I know, you would think this is an obvious Bozo No-No. Not only will caustic chemicals, like Drāno, inflict more injury on your dishwasher, it does nothing to fix the problem. But, incredibly, there are mental midgets out there who do this and then don’t bother telling the appliance servicer that their dishwasher basin is full of Drāno when he has his hands immersed in the caustic slurry. And these people can vote and have a say in electing other morons, like themselves, to office! Forget about terrorism or nuclear missiles– our real menace is 100% made-in-Ameedica, homegrown boneheads.

Dr. Fridge recently posted about this in the kitchen forum. Here is his Public Service Announcement on this topic:

I have a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT for it has happened to me TWICE now.

Customer has a Fisher & Paykel Dishdrawer that wasnt draining. (First time it was a GE dishwasher… another customer)

First thing I do is see if there is blockage in the unit… I open the drawer, remove the filter plate, filter cup, rack and wash arm (remind you that there is water still in the bottom) and I am diggin my hand in there to see if there is blockage.

Just then the customer feels it is a good time to tell me that she poured a bunch of DRANO in the dishwasher!!!!!

I have had my hand in that garbage for a few minutes and THEN she tells me????

At least the first time the customer warned me BEFORE I had my hand in it. Luckily nothing happened to me… But customers PLEASE do NOT put drain cleaner in your dishwasher… It is NOT gonna fix the problem.

First, check the usual suspects: Make sure the circuit breaker isn’t tripped and that the wires at dishwasher’s power junction box aren’t burnt.

If all that checks out, then go right to the control panel area.

Asko dishwashers have had problems with the wiring in the control panel area burning or melting– very messy. While your problem may not be as dramatic as that, the problem may still be visible.

For example, you may find burnt or discolored wire terminals…

or the spades on the start button switch may be burnt– anything burnt or discolored has to be replaced…

You can buy any replacement parts you need right here.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

I have actually been on a service call where the customer had hired another servicer to repair this problem. The other servicer, obviously merely a parts-changing monkey and not a real technician, simply slapped in a new heating element, didn’t bother to check his work, collected his money, and left. I asked the customer why she didn’t call him back to repair the problem for which she had hired him in the first place. She said he was too hard to reach, has left several messages with no return call, and she’s rightfully concluded that he is simply an incompetent cockroach and she wanted to try someone else.

Now, in the Bosch dishwasher, one indication that there’s a problem with the water heating circuit is if the dishwasher takes forever to complete a cycle. Note that “problem with the water heating circuit” does not equal “bad heating element.” While it’s true that the heating element is part of the water heating circuit, it is only one of several parts which can fail and kill power to the heating element. “How can we tell this?” you ask, incredulously. Well, Slick, a real technician uses a multimeter to make some simple electrical measurements so that he can determine, with absolute certainty, which part is bad. No guess work involved here. No replacing a part and hope you get lucky. Real technicians do something called “troubleshooting” in order to prove which part is defective.

So I pulled the wiring diagram for the dishwasher and measured the continuity of the heater and the heater’s thermal cutout fuse– both were good. Therefore, I knew that the problem had to be in the control board. So I opened the control panel, pulled the control board out and, walla!, found a burnt solder joint at the heater relay. How ’bout them apples?

So I got my solder gun from the van, soldered the connection, popped the board back in and ran the dishwasher. Within minutes, that heating element was drawing 11 amps, right on the design specification for that unit. Another successful Samurai repair.

If your control board is beyond repair or failed in another manner, you can buy a replacement control board here.

You know the story: you load up your Maytag dishwasher, start the cycle and it fills ok, but it just doesn’t sound like it’s doing any serious dishwashing. In fact, when you open the door at the end of the cycle, all your dishes still have chunks of spam and bits of spinach stuck all over ’em.

So, being a DIY kinda grasshopper, you verify that the motor runs. Now what’s a grasshopper to do?

