Need help with Whirlpool TL

[aaronfitzy]

I have a Whirlpool TL that is about 7yrs old now. Only maintenance issue thus far has been a faulty drain pump. Lately, my girlfriend has complained of staticky clothes. We use a liquid softener in the washer which goes into to top of the agitator. I sat down and watched the washer go through a whole cycle and noticed this: When the washer goes through the whole wash cycle...it then stops and is supposed to do a "neutral" drain for a few minutes then stop and spin. Well the washer just goes right into a spin first thing..so then it stops and releases the softener and goes back into a spin cycle..and sucking out the softener. I doesn't do this all the time, but would this be considered a "coupler" problem with a direct drive washer? Sorry about the long post, but a response would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[volvoguy87]

Nope.

On a Whirlpool Direct Drive washer, it will neutral drain until the motor stops. If you took your finger off the button, the spring in the transmission releases and the washer will spin once the motor restarts.

As for staticy clothes, try setting the dryer for a shorter cycle or setting the dryer to a somewhat less dry setting on the automatic cycle.

If your house has a humidifier, check to see it is workingproperly and is set for a high enough output.

Dave

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Neutral drain mech...

one idea is that the neutral drain mechanism in the transmission isn't working correctly and looks like it's on it's way out the door. There is a kit available to rebuild the neutral drain but requires taking the tranmission apart to do so. Another idea is if the washer is located in a area where it can get verrry cold such as a outside porch or unheated garage. This allows the oil in the transmission to thicken up, thereby causing the neutral drain to not 'catch' properly. Make sure the washer is in a warm area.

RCD

 

[appnut]

Aaron, I had a Kenmore Direct Drive washer that started doing this after about 6 or 7 years. It's almost like as it ages, the spring and transmission don't work properly until it has warmed up. I bet it wouldn't do this if you ran several loads in success, like mine did. I found a "remedy". Before I started to do the first load of wash, I'd put it on the final spin of the regular/heavy cycle and let it go through the spin cycle for the entire 6 or 8 minutes. then after it stopped, laod clothes, and wash as usual. DADoES and Gansky1 have discussed this with me over the phone as to what it's technically doing. And this is how I proceeded to start my wash sessions for the remainder of the 11 years the machine was in service. It now sits in the garage as I got a front loader from a member here.

 

[appnut]

Per RCD's comment about the washer being in a warm area, what I described above happened in Texdas in the middle of 90 & 100 degree summers with the house temp around 78 to 80 degrees. No change in the "issue".

 

[mtn1584]

Had the same thing happen to me

I had a 1999 Kenmore 90series DD that did this right from the start. I had the machine replaced two times. All three machines did this. I sold that house, left the piece of shit machine and decided to give Kenmore one more try. I bought an Elite with the wide lid in 2002 when we bought the new house. That machine did the same thing. I got divorced in 2006, bought myself a Whirlpool "Fabric Sense System" washer in black. That machine did the same thing......and I hated that machine because it didn't fill all the way and after one year the "porcelain" lid bagan to rust badly, and I had to have that replaced. the bottom line is that this is a design defect. If you use your fabric softener dispenser and the machine spin drains first, then stops, as is the case here, your fab softener gets dumped. WP/Sears both say this is a normal part of the operation. By the way I moved again and bought the best washer I've ever owned a TOL SQ TL

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Downey Ball!!

 

[mtn1584]

Downy Ball?

Sorry but the downy ball will dump it's softener too during this process.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Downey ball won't work 100% of the time, but there is nothing wrong with adding FS manually. If automatic FS is such an issue, either repair/replace gearcase, add manually, or use another machine. Maytags, 1989-1995 Kenmore 90 series(triple dispenser), etc.

 

[danmantn]

I noted a similar behavior the other day in my WP...going to have to see if it's behaving badly...I thought it was because I had stopped it during drain and that it somehow screwed it's cycle up. I'll let it do a small load and watch it.

 

[danmantn]

Sure 'nuff...

My 2003 WP TOL is not neutral draining, instead, goes into a spin, stops dead (where it would normally have finished draining), and dispenses all the softener, then goes into a spin. I also noticed there was no spray spin--always thought it had one. Wow. I wonder how many years of fabric softener I've thrown away.

