9 replies to this topic

[tomwj]

I have a whirlpool du9000 dishwasher (I believe a fairly old model that came with the house) that seems to be getting really low pressure. The jet coming through the tower barely gets a trickle out of the top arm, and the stream out of the bottom arm barely reaches the bottom of the top rack. I believe this is a reversing type dishwasher, so the only thing that came to mind is something wrong with the reversing mechanisms. When i look down at the bottom while it's running, I notice water seems to be coming up from the bottom drain area, not just from the arm and jet to the tower. Any ideas? Is this normal?

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Most of the time, these types of low pressure problems are caused by insufficient water fill or clogged food screen. Some good information on this and other causes on this page.

[tomwj]

hmm, the water level is just above the element, and the only screen I saw looked more like a a plastic grate, which is where the water from below is coming up from. Here's an assembly of the pump and I don't seen and screen part there, but I can't for the life of me figure out how the whole valve system on it works. http://www.appliance...model_id=235563

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

[user=57]tomwj[/user] wrote:

hmm, the water level is just above the element, and the only screen I saw looked more like a a plastic grate, which is where the water from below is coming up from.

Ok, that pretty much leaves a worn wash pump impellor. With all the rust you'll undoubtedly run into, you're better off replacing the motor and pump as a complete assembly. BTW, if you buy the part at the link I gave, you help support the Samurai School of Appliantology. :)

[tomwj]

Hmmm, well at that point I wonder if it will just be more cost effective to go ahead and put the old sucker out of it's misery and get a new dishwasher :P The house was made in 75 and I'm guessing it's the original

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

I never know if people are set on repairing (vs. replacing) their appliance for budget and/or sentiment reasons. But, yes, if you've included replacement in your menu of options, I would recommend that on a dishwasher of this vintage. A very fine year, but past its day.

[tomwj]

I think you might be right about the worn impeller, I think it's just not capable of getting more pressure...I put a finger over the whole in the cap that sends the water to the tower, and it didn't boost the output of the bottom arm very much...

[Jedi Appliance Guy]

[user=1]Samurai Appliance Repair Man[/user] wrote:

 With all the rust you'll undoubtedly run into, you're better off replacing the motor and pump as a complete assembly. BTW, if you buy the part at the link I gave, you help support the Samurai School of Appliantology. :)

Gee Samurai,

   That motor and pump assembly looks alot like a dryer kit.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Dayyam, I screwed the pooch on that one. I edited my post for the correct part link. Thanks for watching my six, Jedi.

[tomwj]

After watching it go round and round and round, and staring at the assembly diagram of the pump, I think I figured out what the problem is, for what it's work...I think the valve that engages the drain impeller when the motor reverses is keeping it stuck engaged. So when it's running normally, that drain impeller is pumping reverse, thus the water I have coming out the bottom. When that water is coming out the bottom, it's also blowing up on the float, thus causing the water to kick off early and keep the level lower than it should...so kinda a compound problem...now I'm just wondering how hard that valve would be to replace...