1990s Maytag Dishwasher Help Please

[volvoguy87]

I’m visiting my parents and they have a Maytag dishwasher they bought in the mid 1990s, if I recall correctly. It has been fantastic and the best dishwasher I’ve ever lived with. I love the rack design, its speed, and thoroughness, but it’s having an issue I cannot figure out. This is a real Maytag, not a Whirlpool, and I think it is from their last dishwasher design platform.

The wash portion of the cycle is working okay. The drain portion is functioning, but making some alarming noises. It does not have a separate drain pump. I think it’s a reversing motor, and the scheamatic shows at least one check ball. I took the pump partially apart and removed a bread twist tie and a small chunk of plastic, but nothing more. The filters are in good shape and are clean. I did not get all the way into the bottom of the pump.

I’m thinking there could be something in the pump chamber I didn’t get into, maybe a check ball came loose, or an impeller has cracked.

There are some pictures attached, the model number, and a short video of the machine running in the drain cycle so you can hear the noise. Please let me know what you think. I really like this dishwasher and I’d like to continue liking it for a long time more.

Thank you,
Dave

 

[jamiel]

No matter what, you may want to check that model number for the Maytag recall.

 

[volvoguy87]

No matter what, you may want to check that model number for the Maytag recall.

The model was on the recall, but not this serial number. Good to be cautious though.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[combo52]

Hi Dave, it sounds like something is seriously wrong. Go ahead and take the rest of the pump apart, we have lots of parts for those dishwashers and even complete pump and motor assembly if needed.

From the sound of it, your parents dishwasher either has something caught in the drain pump. It might even be a bad motor bearing, but the dishwasher looks to be in very good shape from your pictures.

A bit of history, this was Maytag s fourth and final standard tub dishwasher design, it was the first time they got away from the reverse rack design as it never sold well because consumers generally didn’t like it. There certainly were some consumers that liked it, but it was a very hard sell.

This standard tub jet clean dishwasher came out in the early 90s and lasted till Maytag’s final dishwasher design, which was a tall tub dishwasher, which came out around 2001 and these jet clean models were immediately discontinuedwhich may take made through 2006 and whirlpool continued to build it for about two more years before they abandoned it. It was also plagued with problems.