Do-it-yourself washing machine repair

Less than 2 1/2 years ago (January 2005) we bought a new Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer/dryer set. The model we got has a Sanitary cycle which was attractive to me because we use cloth diapers and I wanted to be able to wash them in super-duper-hot water, plus do a pre-wash or pre-soak cycle and an extra rinse. It also has the capacity to hold tons of clothes and spins the water out so you don't have to dry them as long. I like my washer/dryer a lot, though it has had its problems.

It has a little display where it will tell you error codes if something messes up. I've learned what some of these mean w/o having to look them up and can usually fix them easily enough by pushing 1 or 2 buttons. But today, I got a door lock error that was not responding to the usual solutions. I spent 15 or 20 minutes trying to get the washer to lock the door and start my load of dirty diapers to no avail. So I jotted down the model and serial numbers and went upstairs to see what I could find on the source-for-everything-worth-knowing-and-a-lot-that's-not, aka the internet.

I found several websites that had the same info that I could find in my washer's manual, basically what the error codes mean and what I needed to look at to troubleshoot the problem. Of course all this stuff made no sense to me as I am not a washer repairman (or even a washer repairwoman). Then I found something I could understand. A site that suggested I make a fist and hit the top right back of my washer. I made a mental note and then continued my search. After 10 more minutes I hadn't found anything that sounded remotely promising besides "Call your Whirlpool repairman, wait 5 days for an appointment, and then prepare to spend big bucks."

So I trotted back down to the basement to try out my brute force tactic. I tried starting the cycle again to verify the problem was still present. It was. So I made a fist and hit my washer as described. Pushed the start button and VOILA! The blessed sound of the door lock engaging and the washer starting!

I was so pleased that I immediately called my sweet husband at work to tell him the good news (I had sent him an email telling him the bad news). Then I decided that this was worth blogging about on the off-chance that one of my loyal readers has a Whirlpool Duet washer (model # GHW9400PL0) w/ a door lock error problem.