Suggest re-post at "Laundry Room" forum.

Your description is common as nails. Use the search function over there and you'll be reading for a long time.

Suspect you're likely a prisoner of the machine's ATC settings. Suggest call GE's help line and/or your machine's vendor and ask them what the ATC on your machine is supposed to be doing. Assuming you'll find it is not allowing full-hot flow, ask further if there is a replacement ATC that will allow that and/or work-around for it. Do this before scheduling/paying-for a service call.

TEL51,

Per my initial searching on your model, it's a somewhat lower-end unit that seems to not have ATC ... but I can't confirm that without further details, such as a wiring diagram or model-specific tech sheet. There's some disparity in control panels on the references I found -- some have a 3-position hot/warm/cold temp switch, some have 4 positions (cold/cool/warm/hot?).

The replacement water valve comes up as a three-solenoid valve. Multi-solenoid valves are common nowadays on machines with dispensers (detergent, softener, bleach) to direct the incoming waterflow to the various dispensers for flushing the additives, but the model in question doesn't seem to have any dispensers. Unless, there are 4 temp choices and the three valves allow for different mixing proportions of incoming hot & cold water.

Turn the cold hookup off and see if it will fill. Also check output pressure on the hot water line. and you can partially close the cold supply to regulate fill temp further. A splitter can make two supply lines out of one hot source so all you get is hot.

I want to thank all of you for your feedback. Haven't found the answer yet, but your suggestions give me some avenues to pursue that I had not considered.

Sounds like you ruled out the most common reason for this which is cold water in the line.

Only the very cheapest washers today, the ones with one button for off and on and one knob for hot,warm,cold will you get actual straight hot water from the water heater.

So if your washer mixes cold water into the "hot" and what you have setting in the line is cold water when it turns on the hot all you get is mostly all cold until that water in the line is gone.

You have 2 choices for actual hot water today in a new machine, buy the absolute cheapest washer you can find, like $300 with 1 knob 1 button or buy a washer with a built in heater and even then usually only 2 maybe 3 settings will give you hot water.
On ours we have "Bright Whites" which is heated by the machine to 122 degrees and then "Sanitary" which is heated to 158 degrees.

One possibility is you could check your screen on your inlet if this is a not a brand new washer just installed in the past few weeks or months then it is possible the inlet could be clogged with calcium or what ever mineral deposit.
Take off the hot water hose check the screen. If the screen is clean then switch the hot over to the cold side and Visa versa to check if the water inlet valve is defective and does not open.

Only the very cheapest washers today, the ones with one button for off and on and one knob for hot,warm,cold will you get actual straight hot water from the water heater. I've seen tech sheets and service info for some so-called lower-end models that do have ATC, even if not explicitly stated in the machine's feature description.

Sorry for delay in getting back after receiving many good responses. Got sidetracked by something unexpected.

Following are my responses to some of the questions & suggestions.

o The model # should have been stated as WCSR2090G6WW (there was supposed to be a 6 between the G and the W)

o The machine has 3 position temperature control - cold, warm and hot

o The machine has one dispenser (for bleach)

o The water is barely warm when temperature is set to hot even when the water is run in a nearby sink to get it hot before turning on the washing machine

o Tried the suggestion to turn off the cold water line completely. Machine filled ok (meaning the hot water line screen was not clogged). Water going into the tub was HOT (similar temperature to nearby sink) meaning the machine is somehow mixing too much cold in.

Guess my next step is try and determine whether there is an ATC in this machine that is malfunctioning (I can't believe an ATC would only allow barely warm water when turned to hot if it were functioning correctly) or if there is some other problem.

Again, thanks for the input.

Does seem that ATC of some ilk may be involved, witness that you got nicely hot water (on the Hot temp setting?) when the cold supply faucet was turned off.

I said earlier......"Suspect you're likely a prisoner of the machine's ATC settings."

Below is link to triple-valve assembly on your machine plus some questions/answers from people like you.

Not surprised to see here comment from another parrot who thinks 90F wash temps give results as good as 130F.

