Hello all:
I have a Whirlpool Model DU8700XY-4 dishwasher (14 years old) that came with the house when we moved in. It never did a fantastic job cleaning and over the last few weeks it has gotten much worse. In my reading of various posts on the subject I discovered that the water level should be coming up to just under the heating element. Lo and behold I was only getting a few cups worth of water. If I add about 8 cups of water manually to the tub the dishes come out better than ever.
I removed the inlet valve and dis-assembled it. I rinsed it out removing a very small amount (a few specs) of gunk and replaced the old supply line with a flexible metal dishwasher line. I also tested the valve with an ohm meter and I do get a reading, which is supposed to indicate that the solenoid is OK.
I now get about twice as much water, but still not enough so I rigged the door so that I could watch the tub fill and it the water just kind of flows slowly out of the hole. In contrast, the sink faucet has plenty of pressure. I've even made sure there was no other water in use anywhere in the house that could be lowering the pressure.
My question is should the water be entering the tub with more pressure and thus filling it up higher? If so, is the valve still the most likely suspect at this point?
Thanks.