The short answer
The kind of smell tells you where to look in a Maytag dishwasher. A rotten, drain-like smell means food is sitting in the filter, the sump or the drain hose. A musty, mildew smell means moisture and growth at the door seal and the tub. These are different jobs, and treating one when you have the other achieves nothing.
Causes, ranked for this Maytag dishwasher
- Filter and sump holding food debris — Why: Modern Maytag machines filter rather than grind, so anything the wash removes stays in the filter until it is cleaned, and a neglected filter rots between cycles.
- Drain hose holding stagnant water — Why: A hose without a proper high loop retains dirty water after every cycle, and that water is the source of a smell that returns however well the tub is cleaned.
- Door seal and the lower door edge harbouring growth — Why: Water collects at the bottom of the door and in the seal channel, and a machine kept closed between cycles never dries there.
- Spray arm holes partly blocked — Why: Blocked jets leave soil on the dishes and in the tub, so the smell is a symptom of poor washing rather than a separate problem.
- Machine only ever run on short low-temperature cycles — Why: Short cool cycles do not clear grease from the tub and hose, so residue accumulates and the smell develops gradually.
What to check, in order
- classify the smell as rotten or musty. — Because: the two point at different halves of the machine and treating the wrong one wastes the effort entirely.
- remove and wash the filter assembly and look into the sump beneath it. — Because: it is the top-ranked cause and it is entirely owner-accessible.
- check the drain hose has a high loop and does not retain water. — Because: a hose full of stagnant water reinfects a clean machine within days.
- wipe the door seal channel and the lower door edge and see what comes off. — Because: that is where a musty smell lives, and it is invisible until wiped.
Checks you can safely do yourself
- Remove the filter assembly, wash it under running water with a brush, and clear the sump beneath it with care and gloves. — Tools: gloves, a brush and a torch — Time: several minutes
- Wipe the door seal channel, the lower door edge and the tub edge with a cloth and warm soapy water, and dry them. — Tools: a cloth and warm soapy water — Time: several minutes
- Take out the spray arms if they lift off and rinse their holes clear, checking each jet passes water freely. — Tools: a pin or a toothpick — Time: several minutes
- Run an empty cycle at the hottest setting with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of white vinegar on the top rack. — Tools: a dishwasher cleaner — Time: the better part of an hour, mostly waiting
- Check the drain hose in the sink cabinet rises to a high loop, and leave the door ajar between cycles. Stop here: replacing a drain hose means the machine is drawn out. — Tools: a torch — Time: several minutes
Before you open anything
Safety
unplug-before-service
Wear gloves when clearing a dishwasher sump, since broken glass is the commonest thing found there and it is not always visible. Kill power at the breaker before reaching into the machine, and never mix cleaning products in the tub, especially chlorine bleach with anything containing ammonia.
Where the owner fix ends
Cleaning the filter, sump, seal and spray arms, and running a maintenance cycle, are owner work. Call a technician when the smell returns within days of a thorough clean, because stagnant water is being retained somewhere in the drain path that cannot be reached from inside; and call when the machine also leaves a film on dishes despite a clean filter.
Nearest pages of the same kind
Generalized information — what this page does not cover
family model
This page is generalized information about Maytag dishwashers and does not separate the models that filter from those with a hard-food disposer, whose maintenance requirements differ considerably. No family-level or model-level page exists in this reference yet; when one is published it will be linked here.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
