we have an older model GE clothes washer.
It gets part way through the wash mode, and then just stops. It doesn’t respond if we try to restart it in a different part of the cycle. We’ve checked all we can without draining it. There’s no clog in the drain tube, and nothing is wrapped around the agitator.
Should we bother fixing it? I mean, a new washer would likely save us more money in the long run, just in electricity.
Any ideas?
I’ve been having similar problems with mine, I hope you don’t mind me piggybacking. A question: does changing the temperature do anything? Mine will not do cold water for some reason, so if I have the second cycle on cold, then it just stops. I have to use warm/warm for it to complete the cycle. Have you also tried different speed/load settings?
These washers use a clock-driven timer mechanism which has a complicated set of contacts which control the motors and solenoids. If this timer breaks, it might cause the problem you are seeing. The timer can be replaced, but they are pretty expensive - it might make more sense to just get a new washer.
beat to the point but it IS most likely your timer…
search online for parts and fix it…
YMMV
tsfr
Same thing happened to us, it was a bad lid switch. Cost us about $25.00.
How old is old?
Sears is convenient, but not necessarily the cheapest place to buy parts - they carry parts for pretty much any brand of appliance and even have pictures so you can look inside your applicance and say “The konnoculator is leaking from around the canniffling pin,” find it on the drawing and then know “I need a part no. 503-19904c solenoid valve” and then you don’t get laughed at by the guy at the parts counter.
However… Yes, timers can be replaced, but they’re often pretty difficult to get at inside the machine, and you need to be absolutely sure that you get each wire moved over to the correct terminal on the new timer - swapping them over one by one is the best way as there’s likely to be a dozen or more wires.
If your budget can handle the relatively painful price of buying one, look into a front-load machine. We got one recently and between rebates from the power and water utilities and ongoing reduced consumption of energy to heat the water and to run the dryer. Our water bill dropped by $20 a month and the power went down about $10, so there can be some very significant savings. The savings comes in using less water, and then spinning out much more water than a top-loader will, so the clothes need a lot less time in the dryer.
We tried depressing the lid switch manually, so we could watch it go from wash to spin, and the lid switch assembly came off. So, now it at least has two problems.
Timer sounds likely. We can only get it to start in the wash cycle of the permanent press setting.
Misspoke: It’s a Kenmore model 110 in the 70 series. Just from looking at it, I’d guess it’s at least from the early 1990’s.
Tried a different water temp setting. Didn’t work.
A front loading washer that will spin out more water from the clothes sounds really appealing. Our current dryer takes at least 2 hours to dry a normal load of clothes.
Washers are definitely fixable if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, and there’s a great site to get info on it.
The problem I noticed was that my washer would fill, but would not spin, and yet it would still drain. The motor could still turn the water pump that drains the washer, but the coupling to the spinner was broken. Using their instructions, I replaced the drive coupling, and when the motor burned out a few weeks later, I replaced that too.
Thanks for the link. I think I found some tangential info that might help. Scary, though.
Will experiment.
“Get it to start” is ambiguous. Let’s use terms that everyone understands.
When you turn the dial to regular wash, permanent press, or gentle: at the beginning of that indicated cycle and push/pull as required, does the tub fill?
If it does, please tell us when the normal sequence of events stops.
Lid switch open faults on every Kenmore/Whirlpool of that vintage I’ve seen will only prevent spin. All other functions will take place per the timer.
2 hours to dry a normal load of clothes can result from washer malfunctions, dryer malfunctions, or a combination of both.
I put clothes in the washer. I turned the knob to 8 in the permanent press section, and pulled the knob to start. The tub filled with water.
I came back a few hours later, and the tub was still full of soapy water, with the dial stopped at the end of the “wash” section of the cycle. Not at the end of a complete cycle, just the tail end of the washing bit.
If I try restarting things by putting the dial at a number in the permanent press section, the agitator begins to move again in a turn-pause-turn fashion. It makes compete revolutions like this. The water does not attempt to refill, which I presumed was because it could sense that it was already full of water. The agitator goes for a while until it reaches some magic point in the wash cycle, past the numbered region, whereupon it just stops. The timer stops as well, which is curious. Attempting to restart things by moving the dial into any other part of the cycle settings elicits no response. We tried repeating this with a peg holding down the lid switch so we could watch things, but only succeeded in busting the switch loose from it’s housing.
We can blow bubbles into the tub from the drain hose, so we know it isn’t clogged. When the washer comes to a halt, there is a gurgling sound from the drain hose.
As for the dryer, maybe we just wear too many clothes. When it was working, the washer was good at spinning out the water from the clothes. I’d place damp clothes in the dryer and come back to slightly less damp clothes in an hour. Another hour and they would be dry and hot to the touch. So, really, probably an hour and a half was sufficient. I didn’t normally cram clothes in there, but the dry time would always drop if I only needed to try 3 or 4 things.
Unless you’re cramming too much into the dryer, there seems to be a problem with the dryer - probably a clogged, excessively long or otherwise restricted exhaust.
To give you an idea of what it’s like with a front-loader, we can chuck in a pile of bath towels or nine pair of jeans, and they’ll be dry in under 40 minutes.
I encourage you to roll up your sleeves and attempt to fix it.
In the late 1980’s I bought a house that was built around 1950, complete with a broken dishwasher/sink combo that I later found was built in June 1949. I managed to find a door switch (in its original packaging) to fix the first problem. The wife of the old plumber sold it to me cheap because it was so old. (Hah! Little did she know that I was desperate.)
I replaced the broken drain impeller with one I carved out of a hunk of rubber that I got from an auto parts store as a control rod bushing.
That sucker lived for another year and a half, although it wouldn’t pass muster today for quiet cleaning efficiency.
That’s very inspiring, Oslo Ostragoth. That’s exactly why I’m trying to figure out if repairing it is even within my skill set.
gotpasswords: We had the same problem with our last dryer, which is why I’m inclined to think it’s us. Both dryers owned spick and span exhaust pipes with access to the outside within 2 feet of the machine.
It occurred to me that maybe the lid switch was busted before I broke it. If so, that would explain why it didn’t respond to my fiddling. However, it seems like the timer would run down, even if the busted lid switch kept it from entering the spin cycle. Will experiment tomorrow.
Woot!
We were going to try replacing the lid switch, to at least narrow down the possible problems. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a replacement switch for our washer.
The husband had the idea of hot-wiring it, to maybe fool the washer into thinking that the lid was shut. I peeled the wasger open (fought a brave and lonesome dual with a black widow spider), and discovered that the switch, though busted from it’s moorings, appeared to function.
We duct taped it in the down position, and now it works like a charm!
Awesome.
Heh, when my washing machine died a few months ago I found another one on craigslist for $25 and a trip to pick it up. Still chugging along.
So now all functions appear to be normal? If so, good! The replacement switch is a ten dollar item, should you feel inclined to get everything back to factory spec. 
That’s the exact feeling I had when we fixed ours. A new lid switch was MUCH cheaper than a new washer… Check the model number of the machine and you should be able to find a replacement part online.
Congrats!
I don’t mean to sound snarky, but has your transmission gone belly up yet?
Your symptoms sound similar. We had a GE Profile machine. When it stopped draining, we called a repairman recommended from Angie’s list. He asked us the above question. (The answer was yes, BTW.)
Cutting to the chase: The repairman recommended getting a new, non GE machine. I figure when a guy who could have kept his mouth shut when he stood to make a bundle of cash tells you to buy a new machine, you listen.
Whoops - this is what I get for not reading the whole thread.