In one paragraph
This is the routing page for a Criterion dishwasher. It names each problem class, describes what you would see, and links down. Diagnosis belongs on the specific pages, where there is room to rank causes properly. What follows is arranged by likelihood rather than by how interesting each cause is.
What this looks like from the outside
- Water standing in the bottom at the end of a cycle — Standing water is the most common complaint and the one most often cured with a sponge and a filter clean. Write it down before anybody comes out; a described symptom is worth more than a remembered one.
- Dishes come out gritty, filmed or still dirty — A cleaning-performance class fault: spray arms, loading, dosing or water temperature. Note the result even if it is negative, because a ruled-out cause is progress.
- Water on the kitchen floor — Where the water lands narrows the source, and the leak page explains how. Time it roughly, as the pattern matters more than the exact interval.
- A smell from the machine between cycles — Food residue in the filter and the sump, which is maintenance rather than a fault. Do it with the machine in its normal state rather than after you have already changed something.
- The cycle stalls or runs far longer than it should — A long cycle is often a machine waiting for hot water it is not getting. Mention it when you book a visit; it changes which parts a technician brings.
Likely causes, ordered
- Filter and drainage faults — It leads because one neglected part produces four apparently different complaints. This is the cause people skip, and skipping it is why the diagnosis takes three visits.
- Odour and residue — A maintenance class driven by cool eco cycles and generous dosing, and cured by cleaning and a hot maintenance run. Check whether anything changed in the house around the time it started.
- Door latch and interlock faults — It ranks here because the symptom is dramatic and the cause is mechanical. The position matters more than the name: work the order rather than the one you have heard of.
- Wash pump and motor faults — Last and least common: a pump that has lost pressure or a bearing that has worn, both of which need the machine out of its housing. Photograph it if you can, because it is the sort of detail that is hard to describe later.
What turns up, and how often
General guidance| Problem class | How often it turns up | Owner-fixable |
|---|---|---|
| Filter and drainage | Routine | Yes |
| Spray arms, loading and dosing | Routine | Yes |
| Leaks: seal, hose, sump | Occasional | Partly |
| Odour and residue | Routine | Yes |
| Heating and drying | Occasional | No |
| Door latch | Occasional | No |
| Controls and sensors | Occasional | Reset only |
| Wash pump and motor | Rare | No |
Based on: No measured sample: this ordering is engineering judgement for the appliance class, not a counted share of repairs.
What to turn off before you start
Safety
Pull the plug before anything else; a wall switch is not proof the appliance is dead. The power being off is not the same as the machine being safe to touch immediately. Close the water supply at the stop valve as well as the power, because water is the other energy source here. Work with the door mechanism intact rather than around it.
When this becomes a service call
Where the owner side ends: you own everything inside the tub, and a technician owns everything under it. It is drawn where the next step stops being reversible. Call promptly if water has reached the floor more than once, since a leak that returns has usually found a path you cannot see.
Related pages of the same kind
Scope of this page
One page cannot be both general and exact, and this one is general by design.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
