Lid Switch Assembly

I had to remove the washing machine from the laundry room (our laundry room is pretty small).

I read the do-it-yourself explanation posted by Paul From Glendale CA and followed his instructions.

1. Unplugged the Washer and disconnected the hoses, so I could slide the washer into the kitchen.

2- Unfastened the two screws in the front lower corners of the controls panel and tilted is back. Unfastened the old lid-switch wiring from the control panel.

3. Remove the clips at the two corners under the control panel. I rotated the cover forward to clear it from the back and lifted it off and set it off to the side.

4. While I had the Washer disassembled I vacuumed out all the accumulation of dust, etc.

5. Removed the lid switch and unfastened the ground wire.

6. Installed the new switch and reassembled the Washer.

7. I did not read Paul's reassembly instructions closely enough. The front flange of the cover goes UNDER the steel frame on the washer. I spent 30 minutes trying to get the cover on, then finally figured that out on my own. Once I got the flange under the frame, it took about five minutes to get the cover on, the clips in and the control panel back into positions and reassembled.

The entire process is not particularly difficult. Had I read the "UNDER the frame" part earlier, the entire repair would have taken no more than 45 minutes.

Having another person to help reinstall the cover would be helpful. The cover is not heavy but it is a little awkward to handle and having another person to help line up the back cover, etc. will make the reassembly even easier.

Lid switch broke off (plastic housing broke in half at the screws). This definitely gets easier after doing it just once. Took me a while to figure out I needed to pop off the plastic caps on the sides of the top control panel, to expose the two screws that others mention. Remove the two screws, lay the control panel forward exposing the two metal clips on top holding the cabinet in place. Unhook the clips, voila. The plastic connector of the replacement switch didn't exactly match the old one so I cut and splice (wire nuts and tape). Cleaned everything well while I had it all apart. If I ever have to do this again, it should take a fraction of the time.

Removed all screws to electronic knob panel, unplugged lid switch from panel. Removed washer surround and unclipped wires. Since I had the surround removed, I was able to view the washer drum. Decided to remove all tub clips and clean tub and removed all built up soap and lint. Did the reverse and re-clipped, rescrewed and put surround back together. Hardest problem was putting the washer surround back on the tub. I'm not an extremely strong woman - but did it just the same. Neglected to advise I'm unemployed and recently had a quadrouple bypass. Needed to save money, Sears quoted me $300.00 to fix the machine. No way would I pay that amount of money so I did it myself. Thank you very much!

1. unplug washer
2. move washer out from wall.
3. remove 4 screws that hold control panel; 2 screws on face and 2 screws an back
4. lift control panel to reach plug for lid switch
and unplug old switch
5. open lid and remove 2 screws that hold lid switch on top opening; remove nut that holds ground wire from lid switch
6. remove old lid switch
7. new lid switch needs to be modified to fit in position,i.e. break tube surrounding wires of lid switch to be 1/2 length.
8. plug in new switch at control panel
9. screw in lid switch at lid opening and reattach ground wire.
10. screw control panel in place

I didn't think this would be particularly difficult but it was easier than I expected.

UNPLUG THE MACHINE

Remove the two screws (one on the right , one on the left) That allows the control panel to swing up.

Lift the panel up.
There is a plastic wiring connector that is secured in the top of the washer housing. Press the sides of the top of the connector and remove the top connector. (The bottom part of the connector will still be secured to the housing)

There will be two clamps one on the right side under the control panel, and one on the right.
Use a screwdriver to pop out these clamps. This is where I used the washcloth to place between the screwdriver and the washing machine body to avoid scratching the surface.

Once you pop out these clamps, the housing is free from the tub frame.
Twist the housing just a little and tilt it forward. IT will just slide off the frame.
You can now take the housing wherever you want to more easily get to the switch. It is mounted in the housing.
Take a good look at the way the switch is mounted and the wiring tube is secured because you will need to at least have an idea how to put it back into place.

There will be two clips that hold the wiring tube in place. One on the side and one on the top. Use a screwdriver (and the washcloth if necessary) to loosen and remove the clips.

There are two screws that hold the switch to the housing. Remove these and keep the screws. You will need them to attach the new switch.

Now the only thing keeping you from removing the switch is the connector which you saw earlier before removing the housing. Squeeze the sides of the clip and free it from the housing.

