Whirlpool Dishwasher How-To Guides — Complete Maintenance Guide

Seventeen guides, and three symptoms head the list: a dishwasher that will not start, one that will not drain, and one that is not drying. Two separate disassembly guides follow, a basic one and a full teardown, which is unusual and useful — the basic one is enough for most parts. The components covered are the heating element, the thermistor, the drain pump, the circulation pump, the inlet valve, the start capacitor, the door gasket, the detergent dispenser and the rinse aid dispenser.

Not drying is the complaint where the wrong assumption is most expensive, so it is worth reading before the heating element is ordered: rinse aid and load arrangement affect drying as much as the heater does, and the thermistor decides what the control believes about water temperature. Will not drain runs filter, then hose, then pump. Will not start goes to the door latch and power before the board. The basic teardown guide is the one to open first for any of them.

There is no gas and no refrigerant in this appliance, which leaves two limits. The junction box is live with the door open, and the motor start capacitor holds a charge after the machine is switched off — the reason it has a service procedure of its own. Removing a built-in unit adds the water and drain connections, where mistakes surface later as a slow leak. EasyBear services Whirlpool dishwashers in Sacramento and across the Bay Area.