"memememe" wrote in message
...

that is one thing I had not thought of, and it is true that if I left the
lid open it would stop at that same place. How would I go about testing
this?

First thing to check is if the actuator (little plastic probe attached to
the right-hand side of the underside of the lid) is there and not broken
off. I've seen the part of the lid that this fits into bend or rust off
completely on older machines. Also, check the hole in the top of the machine
where this probe goes through - you should see a little plastic piece that
this probe strikes to actuate the switch. If it's missing, you may need just
the plastic piece or a complete switch, depending on age of the machine.

If everything is intact, UNPLUG the machine and open the control console
(Jeff supplied a link to a drawing of how to do this), you should see a
little 3-pin connector towards the rear of the top of the machine. Unplug
this - if you have/can use a multimeter, check for continuity between the
two outer pins of the part of the plug which is in the top of the machine,
it should give continuity with the lid down. If in any doubt how to do any
of this, I recommend you seek professional assistance.

Just as an aside, when I worked at Sears, about 18 months ago we had a spate
of these switches breaking off on brand new Whirlpool-built Kenmores due to
oil contamination during manufacture - there was a manufacturer's Service
Flash re this, and if your washer falls into this category, I would suggest
you contact Sears service and mention this to them (Whirlpool were picking
up the cost of replacing the switches).