How to Fix the Problem When an LG Washer Doesn’t Start

The internet has practical solutions for when an LG washer doesn’t start.

An LG washer doesn’t start? If you think I will let an annoyance such as when an LG washer doesn’t start get the best of me, then you don’t know the tenacity of Elizabeth Weintraub, a Sacramento Realtor hellbent on solutions. I am a person with answers, a person who tackles challenges with my pinky finger. Nothing gets in my way when I am on a mission and, yesterday, my New Year’s Day mission was to fix the the problem when an LG washer doesn’t start.

I refuse to be a victim. I won’t call for help when I can fix it. We have choices in life. I could sit on the floor and sob about my helplessness, which is not my style, or I could take care of it.

The easiest way to avoid being faced with this dilemma of course is not to buy an LG washer. But I’m stuck with this washer because our sellers, the now tenants of our fine vacation house in Hawaii, bought it. We have Whirlpool front loaders in Sacramento that we’ve owned for 14 years without a single repair problem. This 2014 LG washer broke a few months ago, and the tenants had the repairs covered under an extended warranty policy, which is usually a total waste of money to buy.

I would never buy an extended warranty. But then I wouldn’t buy an LG washer, either. All the lights came on but the start button would not engage. Unplugged, counted to 20, plugged in. To troubleshoot, I found the model and serial number, downloaded the operating manual. One of the suggestions in the manual was to scan the QR code. Who uses an app for QR codes anymore? I don’t even have such a thing on my iPhone any longer.

I downloaded several QR scanner apps, none of which worked and one tried to hold me hostage, so much for thinking 1,200 people weren’t stupid. How could it have 1,200 recs? Then I downloaded an app directly from LG that lets me diagnose the problem remotely. I followed the directions to a T but no beep came forth from pressing the wash temp for 3 seconds and pointing my iPhone at the smart icon. So much for smart icons.

It seems the start button would not start, I reasoned, because that start button locks and unlocks the door. The locked icon was not reflected in the panel, therefore the door was not locked, although it was securely closed. I diagnosed the start button was the culprit. Perhaps it wasn’t seated correctly and we could remove the panel if I had a screwdriver? I asked the tenant. Yes, I eventually dragged him over to the house on New Year’s Day.

The tenant was thinking, obviously, about his extended warranty. It was easier for him to let me finish my laundry at his temporary rental across the street and call the warranty company on Tuesday. There were no laundromats open in Kailua-Kona today. That was a solution. I still would have preferred to remove the panel myself, but C’est la vie.