Another success story!
I have model WM 181 4CW and the world famous LE code was there. It would fill with a little water, stop--the drum would try to jerk left, then right. It did that about 15 times every ten seconds, and then the beep and the flashing "LE" would appear.
After tons of research and gratefully stumbling onto this forum, it seemed like everything was pointing to the hall sensor being the problem.
With all the great posts on here with special thanks to Jason and David for the extremely clear and easy to follow step by step instructions, I had the motor out in no time. I called a local appliance repair shop here and further confirmed the symptoms I described with the expert there.
He said "yep, that's the problem. That's very common, I hear it all the time. What is happening is that the drum is trying to 'figure out where it's at' and the sensor controls that." I told him the drum still spins freely though both directions and he said that is normal for it to do that even when it freezes up and gives the code.
I said that's good enough for me, order that puppy. I got the #6501 KW200 1A. I put it in today, put it back together and it spins like a gyro now both ways and works perfect.
You wouldn't think that little white plastic mold form with a small black rectangle in it would possibly correct that major lock up. But that black thing is a computer chip and it has a brain function dedicated to telling that drum what's what and how it's supposed to spin.
If you have the code LE which just pops up one day after working fine before, nine chances out of ten this hall sensor will fix it. The repair center said they go out just like that. One minute they work, next minute they don't.
If you follow the easy instructions given by David and Jason especially, you can DO this. It is daunting to think you are going to work on something you know nothing about and this is a very sophisticated machine. But LG is famous for this malfunctioning hall sensor and repair guys charge big big bucks, when it is as simple as putting gas in your car. Just follow the instructions. They would charge about $300.00. I paid $27.49.
In fact after installing mine, I don't think it is even necessary to remove the motor to replace this sensor. The stator, which is actually the motor, and has all the tightly wound copper wire sections which you will see as soon as you remove the single bolt and pull the hub cover off, has the sensor attached to it.
So if you remove the stator, that requires you to remove the several bolts holding that. and then you have to pull that off. There are 8 bolts I think.
But the wires on the RIGHT side at the bottom of the stator lead to and connect to this sensor. There are only two sets of wires and they are held in place by a little silver plate. Remove the little plate holding the wires to the frame. This will make it a lot easier to work with the wires if they are not held in place. There is just one screw holding the plate.
Now grab the right side wires in your right hand and look inside. You will see what they lead to. That is the hall sensor. Now looking through the stator down toward your hand, you will see a very thin plastic "clip." It's a white clip on white plastic material so look carefully and you will see it. Now carefully put a very thin knife under that plastic and gently lift it upward slightly. I'm quite sure this will release it and it will then unhook from the three bottom nubs and fall in your right hand.
Take very close notice of where it was positioned to put it back in the same place. Now you can easily separate the pin connectors male from the female. Discard the old sensor, push the new one into the pin connector. Line up the three tiny little square holes you see on the sensor with the three little tiny square "nubs" you will see if you look under the bottom of the stator.
Now reach underneath with your right hand and push your white plastic clip toward you so it snaps in again where you took it off and presto change'o, you're done!!
Put the hub back on and fire up your machine. Hopefully you will see it working good as new again. Pour yourself a celebration drink because you just saved big money. Appliance repair technicians in your area will hate you.
Now, if the sensor does not come out as I described--and as I believe it will, then just remove the 8 bolts and pull the stator off as described by David and Jason in their posts and remove the sensor that way. I just believe this step can be saved. And removing that is the most labor intensive part of the job. I really don't think it's necessary to remove that and it will make the job even easier.
One final note, for those who had the code and only had luck removing the top cover and pulling the connections off the PCB board and then reconnecting them, my repair guy said by unplugging the machine and plugging it back in again, you are doing the exact same thing. The computer resets every time it is unplugged.
So chances are, if you unplug it and plug it back in after ten minutes or so and you are still getting the LE code, taking the top cover off to do anything, will most likely not be the answer.
I can tell you, if it's code LE you're getting, try the sensor. It's a very plain Jane looking piece of plastic but it's a miracle worker in that washing machine. Good luck.
And thanks to all the great people here who put a smile on my face a mile wide after I watched mine working like a Swiss watch again. I hope I have made it even easier for you to do yours.
Reyrey, October 2009
