The short answer
Identify the phase before the part. A Maytag dishwasher leaking during fill is a supply connection or an inlet valve; leaking during wash is the door seal or the sump; leaking at drain is the hose or its connection at the sink. Water tracks along the base frame before reaching the floor, so the puddle position alone will mislead you.
Causes, ranked for this Maytag dishwasher
- Door gasket displaced, hardened, or held off by a load — Why: The gasket sits in a channel and lifts at the corners, and a tall item in the lower rack holds the door open a fraction, both producing the same corner drip.
- Drain hose without a high loop or a loose clamp — Why: A hose lying flat lets sink water siphon back and overflow, and the giveaway is dirty water rather than clean.
- Sump gasket or wash-motor seal — Why: The classic tub leak, appearing during wash as a puddle at the centre of the toe kick, and the one that needs the machine drawn out to repair.
- Supply connection or inlet valve — Why: Made at installation and hidden afterwards, so a fitting never fully tightened weeps into the cabinet base for months before it shows.
- Machine out of level — Why: An out-of-level machine holds water to one side and loads the door seal unevenly, which contributes to several causes above rather than leaking on its own.
What to check, in order
- dry everything and note the phase in which water first appears. — Because: phase eliminates most of the list before anything is opened.
- lay paper towel under the toe kick and along the door bottom before running a cycle. — Because: it shows whether water arrives from underneath or down the door face.
- run a strip of paper round the door at each corner. — Because: it maps a gasket failure precisely and separates it from a leak arriving from below.
- check the drain hose loop and clamp in the sink cabinet. — Because: it is a common installation fault and it is corrected without a part.
Checks you can safely do yourself
- Switch off power at the breaker and close the supply stop under the sink before doing more than looking. — Tools: none — Time: a few minutes
- Dry the floor and toe kick completely, then lay paper towel across the toe kick and along the door bottom. — Tools: paper towel — Time: several minutes
- Restore power, run a short cycle and check at fill, wash and drain, noting the first moment and place the towel darkens. — Tools: a torch — Time: the better part of an hour, mostly waiting
- With power off, run a hand round the door gasket, reseating any lifted section, and close the door on paper at each corner. — Tools: a strip of paper — Time: several minutes
- Trace the drain hose in the sink cabinet, confirm the high loop and tighten its clamp. Stop here: reaching the sump means pulling the machine out. — Tools: a torch and a nut driver — Time: several minutes
Before you open anything
Safety
unplug-before-service
Water beside a mains-powered appliance is a shock hazard as much as a flooring one. Kill power at the breaker rather than the door latch before reaching under the machine, and close the supply stop before disturbing any fitting. Do not run the machine with the toe kick removed to watch a leak.
Where the owner fix ends
Reseating a gasket, correcting a drain loop and tightening a clamp are owner work. Call a technician once the leak is confirmed to arrive from beneath the tub, because reaching the sump means pulling the machine out and remaking a joint that floods the kitchen if done loosely; and call at once if the leak coincides with a tripping breaker.
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 plastic-tub and stainless-tub families or the production runs in which the sump and door hardware changed. 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.
