KitchenAid KUDS30IXBLA Dishwasher Upper Spray Arms Not Working

[navagator]

I have a KitchenAid KUDS30IXLBA dishwaser, it's approximately 4 years old.  I recently noticed that the dishes on the upper rack weren't coming clean.  Upon further investigation I noticed that the middle and upper spray arms weren't spinning.  There is water getting to the middle spray arm because when I open the door during a cleaning cycle there is water draining out of the bottom holes.

The first thing I did was take the bottom apart and check the chopper blade/screen, it was clean.  Then I checked the feed tube for dirt/obstructions, it's clean.  I've checked about everything I know to check.  I even took the motor/pump off and couldn't see anything wrong.  The water level seems to be fine, it's over the heating element.

The only conclusion that I could come to is maybe the motor is failing and not producing enough water pressure to power the upper spray arms.  But from what I've read a failing motor usually makes noise and mine don't. 

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

Thank you for your help.

[darren412]

assuming you tried to check and see if there were any error codes with the dishwasher. You may have a diverter motor error and that may or may not be the issue. Try doing the coffee mug check in each corner of the top rack.   see If they are all filling up to the top of the mugs.   You checked both feeds tubes i believe also but had you checked the wash arms for any clogs in the washarm ports.   The diverter switches back and forth for the upper and lower racks dont forget.  You may also want to check the diverter to see if thats operating properly in diagnostics. Usually the diverter leaks water through the bottom of it onto the floor underneath too when it is acting up so check to see if its leaking a little water on the floor underneath. Usually you will also get a diverter error code also with a malfunctioning diverter motor.  The 4 coffee mug test in the upper rack should pretty much tell you if there is good water pressure for cleaning dishes in the upper wash rack.  Even though there is water dripping from the upper wash arm , that does not mean there is no water pressure up top for the upper wash arms.   You can also take the upper rack out and close the door and run a cycle. You should hear the water hitting the door on the inside pretty good when the diverter is positioned for sending water to the upper spray arms.  Just dont run it long as it can cause a little water to leak at the bottom of the door because the rack has been taken out. If all that stuff checks out and the coffee mug test shows signs that there is no pressure on top for the upper dish rack,  Then chances are the motor and pump assembly for this dishwasher has most likely failed. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by darren412
typo

[navagator]

Thank you for your reply.

I don't believe mine has a diverter motor.  The water goes directly up the feed tube from the sump.

I did check the spray arms for clogs and everything was clear.

I did check for error codes and I had them wrote down but I can't find them now.  I believe there was one for low water temperature, and electrical issue with the water inlet valve, and one other which I can't remember.  I corrected the low water temperature issue and I'm not sure what the electrical issue is with the water inlet valve.  The tub fills up with water to just over the the heating element right to the very edge of the overfill float.

[Vance R]

When you took off the washer motor there is a secondary screen in housing. Was it clean? Any evidence of leaking under the wash motor? The shaft seal leaks and corrodes the motor bearing.  It maybe possible for the impeller loose or partially plugged. If that all checks good, next would be the delivery tubes leaking. 

[navagator]

Thank you for your reply.

The secondary screen was pretty clean, just a little dirt.  I cleaned it before reinstalling the motor.  I didn't see any evidence of leaking.  I checked the impeller and didn't see any damage or clogging.  I spun it around a few times, it spun fairly easily although there was a slight resistance.  I'm not sure how easily it should spin.  I looked over the delivery tubes and didn't see any cracks but maybe I should take another look at them.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Yours has a feature that isn't found on many models and maybe the cause of your problem - I've never had an issue with this part so don't exactly know how it fully operates.

The Turbo Wash feature, (the four little spray heads at the back of the bottom rack), when his feature is activated a wax motor on the outside of the tub is attached to a bar that moves that has magnets on it, there are two ball bearings in the Turbo Wash head that move up and block the upper rack and roof sprayer when the Turbo Wash head is washing.

This is what I don't know about this feature - I'm pretty sure in the resting state the ball bearings are down from gravity and the upper spray arm tubes are open - I don't know if the wax motor that moves the activator arm is energized to move the magnets and the balls up or if it de-energized.

There maybe a possibility that the wax motor has failed in some manner where the blocker balls are always in the up position and the Turbo Wash head on all the time and the upper rack and roof spray arm blocked.

I also don't know if when the Turbo Wash feature is activated if it stays activated for the complete wash or if it alternates between the Turbo Wash head and upper wash arms.

I've only actually worked on one of these with this feature and it had a broken chopper blade and plugged chopper screen.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Budget Appliance Repair

[navagator]

Thank you for your reply.

I did know about Turbo Wash feature.  I was very curious about how it worked when we first installed the dishwasher and after some research I found a website that talked about the steel balls and magnet.

But I did some more research after reading your reply and found a very interested website called Yumpu that has a piece of literature that explains the whole process in detail with photo's.  It's entitled "Dishwashers, Product Updates, KitchenAid KUD_02 Dishwasher" and here is a link: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/19314940/kitchenaid-kud-02-dishwasher-whirlpool

It talks about the ProScrub option on pages 4 through 6. 

If I understand correctly when the actuator is energized the balls move toward the center diverting water flow from the upper spray arms to the ProScrub manifold.

I actually removed the actuator when I took the motor off.  I don't think it was stuck in the up position, but I better check that again to make sure.

[navagator]

It's been a while since I replied to this thread but I resolved the issue I was having with my dishwasher and thought I should let everyone know.

I went ahead and purchased a used motor but that didn't fix the problem.  At that point I decided to try to take a video of the inside of my dishwasher which is what I should have done in the first place I guess.  The video clearly showed that the Pro Scrub feature was stuck on, thus blocking water from getting to the middle and upper spray arms.  Budget Appliance Repair, you were right. 

The control board was applying constant power to the electromagnetic mechanism in the back of the dishwasher.    I unplugged the Pro Scrub feature from the control board and water was restored to the middle and upper spray arms.  I that point I was fairly happy, I did use the Pro Scrub feature occasionally but it's something that I could do without.  But unfortunately a few days later I noticed that the detergent dispenser was dropping the dish tab as soon as I started the dishwasher.  After I did some checking I found that the control board is now applying constant power to the detergent dispenser.  So, I unhooked it from the control board also.  It's a little bit of a hassle but I just set a timer and drop the tab in by hand.  It's cleaning the dishes great.

But there's one other issue that I found.  The larger 4 wire plug that provides 120v to the board has gotten really hot, it's turned brown and is very brittle.  I actually broke one of the tabs off when I pushed down on it to remove the plug from the board.  The inside of the plug is also blackened.  I'd noticed a hot plastic like smell coming from the dishwasher at times before and evidently that's what it was.  After a little research I found that there was a big problem with these control boards smoking, melting, and catching on fire in Whirlpool made dishwashers.  There was a class action lawsuit over this issue.  We were thinking of calling Whirlpool to see if they can give us some help in replacing the board.  I'm somewhat skeptical because our dishwasher model isn't listed in the lawsuit.  But our control board model has been reported to have this problem, I actually found a picture on the net of the same board that has melted.

It's going to have to be replaced though.