Frigidaire Dishwasher Repair help

11 years ago

The Frigidaire Dishwasher of unknown age that came with the house we bought this summer failed to drain after the last cycle it ran. It only has a few buttons - normal, rinse, high heat, delay and start/cancel. I tried starting it and then hitting cancel to see if the drain pump would kick in but I didn't hear anything - the buttons lit up but no response to start or cancel.

I unplugged it, checked the air gap and hoses I could reach under the sink (squeezed them etc) could not find anything amiss. No water came out of the overflow into the sink and the disposal is not clogged. Yes the dishwasher drain goes up to the airgap overflow and then downwards to the disposal.

Then I plugged it back in and pressed start again, it started and began filling more water, so I shut the water supply off and let it go for a few minutes, it seemed to be "washing" ok.

Then I pressed cancel again and heard only a very faint humming sound.

I unplugged it again, bailed out the dirty water, and took out the removable parts in the bottom - filter and sump area - and looked/felt for clogs. I didn't find any clogs in there.

Does this mean the drain pump is probably dead or is there somewhere else I can check for clogs?

I have actually already ordered a new dishwasher (after the first phase when it was not responding at all - seems like being unplugged for a while reset it), because I don't want to put money into fixing this older one. But if it's a simple clog I would prefer to cancel the order and keep this one running longer, of course!

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Comments (4)

mike_73
11 years ago
The machine is not that complicated. If you hear the pump trying to drain I would still check for a blockage. Take the drain hose off the air gap and and see if it drains in a bucket. if it will then the air gap or disposer is the issue. if it won't drain into a bucket then pull out the Dishwasher check all of the hose. if you still can;t find it then its time to look at the drain pump. there are videos on you tube about how to service that watch them and see if its something in the pump or maybe you need to replace it.
Tmnca
Original Author
11 years ago
I don't hear the pump do anything at all - a very faint buzz when it should be draining but more like a switch/electric sound not a pump trying to run sound.

I pulled it out and checked the drain pipe - no water or clogs in there. Nothing I can find.

It's definitely not the sink disposal that is clogged - it is running freely and also as I said no water comes out of the overflow/airgap at the sink, which it would if the line were clogged after the air gap - before the disposal. So I have ruled that out.

Sounds like the pump is dead. The pump part cost is $75 and this cheap old dishwasher was about $250 new and is not worth buying parts for, I guess it's time to replace it with something better quality... i'd just hoped it would run for a little longer.
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mike_73
11 years ago
well then if the pump won't run then its bad either the motor is shot or the impeller is broken or jammed with debris. It might be worth it to take it apart and see you may be able to fix it with no parts at all if its just a something foreign stopping the pump. see this video to get an idea what i mean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SooElFHf0

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigidaire dishwasher repair
Tmnca
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks!