model 110.15962401- I think built by Whirlpool - less than 5 years old. 3-speed motor. First sign of trouble was it tripped the 20A circuit breaker on slow / intermittent setting. Now it's agitating without filling, not spinning in perm press cycle, randomly changing agitation speeds. I removed the timer and opened it - there are several burnt contacts! Obviously I need a new timer, but WHY would this happen? Is it just a bad timer, or is there a deeper problem?

It could just be from a lot of use or ,unfortunately, the quality of the part is poor (that is the case in most modern,cheaply built imported parts.Just get a new timer from Sears and hope for another 5 years of use!