 

[aaronfitzy]

Wow!

I can't believe all the replies already! This washer does sit in a colder environment, but does have a small source of heat. Never had any problems with anything freezing up. I have done more research and it seems that a bad coupler usually will cause the washer to NOT spin, so I'm kinda clueless now. If it was the gear case like somebody mentioned above...wouldn't I have more problems other than this? The gear case surely has more than one job. I suppose we could go to dryer sheets if we had to, but we enjoy hanging our clothes outside in the summer..and we just like liquid better.

 

[DADoES]

 
This behavior has *nothing* to do with the drive coupler.

Neutral drain trannys are, of course, *supposed* to neutral drain, and not start spin until after the 2nd pause/restart. As discussed, a cold environment which thickens the tranny oil can cause the neutral drain mechanism to not preset properly if the wash agitation period isn't long enough to warm up the tranny. The neutral drain mechanism does also wear over time, thus the repair kit being available. Either case causes spin to begin immediately upon first reverse-start of the motor instead of delaying until the 2nd reverse-start.

Of my parents KA which is 15 years old, and my KA which is 18 years old (although it hasn't been used in a while), and a 10-year-old Kenmore that I refurbished ... all of them still do a proper neutral drain. With the recent cold weather, the Kenmore in my garage failed when I first tested it after reassembly (I didn't disassemble the tranny, no need) just because the agitation period wasn't long enough. The two full-cycle loads I washed in it thus far, no problem.

However ... I can say that the original spin-drain models WOULD waste the softener for sure on the Gentle and Perm Press cycle. The drain period was high speed, but spin was low, so the motor paused when incrementing from drain to spin. I don't recall if there was a pause between "drain" and "spin" on the Regular cycle ... theoretically there wasn't.

 

[aaronfitzy]

Hmmm...maybe I will try going from the "Regular" cycle of 9 minutes to the "Super Wash" being 15 minutes, that might get the tranny warmed up enough. I did notice that when this problem did occur on the first drain/spin, the "neutral" drain worked properly after the rinse cycle. To me that means it was warmed up sufficiently enough...makes sense to me.

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[danmantn]

The rinse drain worked properly as well on my test...will test again. Odd, my WP is 7 years old as well. Hmmm...it's been used about 1x a week on average. Not very much use to have problems...it's starting to make odd noises as well.

 

[strongenough78]

A couple of the washers at the laundromat I go to do that too. That sucks that your softener gets wasted though, I always put mine in myself during the rinse cycle. Although I must say, since it seems the only spin spray you get anymore is right at the start of the last spin, all the water is drained out making the spin spray more effective!

 

[appnut]

Aaron, your machine behaving properly is just like mine did. Personally, I'd advise agianst doing any load of wash for the length of the 15 minute Super Wash setting unless absolutely soil-wise necessary. These machines, with the 90 degree arc 180 stroke per minute regular agitation, is simply too hard on clothes for repeated long agitation scenarios like that. My suggestion above of doing the 4 minute regular cycle last spin before putting clothes in for the first load is a far easier suggestion on your laundry and also alleviates the option for dryer sheets, which many of us here don't recomment because that causes a waxy buildup in your dryer as well as, most importantly, a waxy coating on the dryer exhaust system, which causes lint to adhere and build up, becoming a fire hazzard.

 

[mrb627]

Extended Wash Time

I'm afraid that extending the wash time to accommodate the failing transmission is only prolonging the inevitable. I suggest either using a minute minder timer to remind you to go back and add the softener manually or switch to a high quality dryer sheet.

Also, start saving up for a new washing machine. My Aunt's Kenmore began doing the same thing after six years and died before it saw its 8th birthday.

Before I could guide her, she ran out and bought a Kitchenaid TL thinking that she wont have that problem again. Shocked when I told her essentially the KA is the same machine under a different skin.

Malcolm

 

[vintagesearch]

o wow that answered my question, lately our kenmore has been doing that! i notice if its sudlocked it will spin drain i just advance the timer to rinse after its fully spin drained or advance it to the spin before the rinse it actually works out nice if only it spin drained by default, the clothes come out way more drier between our washer is in our basement and its hot down there! its about 4 feet from the boiler and its a tropical heat wave down there i kid you not.

take care