"B.Palmer" wrote:

~1996 GE Washer WSPQ4160T2WW

This washer stopped dead in its tracks ...

So, with the drum filled with water and the agitator cycle started, we
opened the lid, added some bleach and closed the lid again. The agitation
re-started, but only very briefly before there was a loud 'motor seized'
kind of buzz, followed by a plume of smoke and a whiff of burnt
something. ...

As it stands now, the washer is mostly unassembled, save for
buying/renting a wrench to remove the drum and then the motor.

What do you need you don't have? The drum is simply three cap screws
into the casting--9/16" head iirc, although they may now be metric.

My questions are these:

1) Will replacing/repairing the motor fix the problem?

Likely, although did you simply check for a blocked pump (the small sock
or some such sucked into the intake) and a thermal overload?

2) Is it normal for the pump not to work if the motor doesn't?

What's going to turn the pump if the motor isn't working?

3) What am I missing?

Checking that the transmission will rotate freely so that it isn't the
cause of the seizure comes to mind.