Whirlpool from 1980's? assistance needed

[betts424]

Believe or not, I am new to being a dishwasher owner. I moved into a rental home 6 months ago that has not been renovated since the 1980's. Room by room I am doing this. Now, about the dishwasher. I never have used it till a week ago. I was afraid it would leak all over and didn't want to mess with it.

Then the plumber came to replace the sink faucet and said "hey, let's try it". Voila!! it worked. Only, it has no knob to start or change the cycles so I am using pliers and a prayer. So far so good.

I am looking for a knob and maybe inst. manual. No luck on either one so far.
Any thoughts on how to find this? Or info on the dishy itself? Thanks!
Note- I have been without a dishwasher for 30 or so years so it is refreshing.

 

[combo52]

1989-90 WP DW

Hi Elizabeth, these were very good DWs If you look on the right side of the tank there is a sticker that has a model # on it, with the model # I can look up the part # for the timer knob and if it is NLA I can probably send you one [ for a resemble fee ]

 

John L.

 

[goatfarmer]

Pliers and a prayer......I like that!

 

 

[bradfordwhite]

What's going on here?

I've never seen the door seal off like that. And you say it otherwise works without leaking?

"30 years" You haven't had a dw since the bush SR administration?

A portable model just never happened on the scene?

 

[combo52]

Loose Door Seal On A 1980S WP DW

This was a common problem on this DW, the door seal would shrink and pull out of its channel, it should either be replaced or just cut it and put back what you can.

 

Usually a DW will not leak water with a gap at the top of the door seal, you might have some steam escape however, which could probably be fixed with some good weather stripping.

 

John L.