Dishwasher: Burned Wire - Best Repair Method

[Tea Sea]

Dishwasher fills with water but then goes silent. Will eventually drain the water and everything else seems to work normally. I tested the voltage on the wires that plug into the circulation pump and it's not getting 120 volts from control board when it's time for the spraying to be occurring. It's zero when turned off, of course, but then only a very low number (4-7 amps) when the dishwasher starts and then during what should be the spray cycle. Discovered that one of the two wires going from the control board to the circulation pump has burned and also melted some of the interior material in the door. (Photos attached.) It does not appear to have burned down to the wire with the exception of one very small area about the size of a pin head. I'm not sure how to test the board, but it does not appear burned.

My plan would be to repair the burned section of wire and see if it works. If it doesn't, I assume the board will need to be replaced, as well. My questions are:

1) What is the best way to repair the wire? Cut out the blacked section and repair with a butt connector? Add heat shrink tubing? Self-solder butt connector?

2) If I repair the wire and it works, do I tie it all back up and not worry about it any further? Or should I be concerned about what may have caused it to overheat in the first place?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Tea Sea]

I mentioned butt connectors because I don’t have a lot of extra wire to play with, but are they even safe to use with 120 volts? Would wire nuts be a better option, assuming I have enough wire?

[Vance R]

Please post the model number of the dishwasher.  Carefully scrap the blacken area with something soft like your finger nail or plastic to check the insulation. The black maybe the mastic melted on to the wire insulation. The wires may have gotten hot due to excess current draw of the wash pump. 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

11 hours ago, Vance R said:

The black maybe the mastic melted on to the wire insulation. The wires may have gotten hot due to excess current draw of the wash pump. 

I'm quite sure that exactly what has happened - it's pretty obvious from the indentations in the sound deaden-er/masitc just below where that wire set plugs into the control board.

@Tea Sea Have you checked the wires from end to end with a meter to see if they are really open - I don't believe from the picture the wires are broken.

[16345Ed]

4 minutes ago, Budget Appliance Repair said:

I'm quite sure that exactly what has happened - it's pretty obvious from the indentations in the sound deaden-er/masitc just below where that wire set plugs into the control board.

@Tea Sea Have you checked the wires from end to end with a meter to see if they are really open - I don't believe from the picture the wires are broken.

Agree

[Tea Sea]

Yes, thanks, folks. Sorry for the delay in getting back. 

The model is Maytag MDB4949SHZ0. You all were correct. The blackening was just the melted liner inside the door. The wires are not damaged at all. 

As for current getting to the pump, I did test the two connectors on the wire that plugs into the circulation pump for several seconds after the fill cycle had ended, and it never registered 120v. I did a similar test on the water inlet valve, just to make sure I was performing the test correctly, and it did show 120v during the time when the water should have been pumping in. So, I don't know.

In order to open the board so that I could inspect if for damage, I had to unplug all the wires. (Well, as you saw in the photos, the wires to the pump could be unplugged without doing that, as I had already removed that connector.) After I plugged everything back up and it had sat without power for a day or so, I turned it on one more time, just out of curiosity. Lo and behold, it now works normally.

Could the connection to the board have gotten loose and my removing and reinserting it have been the fix? I know you all can probably only speculate, but is there anything else it could be? It has worked through three washings, so just keeping fingers crossed.