My washer will not spin. This is a bit different from, "My washer will not drain." But the two operations are intimately connected. Check out "My washer will not drain" to eliminate electrical problems. In other words you must confirm that the motor is running and trying to spin the basket. Here we will study mechanical issues.
Most designs wait until the water is gone before trying to spin the heavy basket. On earlier ones like GE and Maytag, the clothes basket slowly loped around as the water drained and gradually speeded up.
Now many designs have a separate drain pump. By separate, I mean it is a completely independent motor and pump. Consequently it is always critical to insure that the drain pump is working properly before worrying about spin problems. Historically, the primary motor also ran the water pump. This was accomplished by a direct drive system or belts. Now things are bit more complex.
LG Separate Pump
All this hoopla means that before any spinning occurs, the water must be gone. With the water gone, the motor must deliver torque to the clothes basket and bring it up to full speed. This may not happen for many reasons dependent on design. Each one has its quirks.
1. The basket is free to turn; no bad bearings, no sock caught between the inner and outer tubs,
Jammed Sock
No broken tub block ears with basket dragging the bottom:
Correct Drive Block
Damaged Drive Block Ears With Dropped Basket
With a top loader tilted at an angle you should be able to rotate the motor/belt and make the basket turn by hand. If not find out why. By reversing the rotation it should agitate.
2. The motor and clutch have enough horsepower to turn the basket. The weak spot is the clutch not the motor; it is the wearing part. Bypass the lid switch:
Direct Drive Bypass Jumper
Screw Driver Bypass
Put the washer into spin and hold the basket with one hand. You should feel it trying to pull away from you. (Get the feel of this on a good machine). A wet basket should pull right out of your grip; a dry one you can hold. If there is very little or no drag obviously you have clutch or belt problems. A worn belt will have very little pulling power. Many times this is a judgment call; washers will spin fine empty, but not with a full load of clothes.
4. On any direct drive top loader the motor to basket coupling must be intact. On the original direct drive Whirlpool this translates into a good coupling:
Broken Motor Coupling
5. On this Cabrio, Bravos design the spline must be intact to spin the basket.
6. On Whirlpool's vertical modular washer, VMW, the belt and pulley must be working.
Check for all the obvious causes and then investigate your specific design weaknesses.