Need motor help with Hobart kitchenAide Dishwasher

[agdodge4x4]

I stumbled across this site on a google search and wash hoping someone can help. My MIl has a KitchenAide KDC-20A dishwasher and it finally quit. As soon as you started the wash cycle it made a screeching noise and for several weeks it worked fine. Anyway it finally stopped and is leaking water underneath. I am pretty confident a new motor would fix it. But I don’t know for sure what to get. The motor says KD-18 on it.

Can anyone help me confirm if a new motor should fix this and if so, a modern replacement part number ?

Thanks so much. I repair all of my own appliances but this is a bit older than I am familiar with.

 

[agdodge4x4]

Can anyone confirm if the screeching and bearings will be solved by a new motor?? I have a family member waiting on me to help figure this out and I don’t want to make a bad decision.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Most likely it's the motor-pump seal assembly that went bad and caused water to leak into the motor bearings. If you do find and replace the motor be sure to replace the seal as well...

Service Manual:
https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~616~KitchenAid~

Parts Catalog:
https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~909~KitchenAid~

 

[rp2813]

Check ebay for a motor, or craigslist for an entire donor machine.  Use search terms like "vintage" or "older" under the appliances heading on CL.  You might even find a nicer model than the KDC, which is bottom of the line, and just switch out the machines. 

 

Any donor machine can't be a later series than KD_20.  I'm not 100% sure, but if the existing motor's I.D. is KD-18, that may mean that a series 18 or 19 machine could also serve as a donor or, in the case of a KD_18 or 20, a replacement.  The 19 series didn't offer a heated dry cycle so for me at least, that's a deal breaker as far as installing it as a replacement machine.

 

[stevet]

All the same!

The KD18, 19 and 20 all used the same pump motors and related parts such as the shaft seal and wash pump parts. So if you find a donor machine, you can use that pump. It all comes out from the inside of the machine so you can swap it out one for the other fairly easily. Just unclip the locking clips, disconnect the hose to the drain valve and the hose that connects to the upper wash manifold(whitish colored tube on the left rear of the underside of the tub) and push the motor assembly up in to the inside of the tank.
I would put some rags down inside the tub to prevent chipping the porcelain. Reverse the procedure and clip the motor back in, connect the wires and hoses and you should be good to go.
Needless to say, remove the bottom rack, the wash arm and the filters before pushing the pump up. And when you reinstall it, use some liquid dish detergent to lubricate the rubber seal and it will slip right down into place.

One last thing, while the "C" custom model does not have all the cycles of the Superba, Imperial or Patrician models, it does at least heat the wash water prior to specific wash portions of the cycles.

 

[combo52]

KA DW Motor For A KD-20 Series DW

Actually any KD-18, 19, 20, 21 or 22 motor will work just fine, if you use a 21 or 22 motor you must use the the motor start relay from the donor machine as these machines no longer had the starting switch built in to the motor.

 

John L.

 

[agdodge4x4]

Thanks

Thanks a ton for the advice. I have a new motor. It went to my father in law and they got it installed. Wiring looks right, but the motor has the same 'whine' to it that it did before. It starts as soon as you start a cycle. Also, something seems to be rubbing. I was informed they did not use the gauge in the kit to set shims. We are trying to do that now but the directions are woefully lacking. We have no clue how to set Touch and Clear using the gauge. Also, there are some plastic pieces in the kit that look like feeling gauges. Don't know what those are for either. We also dont know which way the impellar shaft seal goes. Its shaped like a cone. Any help is appreciated because I suspect we are about 4 hours away from this thing being on the curb with its brand new motor. Wife is losing patience. LOL. Please help!

Im about to open the service manual now.