kelvinator D&M dishwasher rebuild- part 1

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i bought this kelvinator dishwasher over 2 years ago from matt in grand rapids michigan. it has been sitting in my appliance room ever since, patiently waiting the day that i would tear into it!

it's a standard D&M design with two spray arms. my other two D&M dishwashers that i have rebuilt are both sears kenmore with the top roto rack.

 

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this one has the top

square rack and i really like the green color of the racks on this one!

as you can see pump and motor has been removed already and it came out very easily.

 

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i like the control panel on this one

with those round buttons.

 

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the first button

has A and B for utensil soak and rinse hold.

 

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this is coordinated

with the timer dial that also has an A and B starting point.

 

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the tube that carries water up to the top spray arm

is beyond repair. same thing happened on my front loader roto rack kenmore.

 

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you can buy these tubes on line

from repair clinic.com but they are like 60 bucks! i'm not that into this machine to spend that much on a plastic tube, i will rig up something myself after i get it all back together and working.

 

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the sump is in great shape, no rust

that's worth fretting over. gonna clean this area up and prime and paint the bottom unpainted section with my usual rustoleum rusty metal primer and about 5 coats of rustoleum spray paint.

will paint the bottom side as well.

 

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this one is an older model

and has the cast iron pump housing as opposed to the later model plastic pump housings.

it also has a pop metal lower impeller which will no doubt require cutting off. these impellers are a real pain to remove from that motor shaft. i remember i experienced my first one in 1976 and i cut that one off also! they won't budge!

 

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this one did not

surprise me, it won't budge! time to get out the dremel!

 

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i put a cutting wheel

on the dremel and made a slice down two opposite sides of this impeller, cutting thru the impeller but trying not to slice into the motor shaft.

i've done this several times before and it gets easier every time!

then i use a screwdriver to pry off peices of the impeller.

 

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here it comes

off, exposing the pump seal that will be replaced.

the new impeller will be plastic.

 

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impeller out

this is the old seal.

 

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here it is after

cleaning up the cast iron pump housing.

 

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here it is

after prying out the old seal.

 

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i cleaned up the housing

somewhat but i'm going to work on it some more with a small wire brush in my drill before installing it back.

i will also use some sealant around the rim of the rubber on the new seal i press into this housing.

those outer 8 holes bolt this housing to the bottom of the tub. the inner 4 holes bolt the plastic wash pump to this cast iron drain pump housing.

the motor bolts to the bottom of this cast iron housing.

 

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here's the

bottom side of this housing.

motor bolts into those 4 legs and holes.

 

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took motor all apart

and cleaned the shaft where it fits in the bearings. used a very fine steel wool and wd 40.

then i applied a nice dose of 3 in one 'motor' oil.

put it all back together and connected it to the dishwasher wiring and ran it thru several cycles. it runs great, does not overheat at all and is very quiet!

 

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here's the pump parts after

removal and cleanup.

first, the 2 gaskets.

these are readily available at part stores on line and i think i have a couple new one's here.

but i had such good luck with the cork material i used on the frigidaire spin tube i just finished rebuilding that i'm going to make new gaskets for this kelvinator out of that same material.

 

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here is the wash pump

housing.

 

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stainless steel

mounting ring that the 8 bolts mount thru to hold lower housing and motor against tub.

 

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this is a stainless steel

plate that covers the lower pump housing and lower impeller. the wash pump sits on top of this plate. without this plate in plate the dishwasher will not drain properly.

it is basically a cover for the lower drain pump. later models are partly plastic. but again this is an oldie!

i would love to know the age of this machine!

 

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this is the food chopper

blade, called a "macerator". water that recirculates thru the wash pump must pass thru this spinning blade. D&M machines don't use a filter to trap food particles from the wash pump water, they just chop it up!

 

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this is that odd

decorative peice that sits on D&M pumps with all those little holes in it. i remember it well when i was a kid, i always wondered what it's purpose was. i still do.

i remember someone on the site here said it was to hide the view of the sump area that was notorious for rusting and discoloring on all D&M machines. i wonder if this is true?

 

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the top wash impeller

on this oldie is made of pop metal. all replacements are plastic.

gonna keep this for nostalgia sake but not gonna use it when i rebuild this pump. the new pump seal kit has both lower and upper impellers included, all of plastic.

 

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i do like this old

pop metal impeller!

 

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this is the new pump seal kit

these are on e bay all the time for about 3 bucks!

from top left this kit consists of the seal itself, the bottom impeller, instructions, shims and o ring, top impeller, and the 2 cardboard tools to center and measure proper distances of pump parts.

round tube is for centering motor and shaft on cast iron housing. other peice will guage the height of the lower impeller on shaft and seal. those 3 shims are used for this purpose. height must be exact or top impeller will scrape against pump housing.

 

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here are the wash

arms that i remember so well from these old D&M machines! they were always stainless steel.

top rack impeller is in the forefront. larger bottom impeller in rear.

 

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top

impeller.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Wow, the last of the AMC-built Kelvy's!!!!

If my grandma & grandpa had a dishwasher (back when my grandpa worked for that Grand Rapids-based co.) that would surely be it--and in avocado to go w/ their fridge & stove (and the stove had NO name-plate on it, either,--unless it fell off!)

Everyone got real mad at my attempts at "replacing it", too--with ones I pulled off of discarded appliances or the one I pried off of the cooler/freezer in the school lunch room (where we bought our milk & ice cream bars) or "home-made, handwritten ones", and even the RCA Whirlpool nameplate from the old washing machine control panel I played around with before my mom made me throw it away... (It would have passed, I think...)

-- Dave