I am frustrated with my washing machine! I am getting the F-11 and F-DL codes which I understand to mean that there is possibly a communication error or a door lock error. What do I need to replace? What part numbers do I need and how do I determine which problem I have? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m worried that it’s going to quit completely!
Pull off the front bottom panel and check your service sheet to verify error codes. You probably have a bad door switch. Download the service manual I put into this site and follow directions to test switch.
these error codes are not specific FDL can mean door latch failure .it can also mean the ccu board has failed also F11 can mean mean anything from motor to motor control board to ccu board to wiring harness connecting ccu to mcu to motor. if you do not know how to diagnose with out error code you may end up buying wrong part. sometimes doorlatch is not problem central control board CCU is
can you manage to lock +unlock door buy shutting off machine and starting over .does it run for a while then shut down / if you shut of machine will door unlock .if so ccu board could be problem
Well said Mr fixitall. I go with the most probable failure, however without a meter
diagnosing this will be almost impossible.
Hi, I"ve been though this all year long with all the fdl, door lock, f11 error codes ect.I have had the top of the washer off at least 20 times. Imagine That on a $1400.00 top of the line product .They are usually caused by loose connectors going to the computer board. Shaking them around sometimes works.They vibrate loose during spinning cycle. I added small amount of solder on all connectors were wire clips on computer board.This worked for a few months. Then the board went all together.Blew out 2 resistors on board.Had to replace The board.The relays are supposed to be undersized To . The odds are that you will eventually have to replace the cpu (computer board).They are around $150.00 on the net. I hope you have a better outcome then me. The computer board in this machine has real problems with it and should be recalled.I got the sears smart agreement for $270.00 because I didn"t want to pay $150.00 for a new board and have that not be the problem. Most if not all places will not refund your money on electrical parts.Sears guarrentees to fix it or give you a $500.00 in store credit.It ended up being the cpu board with labor it was $410.00. And we still have a 1 year full warranty under this plan if anything else fails again.Happy new years Craig
Thank you for your reply. After checking the connections in the troubleshooting manual the display on the front of the machine is showing “Control Locked” and the machine won’t do anything. The “Control Lock” light will not go off and the washing machine will not start. Any suggestions?
Hi. Google search (Kenmore elite he4t self diagnostic test mode how to) It will come up in the epinion section. It will explain the steps that sears uses to self diagnose the machine. Good luck Craig
have you tried pushing cancel /pause button twice to see if it pumps out, wait till it completes cycle on it own +then start over /will door lock ? will it wash ?will it unlock? does it do nothing ?
Sometimes vibration will shake loose a connector or a connector pin. Just check all of them.
Also, others have pried loose the relay tops on the control board, cleaned the contacts, glued back the tops, and found the washer worked fine.
The F11 and D/L error codes are common to main board problems. We have had our washer since 2005. It started having D/L problems in 2006. Looking online at that time we learned to jiggle the wire harness. That worked sporadically, until we solved the problem by leaving the washing machine metal top cover off entirely, taking the plastic cover off the main board box, and taping the main board tray to the top rear of the washer. Putting the plastic cover back on the main board box always seemed to cause a problem.
Unwilling to face the ugliness anymore, we wanted to put the cover back on the washing machine two days ago. With everything back in place, we hit a wall of F11 errors. We were way past warranty phase, and badly in need of doing laundry on the weekend. No appliance repair shop or person was available for a fix.
The Motor Control Unit Power connector at the main board was loose, so I decided to see if re-soldering would do the trick. I removed the main board and looked at all solder connections under high power magnifying glass for glaring problems. All four pins of the Motor Control connector had visibly separated from their solder, and there was one pair of pins belonging to the big red resistor in line with the Motor Control connector that had a similar look. In fact there were slight vestiges of solder blowout originating from one of those pins calling attention to it. I re-soldered all those pins and put the board back in place. It worked for awhile, but we started getting D/L errors and F11 errors again. Oddly, they appeared when putting the main board box cover back on.
