Error code
LG-built Kenmore washer signal CL
CL is an indicator rather than an error. LG publishes it for the washer this badge covers, and it means: LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION — the child lock is on, and it is not an error. LG's manual prints
- From $95 diagnostic, credited to the repair
- 59 cities and neighborhoods covered
- OEM parts available on order
- In writing the price, before anything is opened
What we can confirm
Signal CL, from the manufacturer's own documentation
This code has no number, because this equipment has no display to put one on. The appliance signals it instead — an alarm, a symbol or a pattern of lights — and what it means is recorded in the documentation that ships with it.
The signal
CL
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION — the child lock is on, and it is not an error. LG's manual prints this as `[L` on a segment display and the help library writes it CL.
or call (305) 680-1018
What it narrows down to
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION — the
What you are probably seeing
Diagnostic
From $95, credited to the repair
What it looks like from the kitchen
The symptom this code usually arrives with
A code names the subsystem; the symptom is what sent you to look at the display in the first place. That page says what it usually turns out to be, cheapest cause first.
-
It is plugged in, the panel responds, and nothing happens Washer will not start
Almost always an interlock or a setting rather than a failure. Every one of these machines refuses to run rather than risk an open lid, and both manufacturers have a control lock that makes the panel look dead while nothing at all is wrong.
- The lid or door lock is the usual answer
- Control lock looks exactly like a failure
- Both builders publish a code for it
On the same appliance
What else belongs to the washers
On this make a code belongs to the appliance rather than to a product line. These are the other conditions this machine can display, and the models that can show this one — a display often has more than one thing to say, and the model number decides what any of it costs to put right.
Other codes this appliance can display
Too many suds in the drum
The load is too large for the machine to handle
The load is out of balance and the machine
The washer is taking too long to fill, or
The washer is taking too long to drain —
The lid lock will not lock
The lid cannot unlock — the machine has detected
The cycle was interrupted by a power failure
The hot and cold inlet hoses have been connected
A reminder that the Clean Washer cycle is due
The lid was left open
The cycle was paused or canceled
The same digits mean different things on different equipment. Search the full code list
In more detail
About LG-built Kenmore washer signal CL
Whose code this actually is
Kenmore did not write CL, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is LG's, and it appears on the washer that LG built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool-built and LG-built washers wear one badge and share almost none of their code scheme, so the wrong table here sends you to a pump when the machine is reporting a lid.
What the appliance is telling you
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION — the child lock is on, and it is not an error. LG's manual prints this as `[L` on a segment display and the help library writes it CL.
This one is an indicator rather than an error. It is published in the same table as genuine problems, and treating it as one is how a working appliance gets a service call.
Which Kenmore models can raise it
The Kenmore washer whose model number begins 796 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are LG's, which is why LG's table is the one that applies to CL and no other manufacturer's does.
Worth trying yourself, in this order
- Hold the child lock button for three seconds.
- It is switched on by accident more often than it is switched on deliberately.
Where this usually goes
The job this most often becomes is washer lock and lid switch repair, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore washer in this county works in hard water and a warm laundry room, so a code that arrives with slow draining or long cycles is very often the supply or the drain rather than the machine. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears CL, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.
Where this meaning came from
LG's own documentation: LG Owner's Manual — Washing Machine, Front Loader, USA, P/No. MFL71728911. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer's document instead.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards