Here is my story and any help of suggestions to solve a nagging dishwasher problem we have would be appreciated. We purchased a Whirlpool dishwasher about a year ago. The thing was working fine till it started leaking after about six months. That dishwasher was under recall for electrical fire hazard due to leaks. Whirlpool replaced it with a brand new one after 2-3 months.

The new dishwasher has an electronic counter that tells how many minutes. Are left to finish the cycle. After few months we noticed that the counter gets ‘stuck’ – twice during the cycles – sometime for as long as 1 hour each. A normal 90 min. cycle would take 2.5 - 3 hours to complete. The dishes would not dry or come out hot from the dishwasher. We have been calling the warranty folks – five visits so far and they haven’t been able to fix the problem. First few technicians didn’t know what the heck they were doing – they would never wait to see the problem. Offer this suggestion or that suggestion and go away. The last guys after coming twice changed the control board and the thermostat, still the problem remains. Now he says the door switch is faulty. (Bear in mind that to set up every call we have to call their tool free number, stay on hold for an hour and wait for two weeks for the guy to show up).

I have been arguing with Whirlpool to replace it with another one. I even offered to take their least expensive model in lieu of the current expensive one. But they just refuse. I have offered to call the repairman of my choice and have it fixed if they would reimburse me. I also offered to send the detailed description of the problem to their technical dept. so that they can offer a solution that would work. But nothing seems to work with the lady I am dealing with.

Any suggestions? Anyone know what the heck is going on?

Hi,
I am so sorry to read this. Whirlpool is one of the best selling dishwashers in America. I think, but could be wrong, that Sears uses Whirlpool.
You are having one of those "nightmares" of having one that obviously got passed the "quality control" department, or is in very bad shape.
Can you try contacting someone other than this particular lady? Ask for a supervisor or manager.
It's my best guess that you are doing the only thing you can; keep having them come out to fix it. I do wish you the very best of luck.
PS; Here is a Whirlpool Service Warranty number. Is this the one you are calling?
1-866-698-2538. If not, try it.

Here is a bit of information I found at the Whirlpool information regarding recall on certain dishwashers.

Find your model number and serial number, go to where it says "To Find if your unit is Affected" and then enter your serial number:

http://repair.whirlpool.com/DishWasher1.htm#info

This page also lists another phone number;
Consumer Contact: Call Whirlpool Corporation toll-free at (866) 769-7260 anytime.

Also, if you just cannot get any satisfaction here is the Corp HQ contact info,

Whirlpool Corporation General Offices
World Headquarters and North America Region
2000 N. M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
United States
Telephone: 269-923-5000

Along with a list of Executives:
http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/governa...tteam/exec.asp

If you call one of these people I am sure you will get your issue resolved.

With this and some other recent questions, I think if any of my fine old appliances come to an untimely end, I am buying the simplest possible replacement. May even blow a bundle on parts and fix the old.

Are you aware that you don't have to call Whirlpool to get something fixed? You only have to call any Whirlpool Authorized service center. Any and all of them are able to repair an appliance without factory authorization, provided the product is under 1 year old. Now, I will be the first to admit that Whirlpool Corporation tall tub dishwashers aren't the best functioning units around. Many of my customers regret buying them eventually. With that said, it is a product that is built by man, therefore it can be fixed by man. It's that simple. You simply have to find someone who is qualified to fix it. If you tell me what city and state you live in, I can contact the regional service manager and forward your information to him and maybe he can select his "best" servicer in your area and get it fixed once and for all. Send me a private message with your name, address, phone number including area code, model number, serial number, and date of purchase and I will forward the info to the right people. It sounds to me like whoever did the rework maybe didn't get something connected back right. I have done many of the heater reworks, and they are not that hard. Maybe you could take off the kickplate and look in the back to see if the white or orange wires are hanging disconnected from the heater. If you look in the tub, you will see where the heater curves down and goes through the tub. The terminals are pointing towards the floor right under that. It is possible the new heater is bad. You said they have replaced the control and the thermostat. There are only two other components that effect the heat circuit, and they are the heater and the door switch. The reason the display freezes is because it's in what's called a thermal hold. This is where the control checks the water temp and turns on the heater if the water isn't hot enough. The control will hold cycle countdown until the proper temp is reached, but if the heater circuit doesn't work, it will never reach the target temp. Therefore it will stay there for the entire maximum heat time and move on then. I can't believe you have had factory authorized service people in your home and they haven't checked the heater itself. It would take less than 3 minutes and require removing 3 screws. It sounds to me like you have a technician problem, not a dishwasher problem. If you're comfortable, send me your info, and I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

fredg, tkrussell and applguy:

Thanks for your responses.

applguy: I think you have done a perfect troubleshooting. Yes it is a tall tub Silent Partner III model. Initially, the dishwasher used to get 'stuck' twice. Once in the beginning and once during the middle. Both during the soaking cycles. They made me raise the water temp. high and asked us to run the line for one minuite. Now the temp. is so high that if you don't add cold water, you would get burns. But, as a result the first 'stuck' does not happen. The second soak cycle comes about 30-35 minuite from the start so the water line temperature drops to less than their thermostate setting. At that point I would expect the heater to kick in and raise the temperature, but that thing just chruns and churns for about 35-40 minuites.

Also, in the past during the drying cycle we could see steam coming from the vents and after the cycle the inside dishes etc would be very warm. Now there is no steam and the dishes, pots are 'semi' dry.

I will take you up on the offer. I think the technician now wants to replace the door switch and if that does not work I will talk to you (in the mean time, I will also learn how to use the PM function). Thanks again.

A convenient way to send me a private message is to click on my username at the top of any of my posts, then click on "send a private message....". Who knows, maybe the door switch is bad, but I have never had to change one. Good luck and contact me with further problems.

If you search the net you will find that Whirlpool owns Kitchenaid that has had many problems, Maytag recalls for fires, and makes Kenmore for Sears. I have a Kitchenaid that has been a nightmare. It has had 6 control boards replaced since 2006. And all they want to do is give me a discount for the same poor quality product - pro-rated. I have already spent 8 times the cost of the unit on repairs because I have not wanted to rip out my counter top to replace it. It's sad because Whirlpool was a great American brand. And now it's crap.

I Have a Quiet Partner III without the visible counter which has a similar problem. I am told that the heater is not submersed in water and that the temperature of the water is increased by dropping on the heater from above. Not the way I would design it. I have increased the temperature and pressure of the supply water. This has not helped. I am not comfortable with calling a service man with the horror stories I read on line.

I believe the supply water is the problem with these dishwashers and that the heater and control for supply volume is of poor design. The supply valve stays open for a set time as opposed to filling to a constant level. With a low water volume the water cools off faster than the heater can heat it. The wash cycle has to get to 135 f to satisfy the control and the rinse has to get to 140.

No matter how close your hot water tank is to the dishwasher the water supply will cool off if the wash cycle goes into a hold for an hour.This increases the poor heating capabilities of the dishwasher.

Incidentally you can reset the heater alarm by pushing heated dry.. normal.. heated dry.. normal.. start.. quit.. quit.. You can repeat this if necessary.

Could you describe the details of how to check the heater itself. Do you have to remove the dishwasher ?

Do you have to remove the dishwasher to check it heater itself. Where are the three screws you refer to?