Kevin, John's Aunt Arlene's policy, which her family followed, was to practically scald the dishes before putting them in the dw. We were sitting outside on the deck when it was started and even from outside you could hear the clunking of the wash arm as it hit the underside of the lower rack as it tried to turn because the wash arm hub and the wash arm support were eroded away. By rinsing the dishes and then using enough detergent to clean dirty dishes, the detergent pulled the oils out of every bit of vinyl, synthetic seal and every bit of plastic. They become literally eaten away. As John said, they had no idea that the dw was not cleaning because tableware went in ostensibly clean.
The dishwasher pictured here probably has similar failures compounded by non-chlorinated detergent which, coupled with lower water temperatures, allowed the mold and slime to grow. The detergent not being washed out of the dispenser is another indication that the wash arm is not turning.
