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Thread: Kenmore Ultra Wash loud motor, may not be draining

  1. #1

    Exclamation Kenmore Ultra Wash stopped working with loud noise, may not be draining

    Model Number: 66515895790
    Brand: Sears Kenmore
    Age: 6-10 years

    I believe the model # above is correct. Last night, about halfway thru a Water Miser wash, the dishwasher suddenly started making a very odd, loud noise. I don't know how to describe it, so here's a clip if it stays valid (this forum's uploader says the .mp3/.wav are invalid): https://clyp.it/zevdg0pp. I think it stopped all operation when it did this, and my wife ran in and hit Cancel. She said there were "a lot" of lights on, so that probably doesn't help. Now none are on. It hadn't been running long enough to be done, but maybe it was draining to rinse. Anyway, if I hit Cancel/Drain, the light near that button turns on and the noise starts up again until we hit it a second time to turn it off. It doesn't say it's locked, but we're not sure it ended up draining so are afraid to open it. I'm tempted to try hitting Start to see what happens, but would mostly like some insight as to what to do next first. Try to pull it out from the counter, have the shop vac ready, and open it?

    I'm guessing this is related to an incident last week, when the washed blew up a big glass mixing bowl ("dishwasher safe"...). I got all the glass I could out, but could still see some between the plastic fins around the drain. I took apart as far as I could get on the inside, which was the 6-8 #15 torque screws holding the screen, and had to stop at the larger black plastic component with a 1/4" hex nut that requires you hold the part still with a 1" wrench. It wouldn't budge, and was distorting/gouging the plastic every time the wrench slipped. The video I found on Partselect said you'll most likely have to bust it off with a hammer and chisel. I wasn't willing to go that far and have to go find the new parts I'd be breaking, and figured the glass is heavy and would just sit there and not get lifted up past the fins and into some drain. 2-3 days ago, it sounded like it caught a piece of glass because we heard grinding like small bits of ice in a blender. It stopped before we could respond. This time, there was no grinding like that. It sounds more like something is spinning but has lost connection, maybe like if you turned a blender on with no carafe.

    Please help. If it hasn't drained, I don't know how long it's able to just hold water. And it's holding our most-used dishes hostage. Thanks much!
    Last edited by aManFromReno; 01-06-2015 at 01:20 PM.

  2. #2
    Admin/Technician Doc Ryan's Avatar
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    Only the bottom of the dishwasher fills up with water, so you can safely open the door of the dishwasher even if it is still full of water. Your noise problem is most likely caused by glass getting into the pump, but like you found in the video you are not always able to disassemble these pumps because the parts inside will seize up over time. If you cannot disassemble the pump to fix it, you can also replace the pump as an assembly.
    Ryan

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  3. #3
    Thanks Ryan. I'll be bringing in the shop-vac just in case and opening up the machine to try cleaning it out. I think I'll have to get my way through the seized part somehow to even be able to remove the pump, but maybe not. It depends on how far I can get into the workings from the bottom of the washer instead of through the inside.

  4. #4
    Admin/Technician Doc Ryan's Avatar
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    Try putting the shop vac on the end of the drain hose of the dishwasher, that will usually work to get all of the water out.
    Ryan

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