So, our other brother convinced me that, if I’m not smelling any electrical burning smell coming from the washer, then there’s a chance the washer can be saved, even by two fools who know nothing about fixing washers, because the problem might be the belt, not the motor.
And so, next weekend, the Butcher and I are planning on… yes… trying to fix our washing machine.
This should be amusing.
I may sell tickets to help defray the cost of a new washing machine.
Tiny Cat Pants 
I haven’t got the patience to wait or the money to pay for repairs, so I’ve discovered most everything is fixable-water heater, washing machine, thermocouples on the ancient stove and gas heater.
Get a repair manual-specific is better but general will give you an idea-and go for it!
I believe Greg has fixed this exact problem on our washer before so I’m sure he’d be delighted to act as an expert. I know for sure he has replaced a heating element on a dryer but hopefully you don’t need to know how to do that.
If you need to get fancy I feel like we looked up diagrams of the appliances through the internet and possibly a database at the public library or a community college with HVAC and related classes to make this easier. Like you know since I no longer work as a librarian I have lost my librarian powers and can’t remember if there was such a database for sure or anything about the name if it does exist…
We too have looked up schematics on the internet. Specifically, I recommend the instructions we got from this guy, who gave such clear directions that we have repaired our washer and dryer several times now with great success. (If you need parts, he’s also cheap and reliable.)
http://www.davesrepair.com/DIYhelp/