WED4850HW0 Timer Stuck on "Cool Down"

[TMeitner]

Hi there,

My Whirlpool dryer WED4850HW0 works great, but recently has decided not to advance past the "Cool Down" stage on the Auto-Dry cycle. Everything dries, the heating element heats up, it just gets stuck on that stage and won't advance to the "Wrinkle Shield" setting or turn off, so it just continues to spin in perpetuity until I go down there and manually advance the timer past that spot. I've popped it open and tested everything with a multimeter. As far as I can tell, the timer is working as the wiring diagram details, and the heating element checks out. I took apart the timer and there's no burned-out spots or anything - looks very clean on the inside.

Any thoughts on what could be causing the issue? Bought it brand new and have only had it for a year or two now.

[Vance R]

Sounds like a stripped or worn  tooth on the cam gear.  You can look at the back of the timer motor through the observation hole to see if it running.  If it is running and not advancing just replace the timer.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

8 hours ago, Vance R said:

You can look at the back of the timer motor through the observation hole to see if it running.

Not on this one @Vance R it's one of the new style crappy Whirlpool plastic shaft timer - with this type of timer it is a good chance that is your problem if everything else has been ruled out.

[TMeitner]

On 6/5/2020 at 6:37 AM, Budget Appliance Repair said:

Not on this one @Vance R it's one of the new style crappy Whirlpool plastic shaft timer - with this type of timer it is a good chance that is your problem if everything else has been ruled out.

Thanks for the reply! (Forgot to check this forum for a bit.) So at this point, replacing the timer is the only way to go? That's a huge bummer at $150ish for a $300ish dryer. Ugh.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

15 hours ago, TMeitner said:

So at this point, replacing the timer is the only way to go?

We don't know that for sure, you are the one doing the testing!!!!

Just these timers are really cheaply built and have a very bad track record already.

If you're pretty sure you have tested everything else correctly and the timer is problem - these timers do come apart pretty easily.   The plastic cam rings that active the timer contacts are all separate from the plastic drum, (not a physically molded all one part like the old timers), they are held in place on the drum by just a tiny cheap plastic piece that snaps over a little ridge - they very easily break off and drop out of place.

I've epoxied the timer cam rings back onto the drum to repair these before.