# Clogged Dishwasher



## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

My dishwasher has been smelling lately so took off the cover that's sit on the bottom..drain cover it might be called. Once I did I noticed water sitting on top and not draining down the pipe like it's suppose to. 

There's obviously something blocking the pipe, but I'm not sure how to clear it away. 

Any suggestions?


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

tileman2000 said:


> My dishwasher has been smelling lately so took off the cover that's sit on the bottom..drain cover it might be called. Once I did I noticed water sitting on top and not draining down the pipe like it's suppose to.
> 
> There's obviously something blocking the pipe, but I'm not sure how to clear it away.
> 
> Any suggestions?


Disconnect the flex drain line from the main drain where it connects under the sink, and run a wire through it, the clog is probably right there there, especially if you have a garbage disposal and that should do the trick. If not you have more serious problems... good luck.


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## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

greg24k said:


> Disconnect the flex drain line from the main drain where it connects under the sink, and run a wire through it, the clog is probably right there there, especially if you have a garbage disposal and that should do the trick. If not you have more serious problems... good luck.


I disconnected the flex drain line from main line where it connects to the garbage disposal, ran a wire, but there's wasn't much in there. Plus, the water is still sitting in the bottom of the dishwasher, so anything else that it could be, besides the water pump. If that's the case it's time for a new one.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

tileman2000 said:


> I disconnected the flex drain line from main line where it connects to the garbage disposal, ran a wire, but there's wasn't much in there. Plus, the water is still sitting in the bottom of the dishwasher, so anything else that it could be, besides the water pump. If that's the case it's time for a new one.


Did you run the dishwasher again? and did you hear the water being drained, you should hear that sound in the sink... If you can, its not the pump, if you don't hear the water being drained, then I guess it's time for a new dishwasher unless someone here knows more about this.


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## painterman (Feb 5, 2005)

Do you have any filters on the inside of the dw that can be removed and cleaned? A dirty filter will reduce the flow on the drain cycle. It is possible to have a slow drain line after the sink that can slow down the drain in the DH


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## ohiohomedoctor (Dec 26, 2010)

Call a drain cleaner. It will cost less than you making it worse. Thats what I would do and I have all the tools.


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

I would check out the pump resevoir, make sure there aren't any obstructions, and check the wiring to the pump. After all that checks out fine, disconnect the hose at the disposal and get a bucket. Oh yeah, see if the impeller spins freely.

Run a cycle to see if water flows out. If no water, it depends on how deep you want to get into the project. But, likely a replacement pump is what one would need.


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## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks guys.

Greg - I haven't run the dw yet, so I will check that tomorrow.

Painterman - I removed and cleaned something, but it didn't look like a filter. It was the cover for the drainage.

Matt - how soon can you be here? :whistling


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## DuMass (Feb 6, 2008)

How much water are you talking about? 
I know all the dishwashers I‘ve worked on have some water that remains in the sump after they drain. It’s to keep the shaft seal, o-rings and gaskets wet. You shouldn’t see any water unless you remove the lower spray arm and sump strainer screen. 
Sometimes a shard of glass or other piece of debris gets down there and chews some of the teeth off the drain impeller, so it doesn’t pump out the full amount of water that it normally would in the allotted time for the final drain cycle. I’m wondering if maybe a faulty drain valve or check valve that doesn’t fully close or seal properly could allow any water remaining in the drain line to drain back into the sump at the end of the cycle.


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## Splinter hands (Aug 31, 2011)

This has nothing to do with your problem, just a helpfull trick for dishwashers. If you have hard water staining the inside of your dishwasher put a packet of Kool-Aid brand lemonade in the soap dispenser and run it through a regular cycle it will clean it right up. I'm not sure why it works but it does. You have to use the Kool-Aid brand though Welches won't work, don't know why. Makes you think twice about what is in Kool-Aid that will take stains out of the dishwasher:blink:.


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## rex (Jul 2, 2007)

Splinter hands said:


> This has nothing to do with your problem, just a helpfull trick for dishwashers. If you have hard water staining the inside of your dishwasher put a packet of Kool-Aid brand lemonade in the soap dispenser and run it through a regular cycle it will clean it right up. I'm not sure why it works but it does. You have to use the Kool-Aid brand though Welches won't work, don't know why. Makes you think twice about what is in Kool-Aid that will take stains out of the dishwasher:blink:.


i tried that and it works pretty good a magic eraser works too...


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

The only time my dishwasher gets clogged is when my wife is constipated.


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## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

Well, I chalked it up to there's suppose to be some water at the bottom for the seal, but now there's a fowl odor and water is coming out from underneath. Is that more of a clue to what might be happening?


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## tileman2000 (Feb 14, 2011)

Disregard my last post. The Mrs. went out and bought a new one. :clap:


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