Washing machines wash our clothes day after day and they too can use a little preventative maintenance. When we wash our clothes, we use detergent, bleach, and softener which you would think would keep the washer clean. Now if that was true then our shower would remain clean since we also use a cleaning solution (shampoo and conditioner) to wash ourselves down. Just like your shower needs to be cleaned often, so does your washer. You really don't want to let your machine get stinky. This happens from detergent build up on the outer tub. In order to fix this situation it is a good idea to run an empty cycle or 'Self Clean' cycle for some models. If not then look for a deep water cycle. Make sure that you're running a hot cycle and add two cups of white vinegar to help sanitize and dissolve any build up that may be in your washer. At the end of the cycle, wipe the top and lid and leave the lid open to allow it to dry. For front load washers, wipe the door gasket side that touches the glass, wipe the glass clean, and get deep into the washer gasket. Doing this will ensure you avoid mold from growing and odor causing bacteria. Additionally, wiping the seal that is made between the glass and the gasket will also ensure that water doesn't leak out. You should already be doing this part at the end of the day on laundry day. Other tips and advice would be to make sure that you are using HE (High Efficiency) detergent so that your machine runs smooth and efficiently. HE detergent is a low sudsing solution unlike non-HE detergent. Bubbles are actually not good for these machines. Bubbling too much can throw off your water pressure sensor and flood your machine. After all, the bubbles aren't what cleans your clothes, it's the detergent. 'HE' works when your clothes are being tossed around during the agitation cycle. Be sure to read the directions on the back of the detergent bottle so that you are aware of how much detergent to use and you're not wasting your detergent.
Washer wont spin?
Almost every machine will lock the lid upon starting the wash cycle. Some models do not lock the lid until its time to start the spin cycle. This is the theory that you can use as a test. The spin cycle will not work if the lid lock does not lock. At this point you have a faulty lid lock. You can also test this theory by putting the unit into a drain and spin cycle or a spin only cycle.
Cycles don't advance?
The timer and control board is responsible for the operation of your machine, whether it be filling water, draining, spinning or agitating. If your machine does not advance through the cycles, you've got a bad timer or control board.
The water temperature is wrong?
Make sure that you have connected your hoses on the correct valve. If all good there, the water temperature switch allows you to select the correct temperature according to the cycle or your preference. When the switch stops working, the water can be too hot or too cold.
No fill or filling when not in use?
The water valve can fail and cause it to slowly leak into the machine when not in use or it can fail to where you can't get it to fill when you request it. Other situations could be due to water pressure supply being too low. You need approximately 20 PSI for proper operation.
Overfills?
Internal water valve leak, faulty water level pressure switch, clogged or kinked pressure switch hose, or bad control board.
Not agitating?
Bad gear case, bad clutch, bad motor, broken motor coupler, clutch motor failure, bad main PCB, or bad timer.
Won't drain?
Clogged drain hose, clogged drain trap, bad pump, bad pressure water level pressure switch, bad control or timer.
Some front load machines have what's called a drain trap, it is a washable filter. It's located on the front lower left of the machine. Whirlpool tends to put theirs where its not as accessible. With that said, you would need to slide your machine forward and remove the back panel to allow you to access the drain trap.
No power?
Check for 120 at the outlet. If you're not able to safely test it using a multi-meter then you can use a lamp to see if that works. If light works, then you could have a bad user interface, sometimes both user interface and control board, bad or damaged power cord.
Longer than normal cycles?
If you just installed your washer, make sure that you connected the correct hose whether hot or cold to the right valve on the unit. You can test this by disconnecting the hoses from each water valve independently and holding the other end into your washer and running the water until you feel that its hot or cold. Next you want to connect the hose to the unit accordingly. There are labels in place that specify or the color of the water valve will indicate where each hose belongs. Next start a regular cycle, at this point your machine will first start by draining until empty. Make sure to stop and cancel the cycle if you will not be doing laundry right then and there because it will fill up again. If your unit does not start by draining, don't panic, you can easily select a drain and spin cycle. You don't need to run the complete cycle, just enough so that the water drains out. Worst case scenario you can easily throw some clothes in and run a wash cycle.
Another scenario would be if you happened to notice that the washer was in spin cycle already and you walk away and come back a while later and its still spinning, then you know something is not right. Usually this just means that the machine went out of balance a couple of times. When this happens, the machine will cancel the spin and add more water to attempt to fix the load. The machine will attempt to get into spin cycle three times, if it fails, it ends up draining the water out and you might see an error code if there's a digital display.