Maytag Washer CL Error Code: Meaning, Causes & Fix

Control Lock / Child Lock status on Maytag washers — the panel is locked (not a fault). Maytag also uses CL-family prompts around its cleaning cycle on some models; in both cases it is a status, not an error.

CL on a Maytag washer is a status display: most often Control Lock (buttons disabled deliberately), and on some models a prompt/state tied to the Clean Washer cycle. Neither is a breakdown. The release is a button hold printed on the panel (Maytag commonly uses a 3-second hold on the marked Control Lock key). If CL appeared during a cleaning cycle, follow that cycle's prompts instead. Two documented facts organise every Maytag CL story, and both come from Maytag's own pages. The first is spelling: Maytag's product help page for this state is titled 'LoC or LC - Front Load Washer', and its first line is 'There is no Error - Control Lock is activated.' The current front-load owner's manual prints the same pair in its display-code list: LOC or LC, control lock has been activated, release by touching the Control Lock button (on some models a press and hold). Owners naturally read and search those letters as CL, which is why this page carries the CL spelling — but the state being named is the control lock in every case, and the panel in front of you, not the search box, decides which spelling your model uses. The second fact is that Maytag documents a second, unrelated CL-adjacent prompt: the Clean Washer reminder. The MHW8200FC owner's manual states that the Clean Washer reminder light flashes at the end of a wash cycle once the washer has run 30 wash cycles, as a reminder to run the Clean Washer cycle; if the cycle is not run, the light stops flashing after 3 more regular wash cycles, and it flashes again after 30 more cycles are completed. A top-load Maytag manual (W10550279C) documents the same design as a Clean Washer Reminder indicator that lights after 30 cycles without a cleaning cycle, with a REMINDER RESET button to clear the counter manually. So a CL report is one of two scheduled, deliberate states — a lock that freezes the panel now, or a cleaning reminder that appears at the end of a cycle and asks for nothing urgent — and the checks below separate them in under a minute.

What causes the CL code on a Maytag washer?

Control Lock active

Or a cleaning-cycle state awaiting the next step.

The lock set deliberately, then forgotten

Control Lock is often engaged on purpose before a delay start or in a house with small children, and then outlasts the memory of setting it. The machine found dark and unresponsive the next morning is usually this story: the lock held exactly as designed, and the CL-family display is the only witness.

The reminder arriving on schedule

A prompt that appears at the end of a cycle, on a machine that otherwise works perfectly, at roughly monthly intervals in a busy household, matches the documented 30-cycle reminder cadence. It is not triggered by dirt level or sensors — it is a counter reaching its number.

A sustained touch during cleaning or loading

The lock engages on a deliberate hold, but a damp cloth held against the marked pad, or a basket rim resting against the console while loading, can supply the same sustained contact. A lock state that begins right after the machine was wiped down has this biography more often than any fault.

Checks to run before you replace anything

1. Buttons unresponsive + CL = lock. Mid-clean-cycle + CL = follow the cycle prompts.
2. Interrogate the panel: press any cycle button. A locked console ignores you or flashes its lock spelling (LoC, LC or CL depending on model) — that refusal is the lock announcing itself. A console that accepts input freely is not locked, whatever else is lit.
3. Fix the timing in your mind: did the indication appear while you were trying to use the machine, or did you notice it as a finished cycle ended? Lock states are discovered at the panel; reminder states are discovered at the laundry basket, at the end of a completed wash.
4. Read the panel graphics around the indication. The lock belongs to a pad labelled Control Lock; the reminder belongs to an indicator labelled for the Clean Washer cycle (on the MHW8200FC-generation manuals it is the Clean Washer with affresh light). The labelling beside the light is the manufacturer's own answer to which state you have.
5. Count roughly: a household running a load a day meets the 30-cycle reminder about monthly. A prompt that fits that rhythm, on a working machine, needs no further evidence.

How to fix the CL error code

1. Hold the Control Lock key ~3 seconds to release (panel-printed method).
2. Lock branch: follow Maytag's product help — touch the Control Lock button, and on models whose manual specifies it, press and hold it (about three seconds is the platform's usual hold) until the indication clears. Then prove the release by changing a setting and watching it register.
3. Reminder branch: run the Clean Washer cycle empty, with a washer cleaner or the manual's specified alternative — that is the action the reminder exists to request, and it resets the counter by satisfying it.
4. Reminder branch, not today: the manuals document that the indication also clears itself — the MHW8200FC manual says the light stops flashing after 3 more regular wash cycles if the clean cycle is not run, and the top-load manual provides a REMINDER RESET button that clears the counter manually. Either is legitimate; the cleaning is merely postponed, not cancelled, and the reminder will return after the next 30 cycles.

