Washer won't cycle but will spin, drain, and rinse

I couldn’t choose my specific model but it is a Maytag Centennial we have tried with TWO separate washers (Two different brands as well) and the same issue is present. The washer will do its initial sensing, throw some water on the clothes and stop. If I set it to spin and rinse it’ll do it, if I set it to spin and drain it will do it, but it won’t cycle if you set it to wash a load. I had read that typically that you need to replace thing the timer if it won’t cycle but the washer was perfectly functional before we had gotten it (I can’t comment on the previous one though) and odds are that they both didn’t have a broken timer. Thought I would try to get some answers here before I dump $100+ on something that may not work lol. My roommate took a look at it and thought it was the shift actuator? so we replaced it but that did not fix it.