Look very closely at the wash motor shaft extension on your dishwasher. You’ll need to disassemble from the spray arm downward to get to it. Click the parts diagram shown here for a larger, annotated view of the guts. A plastic shaft extension was installed from the factory. If something too hard got caught in the cutter that mounts onto this extension, that plastic shaft extension strips out. When you remove the shaft extension from the motor shaft you will likely see stripped out threads from the extension left on the motor shaft. Replace the shaft extension, seal kit, and cutter with the new improved parts kit. Then you should hear that old familiar sound of your dishes being blasted clean.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

If you’re preparing for a repair on this dishwasher or doing some troubleshooting on one, this illustrated, annotated photo of the underside will help get you familiar with the terrain.

Part link: New motor-pump assembly.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

Trying to Help, one of the distinguished Sublime Masters of Appliantology in the repair forum, explains how to troubleshoot this pesky problem.

For Maytag dishwashers with model numbers starting with MDB where you suspect the upper spray arm isn’t spinning, there are some excellent suggestions for things to check in this repair forum topic.

Model numbers starting with GSD, such as GSD6660G00SS.

Most “no-pump-out”? issues are solved by cleaning out a plugged air gap, drain hose or disposer. However, on GE dishwashers with a rear filter, “no-pump-out”? may also be caused by a malfunctioning piston and nut assembly, located underneath the rear filter. To save time, effort and repeat service calls, always inspect the piston and nut assembly when diagnosing a “no-pump-out” complaint.

The piston and nut assembly has an integral check valve, shaped like an umbrella, which closes the collection chamber inlet during pump out. If the check valve is damaged, held open by debris or assembled upside down, water will circulate inside the tub instead of going down the drain. Cleaning a clogged valve or replacing a defective one will solve the problem. This check valve is very inexpensive, especially given that it’s a GE. Come git you one.

If the piston and nut check valve assembly is functioning normally, verify operation of other parts of the drain system. Those parts include the dual pump check valve on models with a three port collection chamber, the adapter check valve at the outlet of the collection chamber, the solenoid/gate valve mechanism on the main pump and both the main pump and dual pump, if equipped.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

You may need to know this little trick when trying to repair a Maytag dishwasher with a drain problem. This trick applies to Maytag dishwashers with model numbers starting with PDB, such as PDB2430AWE.

After checking the usual suspects, check the drain solenoid. Two tests are required here: first, check the continuity of the solenoid coil; second, make sure it’s getting 120vac during the drain cycle. If either condition fails, then replace the drain solenoid.

Now, here’s where the trick comes in. You may find that, after replacing the solenoid (or before!), the solenoid plunger flings out when it’s time to drain. Dontcha hate when that happens? The solution is stunningly simple and, best of all, the part costs less than a buck. How’s that for the deal of the day?

The problem is a broken lifter; you can see it in this diagram as item 23.

To replace this humble little part, first take off the top cover on the dishwasher motor. Do this by unscrewing the tower, removing the spray arm and pulling the cover off. Again, refer to this diagram. Once you get all that schtookus outta the way, you’ll expose the lifter linkage. You can tell the lifter is bad (or as we professional appliantologists like to say, “Vees badden”… that’s a little German lingo fer ya) because it should be in the shape of an “L.” If’n it ain’t, then the metal arm of item 34 will have too wide a range of motion and, as a result, the solenoid plunger will drop out.

You can buy the all-important lifter here.

Installing a new motor-pump assembly into this dishwasher can be a difficult job for the limp-of-wrist and wet-of-bed. But gird up your loins like a man and the Samurai, lo, even the Samurai himself, shall lead you unto the Promised Land.

Can I hear an “Amen?”

Yeah, whatever. Freak.

If you have a newer-model Whirlpool or Kitchenaid dishwasher (also sold under the Kenwhore label), that’s not washing dishes very well, here’s whatcha do:

First, make sure your water fill level is adequate, should be just below heating element. The proper fill is 1.8 gallons, so if you want to see what a proper fill looks like before you proceed, use a pitcher and add 1.8 gallons of water to the empty dishwasher basin. Some other things to check for poor washing results on this page.

