The short answer
This code is paired with film or spots on glasses and dishes. It is a water-chemistry complaint rather than a mechanical fault, and the three things that fix it are rinse aid, detergent dose and water hardness — in that order of effort. Nothing inside the machine needs replacing for a load that comes out cloudy.
Whirlpool dishwasher code as the manufacturer publishes it
Reference| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 6-8 | Film or Spots on Glasses and/or Dishes |
What you observe alongside the code
- Water spots on glasses that wipe off — Dried droplets: a rinse-aid problem.
- A cloudy film that does not wipe off — A mineral or detergent deposit built up over cycles.
- White residue in the tub and on the element — Hard water, visible where water evaporates.
- Glasses that look permanently frosted — Etching, which is not reversible.
What triggers it, most likely first
- Rinse aid empty or set too low — First, and the easiest to fix: without it water beads and every droplet leaves its minerals behind as it dries.
- Hard water — Second: the dissolved minerals are the film, and a machine cannot remove what the supply keeps delivering.
- Too little detergent for the water hardness — Third: detergent has to deal with both the soil and the hardness, and a dose set for soft water leaves deposits in hard.
- Too much detergent, or the wrong kind — Last: over-dosing leaves its own film, particularly on light loads, so more is not automatically better.
Check in this order, and why
- Check the rinse aid reservoir and raise its setting — It fixes spots outright in most households.
- Try wiping a cloudy glass — Residue that wipes off is spotting; residue that does not is film or etching.
- Find out how hard your water is — It decides the detergent dose and whether a salt or additive helps.
- Run a cleaning cycle with a dishwasher cleaner — Removes the deposit already in the machine.
Clearing the code, then the owner-safe checks
- Fill the rinse aid and increase its setting a step — The single highest-value change on this page.
About 5 min
- Adjust the detergent dose to your water hardness — Follow the detergent guidance for hard water rather than the default scoop.
About 5 min
- Run a cleaning cycle with a proprietary dishwasher cleaner — Clears deposits from the tub, element and spray arms.
About 60 min
- Clear the spray-arm holes of scale — Scale narrows them and worsens both spotting and washing.
Tools: toothpickAbout 20 min
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the dishwasher or switch off its breaker before removing the toe panel or the inner door panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and the supply is not switched at the door. Bail any standing water out of the tub before working underneath, and go into the sump with gloves and a light — broken glass collects there.
When this code is a service call
Call only if film persists after rinse aid, dose adjustment and a cleaning cycle — at that point it is worth having the wash temperature and the fill checked, because water that never gets hot enough deposits more. Etched glass cannot be recovered by any repair, so the value of acting early is protecting the glassware you still have.
Neighbouring Whirlpool dishwasher codes
Which model lines this reading applies to
This reading of 6-8 applies to Whirlpool-built built-in dishwashers of the generation whose service documentation publishes this code, which is where the manufacturer documents it. A machine with a mechanical timer and no diagnostic display does not produce it, and the same characters can be published against a different fault on a KitchenAid or Maytag-badged unit from the same platform. Some machines on this platform take softener salt and others do not, which changes what can be done about hard water. Where a model-specific page exists for your unit it is linked above and is the more specific answer: component resistances, connector positions and part numbers differ by family and belong there.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
