Washing Machine Won’t Drain or Spin

Kenmore Washer

Well our old Kenmore 70 series stopped right in the middle of a rinse cycle filled with water and wouldn’t budge.  So I went to YouTube to find a solution.  One of the most common causes is a  broken or bad lid switch.  An easy fix.  The lid switch, when up tells the washer to stop everything.  At any rate this was not the problem.  Instead, thanks to the videos I have linked below, I was able to determine it was a blown out Direct Drive Motor Coupling which I was able to purchase online from PartSelect.com for $11.88.  With Shipping it came to $20.  I could have got it a little cheaper elsewhere but these people said their average delivery time was 1.8 days.  Turned out to be over a week.  Oh well.

In order to test it I had to put a staple in the lid wiring (see photo) otherwise the thing would think the lid was open and not work.  Turned out it still didn’t work.  So the next step was to reset the motor.  I guess this happens when the machine does a stop due to a problem.  Something broken.  Or maybe after the controls were messed with a lot.  At any rate it amounts to unplugging for one minute, plugging back in, and right away open and close the lid six times.  Since the lid wasn’t even on yet, I had to put the staple in and out six times.  It worked.  I ran it on spin and the thing turned.  Walla!

Another issue was getting the case on.  Problem being I hardly any room on either side as you can see from the photo.  However, after looking at a video showing the things to be concerned about, it went right into place.  Lucky me.  I also got confused as to which way the brackets went on holding the case in place, but again, the video showed me.   The following videos give an excellent overview of how to take apart and how to put back together again.

And here is a link to a whole playlist of videos on washing machine repair

Author: Geoff

Quick rundown: Grew up in Lombard, Illinois, went to Arizona State University, worked as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co, then Laventhal and Horwath, then Rolling Stones, then Heron International, then Goodby Berlin and Silverstein in San Francisco. Moved to the foothills in 1990 and traded futures and designed websites. Married to Kate Stewart, now living in Colfax, CA. We have six grandchildren. I enjoy camping in our RV, hiking, kayaking, fishing, droning and cross country skiing Also conga drumming, photography and dogs.

One thought on “Washing Machine Won’t Drain or Spin”

  1. Damn Geoff
    You always were a great master ( alley ) mechanic that could repair just about anything.
    It seems to be pretty neat having You Tube for reference purposes. This was a very
    entertaining video & your dialog.
    Thanks Bro
    George
    Las Vegas
    3-29-2017

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