Help with Kitchenaid KDI-17

[tonymark]

My wife and I purchased an 50's ranch with a KDI-17 and it worked great for 10.5 years that we have owned the house. Now it has a problem. It seems to drain when it is supposed to be washing. (I can actually tell by the sound that something is wrong.) From what I can surmise the same pump does the washing and the draining and the drain valve controls when it actually drains.

I checked the voltage on the drain solenoid when I know the dishwasher should be washing. The voltage is 0 V. The voltage goes to 120 V when it actually should be draining and that works fine.

I assume the solenoid gets stuck on occasions and needs replacing, or is it the valve? Is that just one part? I found the drain solenoid for $60? Is that a reasonable price? Where do you recommend I purchase the replacement part? Is this a common problem? BTW, I am in Atlanta.

Thanks for the help.
Mark

 

[varicyclevoice]

Regarding Drain Valve

Hi Mark,

My parents had a similar problem with their KitchenAid dishwasher. Basically, what happened was a piece of a stem off of a grape got lodged on the seat of the drain valve preventing a tight seal and thus the water slowly drained out as it came in. Is this the case with your unit or is the solenoid actually activated?

A good way to test this is to disconnect one of the wire terminals to the drain valve...preferably the wire (don't know what color but on it near the lead will be the letter "D" for drain. The other wire is the white common wire. Pull off the "D" wire. Then turn the dial to the very beginning of the WASH portion and let it fill and wash. Does the water drain out? If so, then there is a foreign object on the seat of the valve and you can remove the valve and take it apart and fix it. If it does not drain the water, then it might be a defective timer. This happened once to my Mom's friend's KitchenAid Custom 17 model where the drain valve was energized when it wasn't supposed to be. If this is the case, the timer needs replaced or adjusted.

When you close and latch the door, press a button, and turn the dial with the button engaged...you should hear the drain valve clicking at the points on the timer that represent the end of the PREWASH, WASH, RINSE sections, etc. Do you hear the click of the drain solenoid?

Let us know what you find out.

Todd

 

[stevet]

dripping drain!!

Todd, good advice especially about the item getting stuck in the drain. It will probably be easier to just remove the valve and look inside of it. This unit may have had the older style 90 degree drain valves which were very prone to getting stuck open. Pits, bones and tooth picks were big offenders! Some later units had a straight thru style valve with a flapper lever or a solenoid that pulled the plunger to open the valve. Either way, if you remove it, you will immediately see what is wrong with it.

If your drain hose goes up to the sink to drain it will not drain out when the motor isn't running as the motor turns both the drain impeller and the pump impeller at the same time and in the same direction. So if the valve is open, it will drain the machine.(These motors never stopped running to reverse direction. That feature came alot later.)

If the hose happens to go down thru the floor to a drain and you fill the machine and then shut it off, it will gravity drain if the valve is bad.

One thing else to make sure of.. is there even enough water getting into the machine in the first place? Lack of water will make it sound different and will affect the washing results. After this many years, the fill solenoid strainer screen could be all plugged up with water debris or lime and cause the machine fill with too little water. The proper water level would be about an inch below the washarm hub (the black plastic housing which holds the 4 stainless steel arms).
Check that out and let us know.

BTW 60 bucks seems like a bit much for the drain valve. Let us know which one you have and I am sure I or a few other guys can send one out to you for something more reasonable.

 

[gadgetgary]

Pits, bones and tooth picks were big offenders!

A toothpick was the offender in the KA that was in the house where I grew up. It was a very costly $$ service call to find out that the offender was simply a toothpick stuck in the pump, so, it would keep draining and not fill.

 

[tonymark]

Wow, what great advice. I never thought about food particles causing the stick. I bet this is it.

Todd, the unit will drain with the drain valve wire (D/pink) disconnected. Although, the unit sometimes does works, it will generally screw up a cycle or 2. When it works I here the solenoid at the end of each cycle (that is when it receives its 120 V from the timer, which it receives even when it does not work).

Steve, Looks like I have the 90 degree valve. It is NOT the one from the schematic that you posted, and that one looks straight. I just closed the unit and do not want to open it again to take a picture.

The valve looks easy to remove from the washer. Is is easy to take apart. Any gaskets to destroy? How do I take it apart correctly?

Thank
Mark

 

[varicyclevoice]

Hey Mark

Give me a call at 309-269-2991 and I can walk you through this. It would be easier rather than trying to type it all out and have you try to decipher my thoughts.

 

[tonymark]

Todd has shown me the light. My washer is back in shape for another 35 years. A piece of broken glass fell out of the drain valve upon removal.

Thanks Todd, you were extremely helpful and a great vintage Kitchenaid resource. You have convinced me to start loitering around appliance stores for replacement parts.

Thanks again,
Mark

 

[gadgetgary]

Just look at the savings...

No service call for something simple...

Yay!

Good luck with your KA workhorse~!

 

[stevet]

now wasnt that easy?

See. We are all here to help each other. Had I checked this post a few days earlier, I would have offered my tel number too to walk you thru the 2 wires, 2 clamps and 2 screws repair! Have fun with your machine. Can you imagine it is over 30 years old and still working! I bet there will never be a Whirlpool built Kitchenaid that goes that long. I can't believe how many people say the newest ones aren't getting past 2 years old before the pumps give out on them. I have one brand new in the box and I am not even trying to convince my wife to let me install it. Our 23 year old KDS18 is working perfectly!