Mount the new switch into the housing and route the wiring. You may have to use a small pair of pliers to squeeze the clips back together to hold the wiring tube to the housing.
Attach the green ground wire to the housing frame just like the one you removed to get the wring tube off the housing.

Push the connector end through the hole designed for it until it snaps into place.

Replacing the Housing back on the frame:
Let the housing all the way down, and slide the front lip of the housing UNDER the front brace of the tub frame.
Carefully let the housing lower onto the side rails (the housing will go on TOP of the side rails).
You may have to gently twist the housing to let it fall into the proper place.
Take the clips and secure the housing back to the tub frame.
These just POP back into place with applied pressure.
Re-connect the lid switch to the control panel wiring connector.
Swing the control panel back down into place and replace the screws on the left and right sides.

PLUG IN THE MACHINE

Viola!! You are ready to perform your favorite laundry task.(Yeah RIGHT!!) Or just yell "HONEY the washing machine is ready for you." Anyway, after the swelling in your eyes go down you will see that your washer is ready to use.

This took me about 40 minutes but some of that time was spent understanding just what to do. With these instructions, you may be able to do it in 30 minutes.

I hope this helps you. Kudos to the Whirlpool Engineers who made this machine easy to work on. This is the 3rd repair I have done on mine. (Rebuilt the agitator drive and replaced the timer) For 18 years of use.. that ain't bad. I think it is good for another 5 years at least. Total cost for this repair: Part=$37, Shipping=$7, Time spent=40 minutes. Not bad considering a serviceman is going to charge $90 labor for the first hour plus parts.

Removed the 2 screws holding the control panel.
Tilt the control panel back to expose the spring clips.
Disconnected the Lid Switch Harness plug from the control panel.
Pry out the 2 spring clips, each located on either side of the top of the cabinet.
Openned top lid, placed one hand into the lid openning and pulled the cabinet forward.
Disconnected ground wire. Installed new switch while cabinet was off. Reconnected Harness connector after re-installing the cabinet.

Unplug the washing machine. Remove screws from the washing machine control console and lift it up. Then removed medal springs that connect the back of the washing machine to the cabinet. Then removed the cabinet about 3/4 of an inch forward. Then unscrew the old Lid Switch Assembly and put in the new one. Then slide the cabinet back on the washer and screw it back together and replug it and it worked.

first I had to work in a closet, so couldn't get body off, just the back. The part removed and replaced really easy. Dropped a socket and a clip, had to get my reacher to get them. Difficulty was in getting the back, back on. Now everything works just fine and all the laundry is almost done.

I watched a youtube video made by the site on how to replace the lid switch assembly. It showed you exactly how to do this repair. Without watching the video, it would probably have stumped me. After watching the video a couple of times, it was really pretty easy to do. The timer on our washer also needed replacing. I followed the instructions by Joe from Covington, GA. That repair was really easy. Thanks, Joe, for the easy to follow, complete instructions.

First thing I did was remove the 2 phillip head screws from the lid switch control inside under the lid, then I removed 2 phillip head screws on the control panel, one the bottom far right corner of the controls and one on the far left corner. After removing the screws I removed the 2 other Phillips head screws from the back that held the remaining of the switch control panel. These also hold 2 small white hinges of some sort. After removing the switch controls by wiggling it a bit (which its good to do very gently since there are still wires attach inside). After I moved the switch on top of the lid I detach/ unplugged a plug that was connected to the metal which gives the power that goes to the lid switch. After removing the lid plug the first half of the plug remains on the top the bottom half is the one you have to press down to remove it. After the bottom half is press down and out of that space there are too metal clips on the corner of the each side of the washing machine with the same screw driver I unclipped it by putting it under the metal clip and lift it out, same goes for the other side. Once these are removed the metal casing can be moved towards you so you can have access under the lid, make sure you tape the lid so it does wack you in the head or have some one hold it for you. Once you have access to it, you can remove the the remaing wire attached, if it seems stuck it means you have metal clips holding the plastic down you can unclip them pushing them out towards you. Once removed final step is to remove the screw that had the ground wire, also a phillips head screw, remove the old lid switch and replace with new one, make sure you first break the plastic apart as the old one was. Screw back the 2 screws that hold lid switch back one and then do the ground wire or which ever you find easier to do first. Then put everything back exactly how you took apart. I was able to do this in less that 15 min.