Ok, who's the resident dishwasher expert?

[Nathans_Dad]

We have a 2001 model KitchenAid dishwasher. It stopped drying the dishes about 6 months ago.

The wife finally got me around to trying to fix it. I did some looking on the net and it seems that others have had the same issue. They fixed it by replacing the heating element. I took a look at ours and it looked a little gnarly, some of the coating was flaking off, etc so I decided to change it and see if that fixed the problem. Got the new kit today, it came with a new control circuit board for the dishwasher as well. Supposedly they improved on the original design or something, anyhow the board has to go in as well.

So, I replace the heating element, replace the board, being careful to plug the wires into the exact same spots they came off of. Hook everything back up to the dishwasher and let 'er fly.

Washed great...then got stuck at 45 minutes left in the cycle. Stayed there for about 30 mins, then started up again. Finished the cycle and the dishes were clean but not dry and now there is water standing in the bottom of the washer. This makes me think the pump is not working now for some reason.

I can't figure that out since I didn't even touch the pump. I thought it might be the control board so I pulled it again and rechecked all the connections and they all look correct. It came with a wiring diagram but I think it was written by blind Chinese people...I can't make sense of it.

Any idears?

[Joe Bob]

Mine just died.....circuit board for the whole monster...$260. Kill me now....

[Nathans_Dad]

Ok, well never mind I think. I decided to put the old board back in and see if the pump runs. The second connector I put back onto the old board I was like...DOH! Put it on the new board backwards. Flipped that one around on the new board and the pump now works.

Now I just have to deal with the stupid copper pipe that kinked when I was pushing the dishwasher back into the counter....GRRR!!!

[Hugh R]

go to applianceguru.com

You can search for free or ask questions for $5 for a one time fee via paypal. They answered my standing water question in one correspondence. By the way the standing water is related to a plunger/stopper thing in the back of the dishwasher underneath the drain screen. It has an umbrella looking stopper that wears out. A $20 part.

[kycarguy 935]

Check to make sure you have the water turned all the way back on. Ask me how I know this. Good luck.

[Nathans_Dad]

I seem to have hit a small snag. As I mentioned above, I kinked the existing copper line while reinstalling the washer last night. It was leaking. I bought a new PVC line today (avoiding the kinking issue in the future) and went to install. Unfortunately it seems the copper line is welded into the shut off valve under the sink instead of having a threaded end. Is the best solution to just buy another shut off valve, turn off the water to the house and install that or should I try to fit some sort of threaded adapter onto the existing copper tubing?

[Rot 911]

Looks like you have a shut off valve that has to be soldered to the line. How are your soldering skills? You can buy a shut off valve that is soldered or threaded, but you will have to get some compression fittings if you go the threaded route.