Washing Machine Won't Start But Red Light Flashing

[gingerjoe90]

Hi, I have an indesit wil103 and it wont start. The red light is flashing but when I press the start button the green lights come on for about a second a then go off and nothing happens. When I turned it off at the mains and left it for a while then turned it back on it automatically does a very quick cycle where the water goes straight through and then it goes into a really fast spin cycle for about 5 minutes then stops and then returns to the red light flashing and it wont start. I thought it may have been the PCB board but I have replaced it but it hasn't made a difference. the mechanical side of it seems fine as when it does spin (after turning mains off) it seems fine so Im thinking electrical? or circuitry perhaps? Joe

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Joe. Unfortunately your case highlights why I always advise never to speculatively replace parts, especially expensive ones such as the main PCB or module. It's the single most miss-diagnosed part on a washing machine and even engineers often replace it only to find it wasn't that. The problem with such parts is you can't normally see a fault or test them, therefore you can only diagnose a faulty one if you've eliminated every other possibility or if by any chance an error code implicates it bit even then it's not reliable.

At least if an engineer has one on the on he can always swap them back if the fault remains and use the part again but buying one speculatively is a big gamble. Even many engineers will shy away from ordering one if they don't carry them because they might be stuck with it if it fails to cure the fault.

If the red light on a washing machine is flashing a set number of times, with a pause inbetween it's indicating an error code. If so count and report the number of flashes. If it's a constant flash with no pause then it isn't.