Back in early 2006 I installed a Kenmore dishwasher (model number 665.16032402).
Over the last few weeks I noticed things were not getting very clean; very recently I noticed that no water was getting to the dishes on the top rack at all. The inside of the door was still dirty after running it. The air gap was streaming a lot of water down the edge of the sink every time it ran.
I found these instructions for dismantling the sump at the bottom of the chamber. I was particularly suspicious of parts with names like the "soil accumulator" and the "foreign objects protector." I removed a wide variety of large debris down there; things like a piece of plastic wrap, cherry pits, a stem from some grapes, a piece of broken glass, and some large beans. Wow. So, I guess I have been pretty damn desultory in my pre-washing. I also removed debris from the various drain holes and passages in the sump by filling them with water and then sucking them out with a wet-dry vacuum. That was key, I think. And I got to see up close the faux mini-garbage-disposal blade they say will grind up food particles if they get in your dishwasher, and I can say that most of the aforementioned debris I pulled out of there could probably have been ground up by the real garbage disposal in the sink, but the thing in the dishwasher is tiny and wimpy, so don't rely on it to do much for you.
It took about an hour and now works perfectly. I had to go to the store to buy a set of torx screwdrivers, but I am glad to have a few of those on hand.
Posted by Charles on July 12, 2009 11:23 PM