Dishwasher Repair Helps

General Dishwasher pages...

A dishwasher quick tip that often helps...

Example: Maytag D/W with poor cleaning. I have never used the "four cups in the corner" test and for some reason it came to mind ( seeing four cups on the counter ). Turned the cups upside down and run the d/w with water in it for approx 30 seconds. It was amazing. Three of the cups filled up immediately and the right front cup wouldn't fill at all. I saw some plastic bits in the wash arm holes and removed them. Then all the cups filled. Since the customer was watching, they where able to "see" the improvement.

Always remember Electricity is dangerous and should be treated with respect.

Please pick a topic by Make and or problem...hope you find this helpful :-)

My dishwasher racks have rust on them: You can purchase new racks for your dishwasher if the racks have started to rust, but there are also repair kits to help fix up your old racks and keep them new looking. If you have large spots of rust you can purchase a bottle of dishwasher rack touch up paint to cover over the marks, you can get many colors like, blue - white - gray - green. If just the tine ends have started to rust, you can cover them with a tine repair kit. You just push them over the tines to cover up the ends:

Fixing tine ends of dishwasher rack

Dishwasher Basics: D/w's have a fill valve that allows hot water into the tank, a safety float and switch that will cut the power to the fill valve if the water level inside the d/w gets to high. The motor and pump has impellors inside itself that pushes the water into the spray arms and also pushes the water out for the drain cycle. The spray arms turn to "swoosh" the water around inside the tank. Dishwashers need D/w's have a fill valve that allows hot water into the tank, a safety float and switch that will cut the power to the fill valve if the water level inside the d/w gets to high. The motor and pump has impellors inside itself that pushes the water into the spray arms and also pushes the water out for the drain cycle. The spray arms turn to "swoosh" the water around inside the tank. Dishwashers need hot water to dissolve the soap properly ( at min 120 degrees F but the closer to 140 degrees F the better ) You can and should check this inside the dishwasher. They also need dry ( granular ) new soap, liquids work good as well. Rinse aid ( like Jet-dry ) is important to help prevent spotting and also helps the dry cycle work better.

My dishwasher will not start: Most common d/w power is 120 volts, check for 120 volts with a volt meter at the main power harness where it enters into the dishwasher, you will have to remove the lower access panels to get to the power box. Dishwashers also have at least one and most newer dishwashers have two door switches that must be checked. You will find then behind the console at the door latch area. Each manufacture has different designs but this is a picture of what some of the newer dishwasher switches look like.

My dishwasher will not fill with water: This is often the fill valve. You can test the fill valve coil for continuity with a ohm meter, no needle movement = bad fill valve. You can also test the fill valve for 120 volts at the fill valve with a volt meter, power there and no fill = bad fill valve. No 120 volts there, you will have to trace power back to find the trouble maker. Test things like the float and float switch, wires and timer. Fill valves are very bad for working once or twice and then quitting, if your dishwasher fills the first and second fill cycles and then no more water through the rest of the cycle, replace the fill valve. You will need to remove the access panels to get at the fill valve. Dishwasher fill valves also have a screen built into the valve entrance, this can also get all clogged up and need to be cleaned.

Added info/tip from a reader: I would like to add for readers, going back to the float switch for the tenth time I noticed it was very loose where the pins plug to the harness.....the tip of my multimeter probe worked to push together for a tighter connection and now she is back to normal.

Older electronic GE dishwasher control test: If your dishwasher console looks like this where you set the controls. There is a test sheet that will help you check out the electronic control and also will check the general operation of the different cycles, it is called a F1 test. The dishwasher also has a built in fault code ( like C4 ) that will tell you when something needs attention, like a plugged drain for example. All the mentioned information on how to start this test and what the fault codes mean you can find here.

GE - Hotpoint, McClary, Moffat style dishwasher just hums (some Kenmore, Jenn-Air ): If this style of a dishwasher sits unused for a period of time the seals in the motor and pump can get frozen together. Sometimes high minerals in the water also can stick the seals together and the motor cannot turn on, often the dishwasher will fill with water and just sit there "humming". Usually this is fairly easy to repair and get going again. Remove power and access panels....reach in with your hand and turn the cooling fan blade a turn to break it free, reinstall power and try the unit. If this "sticking" keeps reoccurring, the motor and pump assembly will probably need to be replaced.

The dishwasher doors falls down: You may have had a door spring break. There several different door springs, but most, if not all dishwashers have 2 door springs. You will need to remove the lower access panels to get at the springs. They are fairly easy to get at and replace :-) Here is a collection of some common springs used today.

There are many different types of tap/faucet adaptors for dishwashers today. Grab your full model# and you can order one for yours from Dishwasher parts from here.

Dishwasher Rack Repair Kit - White - Kit includes vinyl paint and 25 colored vinyl tine caps.

Dishwasher Rack Repair Kit - Light Blue - Kit includes vinyl paint and 25 colored vinyl tine caps.

Dishwasher Rack Repair Kit - Grey - Kit includes vinyl paint and colored vinyl tine caps.

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