Kenmore dishwasher- no water fill

Thanks in advance for considering this issue about our 12 year old Kenmore dishwasher model 665.15892100 :

To summarize problem:
When the SENSING light is on, no water was being supplied as should have been and SENSING remained on. Minutes did not pass normally, and the dishes never got cleaned after repeated attempts. I provide details about the last diagnostics run, stage by stage, and there is a video of the diagnostics running (3 minutes 30 seconds.)



I set it for a usual full load on normal wash late on Saturday.

Yesterday morning the wife told me I must have blocked the soap dispenser, as there were big gobs of soap on bottom of tub when she opened it, and on some nearby items.

I ran the cycle again, normal wash. Same result when I returned.

I decided I needed to observe.

When started again. when the SENSING light came on, no water was being supplied and SENSING remained on. The minutes displayed were crawling slower than usual, no cleaning action.

When it was rinsing, I could hear water entering the disposal under sink.

Then back to the SENSING light remaining on.

When ended, soap visible on tub floor and dishes not clean.



Finally figured out how to run diagnostics. First couple of times I ran diagnostics, it seemed to skip some of the higher numbers between 10 & 1. I decided I better make a video (see below), which did not skip any numbers.

This last diagnostic cycle:
1) Can be seen at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEH...ature=youtu.be

2) I will summarize what happened during this diagnostic cycle, so you only should watch video if really interested:

All of the lights flashed red
No error codes were displayed
The rest follows and I was able to capture these in the video:

• #10 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (only for 4 seconds)
• #9 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (only 2 seconds)
• #8 was displayed with Quick Rinse lit up (only 5 seconds)
• #7 was displayed with Quick Rinse lit up (only for 10 seconds)
• #6 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (only for 2 seconds)
• #5 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (only for 6 seconds)
• #3 was displayed with Quick Rinse, AND SENSING, lit up (for 60 seconds, yes, that's a minute)
• #2 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (for 60 seconds, yes, that's a minute)
• #1 was displayed with Normal Wash lit up (for 60 seconds, yes, that's a minute)

So a total of 3 minutes, 30 seconds

THE END

 

Thanks for reading my post.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Have you tried a different cycle like quick wash or time saver ?
It appears that a heating element problem may also cause your problem as the unit delays and waits for the water to heat up.

The unit does fill with water..... like during rinse.... correct ?

 

SUMMARY today:
I AM getting more intimate with my dishwasher than expected. I can state that when running, some water is getting into the heating unit, because it goes past intake valve, the drain cycles are sending some water to sink, and none is leaking. But none is getting on dishes; majority of time its sitting on SENSING, and no water is spraying into dish compartment, just steam. A possible cause is mice affecting wires or unit; as detailed below, I show pictures of one wire that looks like it MAY have a burn mark on it.


Details:
I can tell that water is getting past the water valve because I can feel the hot water coming in on the supply pipe, the connector is getting hot, and I can feel it going toward heating unit in plastic hose. It is getting into the heating unit (nothing is leaking inside) but the water is not getting sprayed on the dishes.

When I open the washer during a cycle, there is no water on the dishes just lots of condensation. Water drains out during drain cycles (I can feel and hear it it going through the hose to the disposal under the sink.)

I also have some pictures showing a potential cause of problem you can see there are many peanut shells on the ground. We have a big bowl of peanuts on the far side of the kitchen counter to throw to the cute outdoor rodents with tails, so mice must be eating them under dishwasher.

One of the wires looks as if it might have a burnt spot on it (not burnt through, but the white wire looks black-- see pictures.)



Also the float moves up and down freely and I can hear a clicking noise when moving it, so the float is probably not the cause.

Thanks

 

Thanks PJ max

It does appear to be a heating element problem; see my post above with pictures. No water getting on dishes during different types of cycles like quick rinse.

Any more ideas appreciated.

 

As I mentioned yesterday, water is getting past the fill valve (which I called the 'water' valve yesterday) and is being sent in the plastic hose towards the heating unit. It is getting into the heating unit (nothing is leaking inside) but the water is not getting sprayed on the dishes.

