Kenmore dishwasher--doesn't stop

Hi. We got a second hand dishwasher about 2 and a half months ago. It has worked beautiful. It is a Kenmore Quietguard Standard. Last night I started it as usual and was watching TV and doing crafts kind of late. When I went to go to bed, I realized the dishwasher was STILL running and in the "washing" mode about 3 hours later. I opened it and there was a little bit of water/suds in the bottom so I thought maybe it just didn't make it to rinse cycle. I switched it to quick rinse just to get things rinsed off for morning. It was late so I went to bed. When I got up about 5 hours later...the dishwasher was still on and still almost in the same place on the dial. What could cause this? Is there any way to fix this without calling someone in? Thanks

 

Use your warranty to fix the problem. Don't blow it by touching it.

 

It's used, so there may not be a warranty.

 

Sorry about that. I missed the second hand part.

How to Reset a Kenmore Quietguard Standard Dishwasher | eHow

There is some reset info there.

 

Would appear to be a mechanical timer as opposed to electronic.

Your problem sounds like a timer issue. Could you post the model number for your unit.

 

well I looked at the previous thread about the reset..there is a reset button on the front of the machine. So I pushed that and put it back on quick rinse. It went through cycle and stopped fine. Not sure what was wrong?

 

At least you know what to do now.

 

Are you using the "sanitizing" wash and rinse setting? It's possible that the heating element has failed, and the dishwasher is pausing mid cycle, waiting for the wash and rinse water to heat up to the correct temperature, and it will not progress in the cycle until the thermostat senses the water is properly heated. By pushing the "reset" button, you may have tripped off the heated wash or rinse setting, temporarily remediating your problem.

 

Beachboy...yes I did push reset and it worked okay since then. But...they are not seeming to dry correctly. I tried running it on the "heated dry only" once and smelled a burning smell and just stopped it and turned it off. I don't smell this during a regular cycle though, but they are not drying as they used to.

 

That could be related to your long-cycle issue. As I mentioned before, if your using the sanitizing cycles, and the heating element is not working correctly, the dishwasher will pause and never advance in the cycle if the wash or rinse water is not being heated enough to satisfy the thermostat. The fact it's not drying properly leads me to suspect the heating element even more.