Brand: Kenmore Model Number: 110.20432990 Main Symptom: Tub not spinning during rinse/spin cycle What happens & when: Every so often, the tub doesn’t spin during the spin/rinse cycle. Water fills and drain with no issues. Agitator is good. The clothes do not come out soaking wet, so that seems like sometimes it spins, but not every time. When its not spinning, I can hear is the motor turning. When I open the lid, the motor stops like its supposed to, then when I re-close the lid, the tub spins like nothing was wrong.
Error Code (if any): No codes, too old
Parts or tests already tried: No parts replaced. Only test was with the opening/closing the lid.
Photos / video link:
When the washer first enters the spin portion of the cycle, the transmission is intentionally held in neutral. This allows the motor to run the pump and drain the water without spinning the tub. After a preset drain period, usually about 3–5 minutes, the motor pauses briefly. That pause allows an internal spring-and-cam mechanism in the transmission to shift from neutral into spin.
As the transmission ages, internal wear and deterioration or loss of lubricant can cause that mechanism to occasionally hang up and remain in neutral. That also explains why opening the lid sometimes gets it going. Opening the lid stops the motor, which gives the transmission another opportunity to make the shift when the motor starts again.
Unfortunately, the internal parts needed to rebuild these transmissions are no longer available. If the transmission is intermittently failing to shift into spin, the repair is to replace the complete transmission assembly.