(Also applies to Kenmore washers with a model number prefix of 417.)

Note: Begin troubleshooting a no-spin condition by checking the door latch switch. If it checks good, then proceed with this flowchart. See the tech sheet with your washer for the door latch switch test procedure. The procedures described below assume that the door latch switch tests good.

The most common motor problem with this washer is no-spin; the drum may tumble, but it either never goes into spin at all or or just never ramps up to high speed spin. The tech sheet supplied with the washer (inside the cabinet, in a big envelope pasted to an inside wall– remove bottom front quarter panel to get to it) gives troubleshooting instructions but they are poorly written and difficult to follow, even for sage and battle-hardened appliantologists. The troubleshooting flowchart below from the service manual is mo’ bettah:

(click for larger image)

As noted in the flowchart, it’s pretty rare for the motor to fail in this washer, although I have seen it. The motor winding continuity checks are done through the motor wire harness at the speed control board (for convenience). If you get an open reading there, don’t take it as gospel that the motor is bad– repeat the test at the motor itself so that you’re not reading through the motor wire harness. The wire harness itself, specifically the molex connector, is a more common troublemaker than the motor.

A more common failure item causing a no-spin condition in this washer is the speed control board.

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Been seeing a rash of galvanic corrosion-induced failures of the drum support spiders in various brands of front loading washers. Affected brands include GE, Whirlpool, and Frigidaire. Since Sears Kenmore brand outsources everything with a Kenmore label, all Kenmore washers are manufactured by one of the three aforementioned companies and will also manifest this same problem (see this topic for more info on who makes Kenmore appliances).

Kicking off the Washer Corrosion Hall of Shame is this bit of metallic misery from a Frikkidaire washer:

The drum support spider in this Frigidaire washer had corroded so much that the hub and drive shaft actually broke off. Note the pitting in the metal. You can see in the closeup that the metal seems to turn into powder. That’s the galvanic corrosion that I be tawkin’ aboot, you dig? It weakened the spider structural strength so much that it failed during use. Ah, Grasshoppah, can you stand with me, our mouths agape at the raw power of chemistry?

Next up is this drum from a GE washer:

Not to be outdone by their competitors, here’s an advanced case of galvanic corrosion in a Whirlpool Duet washer (also sold as the Kenmore HE2/3t):

(click images for larger view)

Whence cometh this galvanic corrosion? Most likely because of dissimilar metals between the spider assembly and the drum setting up a galvanic cell inside the washer. The drum is stainless steel and the spider is aluminum. In the wet environment, the aluminum acts as a sacrificial anode, like the zinc rod in a water heater. Some combinations of detergents, fabric softeners, and water quality conditions may create electrochemical conditions which exacerbate this problem. Can you say, “Design flaw?”

I think the engineers at one of these companies figgered out a way to save a buck two-eighty by using an aluminum drum support spider and the engineers at the other companies just brainlessly copied it without applying gray matter. My Momma always telled me that stupid is as stupid does. I rectum now I see what she be sayin’.

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