View single post by srkolb
 Posted: Sun Oct 25th, 2009 06:48 pm
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srkolb

 

Joined: Sat Oct 24th, 2009
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 I have a 2002 Kenmore front load washer, Model #417.42042100. There are lots of posts about these washers that I’ve found very helpful. I just want to make sure I’m diagnosing things correctly because I’ve determined that the speed control board AND the motor are bad. In short, the washer fills with water but never spins.

I followed the instructions in the Tech Sheet:
1. Advanced the timer to the drain increment and the drain pump runs.
2. Removed motor drive belt and set the timer to the start of the Regular wash cycle and pulled the knob out. The motor did not run. I don’t know how to check for a poor connection in the timer line switch or door lock switch but the water pump runs. From other threads, that seems to indicate that the two switches are OK.
3. Removed the 6 pin plug and measured 120 Vac between pins 5 and 6 on the harness.
4. I set the timer to the Heavy wash position and measured (on the harness) 0 Vac between pin 1 and 5 and 120 Vac between pins 2-5, 6-5, and 10-5.
5. The fuse was good.
6. The next step is to measure the resistance between pins 1-2, 1-3, and 2-3 on the speed control unit. However, it’s not clear if the 10 pin harness should be plugged in and if the timer knob should still be on heavy wash with knob pulled out. So, I measured all combinations. With 10 pin harness plugged in, timer still on Heavy Wash with knob pulled out, I measure 150-170 kohms between the pins. With the timer knob off, I measure 12 Mohms, whether the 10 pin harness is plugged in or not. In no case do I measure the expected 3 Mohms so it says I should replace the speed control board.
7. I also checked the motor windings by unplugging the power cord and measuring between pins 1-2, 1-3, and 2-3 on the 6 pin harness (now I’m measuring on the harness side, not the speed control board). Between pin 1-2, I measured 2.7 ohms but I measured opens between pins 1-3 and 2-3. Does this imply my motor is also bad?

If both the speed control board and the motor are bad, then I'm looking at $300 in parts which hardly seems worth repairing. I have only a few simple repairs under my belt so I could easily have done something wrong here.