Kenmore Elite HE3t washer is not ringing water out as good as it used too

[fred93]

We have a Kenmore Elite HE3t washer that was purchased in 2002 . About three years ago we had to have the motor replaced because it was making noise. About a year ago I replaced the water pump assembly because some small pieces of clothing clogged up the drain passage and got stuck in the water pump. Those are the only two things that have gone bad in 16 years!

However, recently we started having a problem with the clothes coming out of the washer very wet. This happens after the washer completed the entire wash/rinse/spin cycle. So I spent two days taking the drain assembly apart looking for blockage. I found nothing! But as long as I had everything apart I cleaned the entire drain assembly including the rubber hose that goes from the outer wash tub tank to the pump assembly--the screen inside the pump--the hose that goes from the pump to the house drain. Then I put everything back together and sat there watch the machine going through a "rinse and spin" to make sure that water was not staying in the tub or water was being aloud to pass by the water shutoff valve. Everything seemed to be working fine.

My wife used the washer for a week and said that it was working better. Then today she said that the towels that she just washed were too wet to put in the dryer so she was ready to run another drain and spin cycle. But before she did that I took out one of the small towels and wrung it out in the sink--it had a lot more water than it should have had at that point. So she did another drain and spin and the towels were better but still not as good as they used to be. Since she has been having this problem, which has been going on for several weeks, she has been using the "extended spin option".

I have not seen any error codes on the machine at all during this problem. I do not know how long a spin should be or how fast it should be spinning. I do know that it seems to do a lot of slow tumbling one way then the other and I guess that is done to balance the load. The spin cycle seems like it goes pretty fast at times but like I said I do not have any idea what it is supposed to do or for how long.

The wife seems to be pushing for a new washer--Is this unit worn out and ready for the boneyard???? I hate to buy a new one if this one can be fixed.

Any help will be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[LearningTech]

the old whirlppols were some good machines.

Spin is usually 5-7 min on high speed.

 could be out of balance and keeps toping to rebalance, or someihtng like a motor controler

[fred93]

13 hours ago, LearningTech said:

the old whirlppols were some good machines.

Spin is usually 5-7 min on high speed.

 could be out of balance and keeps toping to rebalance, or someihtng like a motor controler

How can I tell if it is a motor controller? And wouldn't a motor controller give a code error??

[LearningTech]

It normally will, but could be  intermitent.

honestly to diag its fairluy complicated repair clininc will let you return parts, you could buy one if all else looks good, and they will let you return if not the issue

[fred93]

2 hours ago, fred93 said:

How can I tell if it is a motor controller? And wouldn't a motor controller give a code error??

UPDATE----

I had the wife put a small load of clothes in the washer. I sat through the entire cycle and my notes are below:

Washing Machine Cycle

Small Load of Clothes

Normal/Casual (light) Cycle

2^nd rinse

Extended spin

Extra high spin

Warm/warm

 

49-minute total on digital window at start

38 min-adding water

37 min-starting to drain

36 min-slow spin-still draining. Start fast spin for 20 secs, back to slow spin

35 min-stop-more water added, back & forth tumble, adding more water, back & forth tumble

33 min-add water stops, then restarts

32 min-back & forth rinse, add more water

31 min-slow tumbles, back & forth tumble

30 min-slow tumbles, back & forth tumble

29 min-still back & forth rinse, no drain yet

28 min-drain starts, still back & forth tumble, slow tumble one-way starts, still draining

27 min-looks off balance (is it due to light load?), draining stops, back & forth tumble, drain starts spin, slow one-way spin

26 min-high speed for 5 sec, slow speed, still draining but no water sound

25 min-back & forth tumble, still draining

24 min-slow tumbles, drain pump off, water added (2^nd rinse?), slow tumbles one-way

23 min-water still added, slow back & forth tumble

22 min-slow back & forth tumble, some water added, then water stops, slow back & forth tumble

21 min-slow back & forth tumble, normal amount water for 2^nd rinse

20 min-slow back & forth tumble, start of drain pump removing water, slow one-way tumble, getting ready to spin

19 min-Medium spin for 5 sec, drain pump still running, slow spin

18 min- slow back & forth tumble, drain still running

17 min- slow back & forth tumble, one-way spin, add water, drain pump off, slow one-way

16 min-add more water, slow back & forth tumble

15 min-still add water, slow back & forth tumble

14 min-slow back & forth tumble with water in tub

13 min- slow back & forth tumble

12 min-drain starts up, slow back & forth tumble, then one-way slow spin

11 min-spin speed increases to medium, draining pump is on

10 min-draining off, drain back on, one-way slow spin

09 min-medium-high for a few seconds, then slow, drain still on

08 min- slow back & forth tumble, drain on

07 min-pump off, slow back & forth tumble

06 min-slow back & forth tumble

Stops cycle with 6 minutes left on clock

 

The spin cycle only reached a medium speed--never reached a normal high speed let alone a EXTRA HIGH SPIN which was set at the beginning. And please note that the MEDIUM SPEED only lasted for about 5 seconds.

Needless to say the clothes were very wet when the machine stopped and the green light came on to indicate that the cycle had been completed.

We left the clothes in the machine and selected "Drain & Spin" . This time the machine ran the spin cycle for about five minutes and it seemed to get up to the maximum speed.

 

 

[fred93]

16 hours ago, LearningTech said:

It normally will, but could be  intermitent.

honestly to diag its fairluy complicated repair clininc will let you return parts, you could buy one if all else looks good, and they will let you return if not the issue

Please reply to my latest post at your convenience. I am interested in knowing how to determine which parts may be bad, causing the wash cycle to not fully achieve max spin rpm. Thanks for your previous replies. 

[certified tech group 51]

have you run the diagnostic tests???