Whirlpool convertible dishwasher - no water inside

[lgerhardx]

A few years back, I picked up a Whirlpool convertible dishwasher at an estate auction. The dishwasher seemed to be in good condition, and had many parts with it. The unit had been hooked up as a built-in at its previous owner's home, so when I took it home and tried to hook it up to my sink, I ended up with a mess of water everywhere. I didn't get a chance to sit down and play with it to figure out that I just needed to reattach a couple of hoses to make it work until recently,

Anyway, I hooked it up to the sink a week ago to test it out now that I had reattached the hoses and it worked fine. I decided that since we have a facuet-attached water filter which won't let us connect the washer and no where near the sink to place the dw, that I would run plumbing to another location in our kitchen and again make it a built- in.

I ran the plumbing: a 1-1/2" drain and a .5" pex water line. No problems. My first problem came about when I hooked it up to the dishwasher using the original 4' krinkly hose. It was too long just being coiled up right under the washer, and was not letting all of the water drain from the tub until hours later (it was SLOOOOW)

So, I made a shorter drain hose that would not cause any drain problems. But now...I get no water! >_<

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-- actual problem / question below --

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Actually, when I start the washer (holding the door latch down with a screwdriver, so I can see), I see water running in to fill up the bottom of the basin, but not reaching the heating element. Then, it attempts to spray water from the arms, but it just spurts strong once or thrice, then stops, then spurts again every couple seconds, then eventually you can just see water slightly tricling out of the arm. It&#39;s not enough to make it spin, nor enough to open the telescoping center part of the arm.

From my research so far, I have tested the inlet valve with a ohmmeter (.7 ohms across the terminals, IIRC). And I also pulled one of the hoses off and just let it pump into a bucket--water came out, but I don&#39;t know if it was at a high enough pressure.

The motor is noisy during all of this, and I&#39;m worried that it is going out. Is there some way I can test this motor? Also, I heard that a broken impeller can cause this kind of issue. Any ideas? I don&#39;t mind taking this thing apart...but only if there is really a chance I can do some good with it.

It was supposed to be a gift for my wife, and now it&#39;s just disappointing. :(

[Jeff Wisnia]

First thing to check is whether the water inlet path from the bottom of the basin to the inlet of the pump is clear. There&#39;s usually a filter screen there which may be choked with old foodstuffs or other junk.

If that&#39;s not it then check the drain diverter valve, it may be stuck in a position which is letting water go out the drain hose all the time.

If the drain&#39;s OK, then pull the motor/pump and check for that broken impeller.

HTH,

Jeff

[lgerhardx]

Thanks for the list of things to check! I already checked the screen in the inlet valve (looks exactly like the mesh screen in my water filter on the sink too). I couldn&#39;t remove it to scrub it or whatever, but I could rinse it and there was nothing large obstructing it.

Where is the drain diverter valve?

Thanks!!

[Jeff Wisnia]

The drain diverter valve will likely be located near the pump. Its function is to divert the pump&#39;s output into the drain hose during the drain cycles and hence not much water (if any) gets to the spray arm then.

You might try disconnecting the drain hose, putting a bucket under it and seeing if water comes gushing out of it during the wash cycles, when it shouldn&#39;t. If it does, find and check the diverter valve, it&#39;s probably stuck open all the time.

You should be able to find an online repair guide to show you what things like the drain diverter valve look like and are. Try:

HTH,

Jeff