~1996 GE Washer WSPQ4160T2WW

This washer stopped dead in its tracks this weekend and I wonder if its
possible to troubleshoot the nature of the problem before I commit to the
price of a new motor, or worse. It sounds pretty straight-forward to me,
but maybe some of you more experienced putterers can suggest
alternatives.

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. It happened pretty fast so I'm not sure whether the noise
stopped on its own or when we re-opened the lid. I was able to reproduce
the noise once, maybe twice. In any case, stepping through the various
timer cycles now succeeds only in opening the water valves.

There's nothing visibly burnt, arced, or melted behind the front panel.
The rest of the wires and terminals that I can see appear to be
undisturbed. It bothers me that I couldn't set the timer to pump the
water out of the drum, but I would bet against a massive failure that
took out both the motor and the pump.

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

1) Will replacing/repairing the motor fix the problem?
2) Is it normal for the pump not to work if the motor doesn't?
3) What am I missing?

Thanks for any responses,
Ben

"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.

Hi,

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

Only testing can provide an answer to that.

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

Nope.

3) What am I missing?

Unkown. Possible bad lid switch, burnt wire in the harness, burnt wire
in the consol.

jeff.
Appliance Repair Aid
http://www.applianceaid.com/