mdb8959 dishwasher cycles stop

[bruce.b]

my maytag dishwasher starts its cycle and stops at various points in its cycle.  I know it's not full of gunk because it does clean when the cycle completes fully.  I've read up on diagnostic mode but haven't found anything that helps me definitively.  alternating between high temp wash / heated dry doesn't do anything but make the high temp washlight blink several times after I hit that the fifth time.    How do I get this to display diagnostics?  I've also given thought to the latch switch being worn and not registering.  However it does seem to always start when I set the mode and close the door, and when I've had a bad switch, that was flaky and the unit would not always start its cycle.  

[MrApplianceMatt]

It's a very real possibility that the keypad is shorting out at random times which would explain your issues getting into diagnostics. The tech sheet part number is W10142800 and is available in Google docs from the search bar. Look at the section for Checking Keypad Operation.

[bruce.b]

thanks for that pointer... that gets me down the road a little further.   I pulled the tech sheet from the dishwasher.  It's W10867183B.  i did read the process for starting the diagnostics.  when I can devote some time to looking at them all I will.  Does it just run through all 33 intervals if left to it's own?  I'm unclear on how to cancel it and how to get it out of DEMO mode which was the only troubleshooting tip for 'Can start a cycle but cycle does not complete (and clean LED or completed may blink)' .  When I get through the diagnostics if it's not obvious I may repost details.  

[MrApplianceMatt]

Definitely check the keypad. I actually had a Whirlpool version of this dishwasher today and the keypad was shorted and I couldn't get it to do anything. This customer's keypad is discontinued/obsolete so it looks like new dishwasher for them.

Edited April 17 by MrApplianceMatt