I NEED HELP

[lotsosudz]

I have a Kitchenaid dishwasher, MOD KUDso1iLBL2, Ser # is FP4303858. It is having issues washing in particular, silverware, and occasionally on plates. We have a water softner, We always purge the line before starting, and it does this with either Cascade platinum, or Finish Max tabs. Our water is at 140 degrees. Is there a filter somewhere underneath the spray arm to check, or am I going to get to replace it. It is definitely a Whirlpool in drag as a Kitchenaid, which I have never been particularly fond of. I would appreciate some advice from a more knowledgeable person, as this has me stumped. Thanks in advance!
Hugs,
David

P.S. the spray arm is not clogged, and the top rack washes just fine.

 

[qsd-dan]

I've fixed a couple of these style dishwashers for the same reason. You'll have to do some disassembly and clean out the sump area as well as the chopper screen. BTW, these are a far cry from the Powerclean models so be sure to scrape everything but sauce-like substances off of the dishes before loading.

Be aware that there are minor differences between models. Here's a couple of vids that helped me out:

 

[egress]

I've had to do this repair to mine a few times. its fairly easy. the pump inlet to the macerator has small holes, and often ours would get plugged with seeds or other hard food matter. in the future, i'd recommend switching away from tabs and using powder detergent, being sure to fill both the main wash and prewash compartment. this machine probably does a 10 minute prewash cycle and adding detergent to the prewash section I found really helps keep it cleaning better. as the previous comment says, scrape anything that isnt liquid or very soft off your plate, it cant handle much more than that. hope this helps.

 

[combo52]

Poor Cleaning In A WP point Voyger DW

If the top rack is working well you either have a problem with the lower arm turning properly or a chemical problem     [detergent, water, temperature etc ] If there is a pump problem the top rack suffers first.

 

Double check top rack performance if you like by putting a few glasses in it with peanut butter smeared inside them, also be sure you are getting enough water with fill [ see if the pump circulation is better by adding 1/2 gallon of water after it complete a fill.

 

None of the 3 videos Dan posted are worth much, the last one is just pain wrong when they encounter a blocked grinder plate and say it just needs cleaning and everything will be fine [ the blade is NOT turning when these are clogged ]

 

I have repaired and serviced several hundred of these DW pumps and while it is not as robust as the older standard Power-Clean pumps I have NEVER seen one of these clogged with food. Yes we see broken glass, bits of plastic, olive pits, bone fragments but never food, food will break down and get pulled into the grinder and be disposed of. 

 

John L.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I don't believe

the detergent has something to do with that. Mine didn't clean in the upper rack. We have cleaned it out whenever the performance went down. Something foreign was clogging the pump intake. It was a piece of plastic my dad fished out of it and found. If you run it with the door open or at least try to, water should shoot out of the dishwasher when the water recirculates.

 

[egress]

the silverware tray on ours disintegrated and filled the sump with pieces of plastic. the upper wash arm is in the process of doing the same, and we're debating whether to repair or to get a new kitchenaid.

 

[qsd-dan]

Well John, both machines were fixed using the vids I posted. As one owner said, "Its back to its usual mediocre self." Both machines had food buildup and the macerators were both semi plugged up. No glass or bones were found but there was lemon pits in one of them and a short straw from a childs cup in the other. The higher end unit had a microfilter, the lower end did not. Dishes were not getting clean in either rack on both machines. Could they both have pump issues? Maybe.

I had a chance to play with the upper end unit and wasn't the least bit impressed. The lower rack has got to be one of the crappier designs out there unless this is the new norm. It appears that Whirlpool wanted to save 50 cents in tines so it's there's huge gaps in the rear area. This also hampers loading flexibility. Only large items will work back there and they MUST be ruler flat or a blocked wash arm will occur. The upper rack design seemed ok. Its performance is kind of dim, the owner said they need to use the "Heavy Duty" cycle with all of the options selected (Proscrub, Sani rinse, Hi Temp wash) each time to get decent results. Pods will not completely disintegrate, tabs are touch and go. Powder or liquid detergent is generally a must. They are both the original owners and both fed soft water.

I happen to snap pictures of the higher end Kitchenaid. Interesting comment about the disintegrating silverware basket, this machine has the same issue. I just chalked it up the owner dropping sharp objects in there a bit too aggressively but it's sounding like another cost-cutting measure. My venture into modern dishwashing has left much to be desired this time around.

 

[egress]

those gaps would have normally had 2 sets of tines that can fold down. the parts that hold the tines in place are made out of the same crappy plastic that the silverware tray is, and they crumbled to bits about 2 years ago in our kitchenaid, right around the same time as the silverware tray. actually just pulled ours apart a few minutes ago and found the sump was plugged yet again with an orange seed and a few bits of a flower stem. I've done it so many times at this point it takes 3 minutes for me to get it entirely apart, and about the same to put it back together once I run the machine for a few minutes to make certain its all flushed out before i put the spray arm back on.
as for build up, there was the normal grey goop stuck on the top of the sump guard, and some stringy pieces in the soil accumulator.

 

[qsd-dan]

Fold down tines make sense, too bad they don't hold up well. I imagine the gray goop is the disintegrating plastic?

Does your lower wash arm have a bunch of lateral play when rocked side to side? Both machines I worked on did but the amount of "play" felt equal between the 2. Those are incredibly sloppy tolerances but I guess there's a logical reason for that.

 

[combo52]

WP-KA Point Voyger DW Pumps Etc

Hi Dan, Yes cleaning a broken grinder plate will fix the DW for 1 or 2 loads but doing so has never fixed a grinder that is not turning, we have no way of knowing whether it worked or how long.

 

Lower rack design, It looks like it was already pointed out that your rack picture is missing 2 fold down sections, WP never produced a DW like you pictured.

 

WP and many other manufactures have had trouble with plastic parts disintegrating under certain water, temperature and detergent conditions, we see this in many different brand DWs I am not going to pretend to know exactly what causes this problem, If you have a silver-ware basket that is breaking up replace it before it causes problems.

 

The gray sludge that accumulates under filters etc is seen in many DWs, GE, MT RR rack and their TT DWs and of course these WP built PV pumps all seen to have this issue in certain homes. I generally find happens more when no detergent is used in the pre-wash cup and options like Hi-Temp wash are not used and of course cheaper detergents are used.

 

John L.

 

[egress]

yeah, Up until recently we were solely using pods because our detergent dispenser door had its latch snap off. I was able to get a replacement door 3d printed and reused the spring and the gasket from the old door. So thats probably why there was still some goop in the sump.

as for the spray arm, ours has always been pretty loose. I believe the water pressure forces it to pop up slightly which takes away the sloppiness of when its just sitting idle.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

I think its detergent related

The newer Cascade action pacs are way too sudsy! We recently moved our Point Voyager Whirlpool back inside, and I am actually cutting the pacs open and placing only the powder in the dispenser. No suds issues. Using the whole pac, suds will come out of the bottom of the door. Though, our machine has the fill restrictor moved, so it does fill just a bit higher. I recommend trying some Cascade powder or gel, or even Fryer Boil Out.

 

[egress]

I noticed the same thing! it was so sudsy it was causing the pump to cavitate. We're using trader joes dishwasher powder and it seems to work fairly well. filling both main wash and pre wash about 1/2 to 2/3rds full. still trying to wean my family off pre-rinsing. gladly we never had suds coming out the bottom of the door!