Hey All,
So my washer motor won't work at all. Had some water in the basement and now the motor won't work at all. It won't agitate, spin, or drain.
Power is going to the timer, the water solenoids work, and when it is on the “spin” setting there is power to the following wires to the plug to the motor: white with a black stripe, white, and red. No power to the blue, yellow, or orange. The capacitor seems to be fine.
Any suggestions on what could be the issue?
Thanks,
-Ben
The motor connector white and white/black are neutral, red is hot during spin, neutral during agitation. Yellow is neutral during spin, hot during agitation. Does the timer advance when you set it to spin? Does it advance when washer stops filling and should be agitating?
Eric
Eric,
The timer seems to be advancing fine during the whole cycle. It does stop when I unplug the motor plug though. Other than that it seems to advance fine.
-Ben
The fact that the timer motor is running indicates that the neutral through the motor thermal overload is good, so looks like a faulty timer since you are not getting power to the motor.
Whirlpool 3948357 Timer Washer - AppliancePartsPros.com
Eric
How would I check that it is the timer? Can I do this with my meter at the motor plug?
You already have, you said you have no power at the blue wire or orange wire but, I’m not overly confident in your testing as you also said you did have power at the white and white/black wires but they are neutral so that doesn’t make sense. You have to check for voltage between two points so if you had one meter probe on white, where was your other meter probe?
Eric
Eric, When checking the wires, one probe was on the wire, and the other was just grounded to the washer frame. How should this be done?
That’s fine as long as you have a good ground. So now I have even less confidence in your testing since you said you had power to the motor white and white/black wires. Those are both neutral and there should not be any voltage between neutral and ground unless the neutral between motor and power cord is open, but then you said timer motor was working which indicates the neutral circuit is good. Most of these direct drive wiring diagrams are very similar but there are differences. I don’t have the diagram for your specific model. If you could post a high res photo of it here, I could offer some more specific tests to try. Diagram should be inside control panel, either folded up or pasted to inside of back panel.
Eric
Hmm… True. Attached photo of wiring diagram.
Washer Wiring Diagram 1.jpg (100.1 KB)
Washer Wiring Diagram 2.jpg (111.1 KB)
Ok, nothing fancy, just the standard Whirlpool 2 speed motor no frills wiring diagram. If, when set to operate in spin, you are truely reading 120vac to ground at white wire or white/black wire motor connection and nothing at blue or orange, something is very wrong. Since timer motor runs but does not when motor connector unplugged, neutral appears to be ok. Again, sounds like a faulty timer but any voltage reading on those wires (white or white/black) means there is some other problem lurking. If you are getting voltage on those wires, check it with meter probe in neutral of wall socket vice washer ground connection and see if you still get voltage.
Eric
Ok, so here’s the results: Timer set on spin cycle, 120 volts a the motor plug to White, White/Black, and Yellow. No power to the other wires.
This was with the meter to a neutral prong in an outlet, and the same results with it to one of the green ground wires to the washer frame.
Sounds like your receptacle is wired reverse polarity. Makes no difference to the washer as it would still work normally but you need to fix that receptacle wiring before continuing.
Eric
If it makes a difference, I was incorrect, the meter was in the ground of the outlet. Not the neutral.
Does this still mean it’s the timer you think?
You should not be reading voltage to ground or neutral from motor connector white or white/black wires. I can’t say with any certainty if your timer is bad or not based on the readings you are getting. You could try replacing it. If you buy from APP, you may return it if it doesn’t fix the problem. You need to do some electrical troubleshooting and I can’t teach that over this forum. It appears to me that your receptacle is wired wrong. Check voltage on receptacle between ground and the wide blade and ground and narrow blade. Which one do you get 120vac on?
Eric
