Dishwasher Problems and How to Fix Them

Today I want to see if I can help you fix your dishwasher! They haven't changed much in the past few decades, so even if you have an old one or a different brand than the one I'm fixing, it doesn't really matter because they're often built exactly the same way and even using the same parts. What you find in mine will probably look a lot like what you find in yours. Before you take apart your dishwasher you're going to want to look inside your garbage disposal and see if the pipe is clogged. There's a little hole inside, it's kind of nasty, or you can unscrew the pipe that's attached to it under your sink. That pipe leads to your dishwasher. If that's clogged with food or clogged with something then the water is not going to be able to leave your dishwasher, and it's going to sit in there. Or it could just be restricted, that could be a problem too. So make sure that pipe is clean. Also, check your “p trap” and make sure there's nothing stuck in there. You'll know if your sink is not draining very well either, so that will be a sign.

If you've done that, then you can start taking apart your dishwasher (if you're not comfortable going that far, then by all means, I suggest you contact the experts at Appliance Masters here: http://austinappliancemasters.com. Take out the racks. The top rack is going to be held in with a clip. With this one I have to push in a little lever on the inside and lift it up and out. There's a clip on the left and on the right. After you remove the clips, the top rack should slide right out, and while you're here you might want to look at the screws around your door. When these things come loose, and they often do, it can stop your door from closing all the way. Also, if you have a hole in the gasket around your dishwasher, it can leak. So if your dishwasher is leaking on the floor by the door that might be the problem. Before you take out any screws, lay a cloth down so that they don't drop down inside. It can be really annoying and it happens all the time. There's a screw in the back and a screw in the top. If you happen to lose those screws, they're stainless steel, so you're going to want to find stainless steel screws to replace them.

The lower sprayer comes out by unscrewing the part in the middle, and it pops right off. I'm using a “T-15” bit to take out the four screws. Three of them are visible, and one is hiding behind the arm. Your arm should be free to move now, turn it about forty-five degrees and lift up. It should come right out. Somewhere there's going to be this little plastic ring. Hang on to that and don't lose it. Now you can access the fourth screw that was hidden before. The plug should come right out, and you should be able to lift the filter out. Underneath mine, look at that, a label is floating around! This is often happening, there are labels and stickers on plates and cups, especially kids' ones. They can come off and jam parts inside.

Here's a cover that we're going to take off, it's going to be held on by one screw, then you can see the blade and the screen. On the bottom of the cover there's more paper and plastic rammed in the corner, so check yours out and clear it out. You want to make sure that all the parts that you put back in are being cleaned. You can spin the blade and make sure that it moves. It's going to be a little stiff, but it should be able to spin without feeling like you're going to break anything. There's chunks of plastic and debris, hopefully you can find the obvious problem here. Hopefully it's there and you can clear it out. Also, on the back of the filter pop it off and clean out the underside. All this crud that gets stuck on your screen slows down the water and will make it so that your dishwasher is not cleaning as effectively.

Place the cover back on. The cover should fit very nicely, you shouldn't feel like you have to force it and it shouldn't feel like it's fighting back. If it does, something is misaligned, so take it off and make sure it slips on easily. Put the filter back on, and before you tighten all the screws, put them in one at a time. That way, if you drop the last one you don't have to take all three of the others out. Once they're in the holes, just tighten them. Hopefully cleaning and clearing it out fixed your problem. Before you put the plug back in, slip on the clear ring, put it in the arm, insert the arm and give it a forty-five degree turn. It should lock in place. Put on your lower sprayer arm. The nut inside that you tighten it to should be able to spin freely. If it doesn't, you need to pull it up and loosen it. Then put in the back screw and the top screw. Always use a cloth to catch the screws in case you drop one. Then slide the racks back in and throw the clips in place.

This usually fixes most dishwashers with a draining problem: something is down there inside and the blade can't grind it up and it's just stuck. The water is not going to leave if it's all clogged. Once you clear it out, hopefully it works. If it doesn't, you might have a pump problem or a pump failure, in which case you'd need to pull your dishwasher out.