Ok, if that checks out, the next thing is to determine whether or not the wash motor is runnning. You’ll have to pull the kickplates off so you can check the voltage supply to the wash motor underneath. If the motor is getting voltage but it’s not running, or maybe it’s just making a humm noise but not circulating water, then you need a new wash motor. Or, for a few more shekels, you can save yourself some headache and replace the motor already assembled into the plastic housing as a complete assembly.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if the wash motor is running (and you have the proper fill level in the basin) but the dishwasher is leaving crud all over the dishes, then you can probably get by with just replacing the chopper (mascerator) and the check valve, shown here to the right (click the picture for an annotated view).

If you need help getting to the chopper assembly, grab some popcorn and enjoy this illustrative slideshow.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

A Sublime Master of Appliantology provides some good tips in the repair forum on troubleshooting this problem.

*Water level on this unit should be up to the bottom of the heating element (using the element as a face of a clock, use the 9 & 3 positions) when the water shuts off if filling correctly. When the unit is done filling and you get the pause prior to the motor kicking on, look at the float switch on the left hand side behind the kick plate. The float is down to fill and will rise allowing the plunger of the switch to extend and stop the fill. If you are not getting a pause between fill and motor operation, you might not be filling with enough water. If the float is still down, add until it raises and breaks the contacts. Shut the door and start the unit, do the arms now move? If so, could be clogged screens in the valve

* Filter in the sump. Remove the lower arm, remove the torx screws holding the top part of the pump housing on. This will expose a micro-mesh filter that could be clogged to the point you are starving the pump of water. This will allow water to come out the arms but not enough pressure to move them. If they are clogged, inspect the back wash arm, that is the 4 armed spinner in the middle of the filter. The arms have verticle slots in the end of them that spray water out to clean the filter. If they have become clogged, clean them and the filter.

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.

AFFECTED MODELS:

Whirlpool: DU1050XTP, DU1100XTP, DU1101XTP, DU1145XTP, DU1148XTP, DUC600XTP, DUL240XTP, GU2400XTP, GU2500XTP, GU2548XTP, GU2600XTP, GU3200XTP;

KitchenAid: KUD x 01-6 (where “x” is any letter);

Kenmore: Whirlpool-built models.

All serial codes.

NUTSHELL:

Whirlpool has issued a service bulletin on this problem. Seems the heater fault-detection circuit is buggy. The condition can also apply to a dishwasher that has had the electronic control replaced.

The cause of the problem is an insufficient rise in water temperature during a pre-set time period. The heater fault-detection program that was added to the electronic control is designed to shut down the dishwasher if the board-test for proper water temperature rise is not sufficient.

GORY DETAILS:

The dishwasher run cycle was modified to add 8 minutes 45 seconds of heat at the beginning of the main wash cycle. If the inlet water at the thermistor is below 110°F, the thermistor looks for a water rise of 4°F. If the inlet water is over 110°F, the test is for an increase of 2°F. If the temperature rise is below specifications, the unit will drain and the clean light will blink seven times.

The detection described above is ignored if the temperature is out of the normal temperature range of 64°F to 160°F during this heat period. This thermistor temperature test is not done to increase water temperature for better washability, but to only assure that the heater is functioning.

Proper incoming water temperatures should be between 120°F to 140°F.

CORRECTIVE ACTION:

You will need to identify possible causes of insufficient temperature rise. These causes may include checking the wiring to/failure of the control, the heating element, the thermistor, the inlet valve, door switch, motor or capacitor. Make sure that water is not siphoning during fill. Once the heater fault detection is triggered and the condition resolved, the electronic control must be reset by initiating a special diagnostic cycle. Use the Product Tech Sheet shipped with each dishwasher — you’ll find it behind the kickplates — to identify the correct cycle sequence. The rapid advance cycle will not properly reset the electronic control.

Not recommended because this can cause problems like nuisance trips of the GFI.

You checked everything you can think to check on your dishwasher and you’re still getting that pesky gritty stuff all over your dishes? Well, budrow, the solution could be something as simple as the type of detergent you’re using.