So I figured it out: turns out the wire assembly going into the motor had intermittent contact on the red wire. Tension from the basket moving back and forth was causing it to be flaky and only sometimes work. Looks like moisture or something caused that particular contact to be all cruddy. I pinched/slightly crimped the contact to force a tighter connection and retapped the wires to relieve some tension and its all good. Only took me about 12 hours of disassembling and reassembling every part to figure it out. coulda been a 10 minute fix if id have known. On the plus side I feel like I know everything there is to know about this washer!