The main box cover has plastic pegs designed to push down on the main board when snapped on place. I cut the pegs shorter, but that did not help. Looking closer, the pegs are offset inward on the board, and one peg pushes into the black resistor in line with the Line Filter Connector. I figured with all the machine vibration, the black resistor would be affected by the tight tolerance.
I removed the main board again and looked even more closely at the solder around all pins. Sure enough, the solder at one of the black resistor pins showed signs of cracking. The pin could be seen moving up and down slightly with rocking of the resistor above. The Door Lock connector also pins showed signs of fatigue. Soldering all these distressed connections firmly back in place seems to do the trick … for now. We need to order a replacement board, and keep it handy in case of final board failure.
Getting rid of mildew - Consumer Reports suggests leaving the door slightly ajar on all front loading washers. That has worked for us.
main board top.JPG (39.9 KB)
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i did clean but still showing dl or f
We have had the same problem for a long time now and our machine is 3 years old. We actually have clothes stuck in the machine getting moldy as we speak and I can’t figure out how to get the door unlocked. I would like to try your suggestion, but I don’t have the equipment you do and not sure if I’d make it worse. I hate to pay hundreds for a repair main, I’d almost rather just get a cheap washer and get rid of this. Can you just buy a new motherboard? How would you find out where to buy it and the model? Does it go by the machine model number? And do you think it’d have the same problems? I’d be willing to try anything at this point because we’ve been having to take our laundry other places now and it’s getting ridiculous since we spend all that money to buy these machines.
Thanks for the help!
Rachel
the error codes are F/11 SERIAL COMMUNICATION ERROR…Communication between the Central Control Unit (CCU)and the Motor Control Unit (MCU)cannot be sent correctly Potential Causes are#1check wire harness connection to the MCU,the motor,and Central Control Unit(CCU)#2Check the drive system for any worn or failed components #3ReplaceMCU #4ReplaceCCU#5Replace motor#6Replace wire harness ERROR CODE F/dl Door Lock Errow…a door lock error occures if the door cannot be locked.It will try to lock it 6 times before displaying the error. Potential Causes are#1door lock mechanism broken or removed from the door.#2Check door lock/switch assembly#3Check the wire harness connections to the door lock/switch assembly and Central Control Unit(CCU)#4Door lock/switch assembly failure.
I have the same problem, is there a way to fix it?
Where will you order the part from and how much is it?
roycbarney,
What is the complete model number of the unit and which part are you looking for?
Gene.
Ghw9400pw0, and thank you so much for responding to my post. I think we should all get together and petition Whirlpool for the replacement parts to fix this problem that it seems all the machines have.
Roy
[quote=Gene;30255]roycbarney,
What is the complete model number of the unit and what part are you looking for?
Gene.[/quote]
roycbarney,
What exactly is wrong with your washer and which part are you looking for?
Gene.
[SIZE=1]Here is my complete information about the Kenmore Elite (actally a Whirlpool). Model # 110.45976400. I orginally got a FdL error (doorlock). The door lock will not lock and the cycle will not start. I have read on the internet that this is a well known problem on this type of washing machine. I purchased the door-lock part and installed it, and the washing machine worked for about 5 door open/close cycles and then stopped working again with the same F-dl doorlock error. I called and you are sending me another part. Meanwhile I wanted to remove the sitting water in the machine and tried the drain button, and the doorlock worked and the machine drained the water. Who knows how long it will be before it malfunctions again? There obviously is still something wrong with either the door-lock or the electronics sending the signal to the door-lock How can you assist me so that I can fix this door-lock problem. Thanks, Steve — [/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]UPDATE on above>>>> I am on my third switch and it is now failing have had the washer for about three years there is something wrong with the switch design. I think the next step is to replace the computer board and see if that helps? Whirlpool has a terrible design here. [/SIZE]