The washer will fill and it will agitate for about 10 seconds, then it will stop.When it stops there is no motor sound.Then after about one minute it will start by itself and repeat the same thing over and over no matter what I set the knob to it does the same thing. Could it be the timer?

Yes, it certainly could be a timer problem, if the timer isn't operating the motor correctly the motor will overheat and shut down. It could also be a failure of the motor itself, regardless of what the timer is doing. If it only runs for 10 seconds, (though not foolproof by any means) I would think probably timer, especially if the motor spins well.