I am not an expert on how much pressure I should have felt in the plastic hose that comes out of the fill valve, but it seemed like more than a wimpy amount. It

Could a gunked up fill valve reduce the water sent, causing none or minimal to be sprayed on the dishes, even though I could feel the water in the plastic hose leading to the heating unit? I did not see any standing water in the tub when the I opened the door a few times, which may have been when the wash motor was running, not sure it it was?

If the wash motor wasn't running, would the diagnostics have displayed a code?

Thanks

 

Do you have the tech sheet for that appliance ?
On it should be the diagnostics you were trying but also other things like cycle timing.

There isn't actually a heating unit..... just a heating element at the bottom of the tub. You should be able to see it. It's usually mounted about an inch up from the bottom of the tub.

You should be able to start a cycle and within a minute or so you should hear running water into the unit. The fill time is a timed function. It could be like 90 seconds. After the water stops running the wash motor should start. After the wash starts..... hit stop and open the door. How much water is in there ?

 

Pjmax, thank you for your patience and clear explanations. I just uploaded a video showing that water level is below the heating elements when the wash motor is running for trying to run. Note the buzzing noise when this is happening. Thanks again.
that water level is below the heating elements when the wash motor is running for trying to run. Note the buzzing noise when this is happening. Thanks again.

VIDEO
http://youtu.be/94UlwaF4NFw

 

Your video is set up for private viewing only.

 

So sorry, I just tested it and you should now be able to see it.

 

I can hear the hum but it's hard to tell what it's coming from. If you remove the lower kick plate you can get a better idea. The fill valve is right in the front so if that was the cause of the noise you'd know right away. It looks like there is not enough water in the tub. That would suggest a fill valve problem.

My recommendation is to replace the fill valve.

 

Thanks again. I'm going to try defining the valve (assuming there is gunk), and if that doesn't work, I'll order new one.

Going to use this video to guide me.
http://youtu.be/Yx_H6dQgVfI

*

 

Was trying to say 'de-gunking' the valve, auto correct got me

 

That video will guide you in replacing the valve. Since the valve is pretty much sealed I don't think you'll find much information on rebuilding or cleaning it.

 

I was out of the country for a while; I'm only ordering valve today, hoping to install it next Saturday

 

Installed new intake valve but problems connecting to intake pipe! if had tons of room, I could muscle the intake pipe's olive to the valve's attachment, but don't.



The 'olive' from the prior compression fitting (remaining from before on the water pipe that goes to be heated) -- would not connect to the new compression fitting I attached to new water intake valve. Yellow arrow to olive in attached photo shows olive.

Wouldn't connect because not a lot of room to work; if had tons of room, I could muscle it. It wasn't easy to disconnect old one but doable.

The olive was much closer to the valve's compression fitting than shown in the photo, but I did not have enough space or muscle to get it to move forward onto the compression fitting.

I had a good veriety of tools already that I tried.

I either need to call in a local pro, or I'm considering buying a forged compression spanner, or Stamped steel spanner or Waterpump pliers (as shown on this page)

Frustrating

 

I know it's not easy and I'm a big guy.

I'm not exactly sure what your problem is there. Will the copper pipe not fit in the new valve ?

 

As shown in picture in my last reply, the water intake pipe does not naturally rest against the compression valve -- there is a gap. I'm able to pull it close, but then I need to get the 'olive' (collar) on the pipe (has yellow arrow pointing to it in photo) to fit exactly over the beginning of the threaded compression fitting, and then I need to turn the olive clockwise so it begins to bite against the compression fitting.

Because of the gap between two parts that I need to pull together and slightly adjust angle of one and lack of 'elbow room', I just wasn't able to get olive to grab on.

 

In other words the water feed line is short and won't reach. Therefore you need three hands to do the job.

 

I may use a bungee to line up the two pieces, going back to only needing two hands. But probably not today, since doing job and then my second (fulltime) job- snow removal here in Boston.

 

DEFEAT! The plumber helped hook up the difficult connection between pipe and new intake valve. The new valve did not solve the problem! Same symptoms.

New BOSCH dishwasher is on order.

PJmax, you've been so helpful, thanks again! Over and out!