Amana ADB1100AWB5 Dishwasher fills and drains

[bobster99]

Attention all Dishwasher Samurai's out there... I seem to have an evil possessed dishwasher.  I have been trying to fix this unit for some time but every time I show up the unit seems to work fine.  It could be that the owner keeps putting dirty dishes in the machine and the machine just doesn't like dirty dishes but I digress.

The machine will start and fill.  Per the customer it fills to about a 1/2" of water in the bottom and then stops.  Nothing happens at this point for a bit then it drains and refills.   The customer hears clicking so I have to assume that the timer is working but maybe the pump has failed or just isn't turning on.  

An additional but maybe non related issue is that her water bill was double or triple what she is used and we are unable to locate a cause (no leaks found and the toilets have new guts)

This unit is about 5 years old and has been troublesome since the day she got it.  There was a service call or two during the first year but I don't know what, if anything they changed.

I have not visited this customer for about a month when I stopped by only to find the Dishwasher working as designed.

Not quite sure what to check next..  is there a troubleshooting tree out there that would help me nail this problem down?