Here is a link that might be useful: ATC control for your machine.

Click on "expand all" at the site to reveal answers to the questions.

For most of us with front loaders, this is not a mechanical problem. It's really simple: the bulk of the washing machine is cooling the water. Think about it. Our old top loaders used so much water and the machines were lighter. No drum weights, no spiders, maybe even the tubs used less metal. The hot water runs into the tub and cools immediately. Had I thought of this before buying my machine, I would have bought one with sanitizing capabilities.

Buy cold water Tide detergent and wash in cold water. Used this for years now, never turn on hot unless to sanitize machine.

KIBV Inc

Washing in cold water is the worst thing for the machine, allows smutz / greasy residue to accumulate in hidden areas not seen ... interior of the outer tub and exterior of the inner drum, drain sump and hoses.

this is the reason why... .Effective March 6, 2015: The U.S. Department of Energy revised their standards and federal guidelines for hot water energy consumption for all clothes washers. These changes affect all washer manufacturers in order to save energy and conserve resources. All manufacturers must comply with the new standards.

We are committed to meet the Federal energy standards and deliver a product that upholds GE Appliances wash performance standards. To comply with these standards, HOT water temperature selection is a mixture of hot and cold water from your household plumbing. When you select HOT, you will receive some cold water with the fill; this is normal.

Since the appliance is designed to fill with limits on the amount of hot water filling the appliance, it is not recommended that the cold water supply be turned off during a HOT water fill. The appliance is designed to fill with a mixture of hot and cold water to save energy, and is operating normally when doing so.from https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=22225 THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! I DRIVE A SMALLER CAR THAT GETS 36 MPG. I CONSERVE ENERGY IN A VARIETY OF WAYS!! TURN THE HEAT DOWN, AC OFF WHEN NOT NEEDED UNLIKE NEIGHBORS. I SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE VERY HOT WATER TO GET RID OF DUST MITES! YOU NEED 130 DEGREE WATER TO KILL THEM AND TO GET WHITES CLEAN ETC. RIDICULOUS. THIS LEGISLATION I ASSUME WAS PUT THROUGH BY OBAMA! RIDICULOUS! i GUESS YOU CAN SHUT OFF THE COLD WATER VALVE WHILE FILLING THE HOT LOAD. THEN GET ON YOUR KNEES AND TURN IT BACK ON ONCE WASHING SO THE RINSE CYCLE USES COLD. THERE! USING HOT WATER ANY WAY!

There are washing machines that will fill with hot water, and or heat the water, in some cases up to 170F. Bosch, Speed Queen, Miele, Whirlpool, LG, and others. The user must select the proper cycle and the washing machine must be designed to be able to do this in the first place (some machines are designed to not be able to do this), to get said hot water temps though. I don't think Obama had anything to do with this as I had two washing machines that didn't fill with true hot water before he was president.

I can see you are shouting with the all caps.

The archives of this laundry forum are a wealth of info and knowledge to try and find a washing machine that meets your needs. I have a Speed Queen washing machine that will fill with water as hot as my water heater is set to *if* I choose the correct cycle. There are cycles on my SQ that will dumb down the water temp to almost cool, but I don't use those cycles as I need to use very warm to hot water in my laundry. I keep my water heater set to 140F. My washer fills with water that hot when I choose hot. If I set the water heater to 160F or even 180F, my washer would fill with water that hot. So, you do have options. Obama didn't take that away from you. Hope that helps.

What model SQ do you have? I have a model #AWN632SP116TW01. My water heater is set to 140F but at hot wash setting, the machine fills with warm water.

@Janet Drake, SQ limits the temperature on the Normal/Eco cycle, as do majority of other brands/models on the market. Heavy Duty is less restricted, may provide full tap-Hot temperature or a better Warm ... maybe also Bulky / Sheet, Perm Press, even Delicate. Have you used those other cycles and checked the resultant fill temperatures?

I had a plumber come install a shut off on the cold water. the only problem now is my washer leaks from the bottom. asked a wash machine tech about it and he said he couldn't figure it out???