibration, rubbing, or even rodents can damage the wiring and cause this error.
If the wiring checks good, the likely fix would be replacing the shift actuator. To access it, the belt guard will need to be removed so both actuator screws can be reached.
After replacing the actuator:
Reassemble the unit
Perform the reset procedure for the washer
Run a test cycle to verify normal operation has returned.
Thank you very much! I replaced the actuator, and that did not do it. So, I then replaced the capacitor. That did it! It was gratifying to learn how to test the ohms on the one that went bad and compare that to the new one. I became pretty clear that was the problem.