The part that usually fails: None

Status, not failure.

How to reset / clear the CL code

Not applicable.

Whirlpool-built washers clear most codes with a power reset: unplug for 1 minute (top-load models with a cycle-status display sometimes need the lid opened and closed 6 times within 12 seconds after power is restored — the well-known lid-sequence calibration/clear procedure on VMW top-loaders). Codes stored in the control's fault history remain readable in diagnostic mode even after they stop showing on the display, which is why a code that 'went away' can still be found by a technician.

Why does the CL code keep coming back?

Self-engaging CL = sticking panel key suspicion. The two states 'come back' in opposite ways, and only one of them is news. The reminder returning after roughly another 30 cycles is the counter doing its job — treat it as a maintenance interval, not a recurrence. The lock re-engaging without anyone holding the pad is the pattern that graduates: a touch pad beginning to fail can sit in a half-pressed state and re-apply the lock whenever the console wakes, and moisture inside the panel after a spill or heavy steam can imitate it for a day. Log how often it happens and what preceded it; a lock that returns weekly untouched is a panel story, while a lock that returns only after cleaning day is a household story.

How to stop CL coming back

• Control Lock active: Or a cleaning-cycle state awaiting the next step.
• The lock set deliberately, then forgotten: Control Lock is often engaged on purpose before a delay start or in a house with small children, and then outlasts the memory of setting it. The machine found dark and unresponsive the next morning is usually this story: the lock held exactly as designed, and the CL-family display is the only witness.
• The reminder arriving on schedule: A prompt that appears at the end of a cycle, on a machine that otherwise works perfectly, at roughly monthly intervals in a busy household, matches the documented 30-cycle reminder cadence. It is not triggered by dirt level or sensors — it is a counter reaching its number.

Retrieving stored fault codes on Maytag washers

Whirlpool platforms have a well-documented diagnostic mode. On front-load (Duet and later) models: with the machine in standby, press and hold any one button for 3 seconds, release for 3 seconds, repeat for a total of three holds — the display lights up and shows stored fault codes (F-codes with E-suffixes), which you step through with the same button. On top-load VMW models (most Maytag/Whirlpool/Kenmore top-loaders since ~2010): turn the cycle knob with a specific left/right sequence (commonly counterclockwise once, then clockwise three, counterclockwise one, clockwise one) until all status LEDs light, then use the knob to read fault codes as LED blink patterns. The tech sheet inside the cabinet lists the exact sequence and code chart for your model — use it rather than a generic chart, because code meanings shifted between Duet, Cabrio/Bravos and VMW generations.

Other Maytag washer error codes

See the full list on the Maytag Washer error codes hub.

Codes CL gets confused with

XL — Not a Maytag fault code — XL is a capacity/model designation (extra-large tub) on Maytag washers, sometimes mistaken for an error when a cycle stops for another reason. Maytag sells XL-capacity models, and the badge gets mistaken for a code.

E3 — On a current Maytag washer, E3 by itself is not a complete code — it is the second half of the two-part F#E# fault display, and the pairing owners are almost always catching is F5 + E3: F5E3, the lid lock (top-load) or door lock (front-load) unlock fault. The tech sheet's wording: the fault is displayed if the lid lock has not moved into the unlocked position, or its motor cannot be powered. Maytag's current platforms present most faults in two alternating parts: the display shows an F-half, then an E-half, then repeats.

UL — Unbalanced load — the washer can't balance the load for spin (Maytag top-load). UL is the balance give-up code on Maytag top-loaders: redistribution attempts failed.

E01 — E01 is the zero-padded E-half (E1) of a Maytag two-part F/E code — incomplete on its own. The pairings owners actually search are F03+E01 = F3E1 (water level / pressure system fault), F06+E01 = F6E1 (serial communication error between the main control/CCU and the motor control/MCU), and F09+E01 = F9E1 (drain pump system error / long drain). Maytag's Whirlpool-platform displays present a fault in two alternating parts, and the manuals write the parts both ways — Whirlpool's own laundry-centre manual, for example, lists '"F9" followed by "E1" or "F09" followed by "E01" (drain pump system error)'.

Working from a symptom instead? Read our troubleshooting guide for this problem.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: producthelp.maytag.com · producthelp.maytag.com · manualsdump.com · manualmachine.com · hugepdf.com