1. Home
  2. Electronics Repair
  3. Kenmore Dishwasher Troubleshooting assistance

Kenmore Dishwasher Troubleshooting assistance

The problem I am having is that the dishwasher will not spray the water around the inside. It will fill (although it will not fill enough to cover the filiment anymore), it will drain, it will heat up but it will not throw the water around inside and therefore will not complete a cycle. I have taken off the water inlet valve and tested continuity and even took it to a shop and they confirmed it worked. I have taken the entire motor and pump assembly apart and cleaned everything as I thought the crud in there was making it not work. Disgusting job by the way.... After doing all of that...the problem is the same. When i get to the point in which the cycle should start throwing water around inside, I get a noise like like an electrical load being put on something. Its like if you put a load on the motor and were strong enough to hold it from turning....After I turned the sucker back off, I felt the motor and it was almost hot enough to burn my hand.....hmmm...what do you think??????? How can I test it? If it is the motor, it sounds like it is getting electricity to it but maybe it is functionally broken....i dont know....

Please....help....

Reply to
grahamhil
Loading thread data ...

Hi!

How is your water pressure? Has it changed recently?

Many dishwashers have a floating limit switch that cuts off the water when the water pushes the float up. You should be able to find this fairly easily and test it by moving it up and down. After being sure power is disconnected, you should be able to test the switch with a volt-ohm meter set to the ohms resistance scale and hooked to the terminals of the switch.

Are the water feed/drain hoses cracked, kinked or blocked?

It is also possible that your dishwasher is shutting down before the water fill has completed because of the problem you mention below with the motor.

First off, BE CAREFUL. If you elect to work Is the motor in any way jammed or stuck? Can you get to the motor shaft and turn it?

If the motor shaft will turn, then you might have a bad motor start winding, start switch or connection causing problems. The motor could also simply have a shorted winding. Look around for any loose, disconnected or burned wiring connections.

If the motor shaft won't turn, or seems to be very stiff, you'll have to figure out why this is.

Pump seals can also go bad on a dishwasher. When this happens, the motor usually takes a bath and burns up. (I've seen this happen, and it usually smells terrible when it does.)

If you can connect the motor to power and safely manage to turn the shaft while it is supposed to be running, what happens? If the motor starts, then you've most likely got a bad start switch or winding.

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

I have an old Lady Kenmore 180 degree hygienic rinse model dishwasher and something you said rang a bell with me. You may not be getting enough water into the dishwasher and the noise you hear is the pump sucking air. There is nothing to sense if there is enough water before it starts washing. The float switch is only a safety switch to prevent getting too much water. The timer energizes the water valve for a certain period of time and it depends on water pressure and flow to get enough. Mine kept burning out the heating element because is was not gettin enough water to completely cover the element. There is a very fine wire mesh strainer in the input side of the water valve. Mine was stopped up with sand and red clay and limiting the water flow. I removed the stainer and threw it away. That was about 25 years ago and it's still working. The only other trouble I have had was to replace the water seal on the motor shaft twice.

Start the washer and when you hear the water valve cut off open the door and see if the water covers the top of the heating element. If it doesn't fix that first.

Van

William R. Walsh wrote:

Reply to
vangard

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.