My dishwasher (Kenmore Elite, about 8 years old), has stopped draining. I’ve cleaned the filters, and run the garbage disposal.
In the past, this would occasionally happen and one of the above actions would fix it. I would also sometimes just run a quick rinse only cycle to get the bottom to drain.
I’m not sure where to look next. Any suggestions?
Is it trying to drain, can you hear the pump running/straining and it’s just not draining or is that part of the cycle just not happening?
If it sounds like it’s draining and it’s not, and cleaning the filters didn’t work, I’d look for a clog in the drain line. Most likely between the air gap (the thing the pokes up above the sink, if applicable) and the dishwasher. It should be as easy as pulling the panel off the dishwasher and unclipping/unclamping the hose, doing the same under the sink (dealing the with spilling water), pulling the hose out, checking for and dealing with clogs and putting it back together.
It probably won’t be between the air gap and the disposal since when that happens dirty water spews out of the airgap all over your counter and/or into the sink, but this isn’t a bad time to pull that off and clean it as well.
Now, if it’s not even attempting to drain, that’s different the model number will be a lot more helpful.
It’s one of those ultra quiet models, but I think it’s trying to drain. I will try the clog hunt. Thank you!
Be sure to look carefully. I once had this happen. I pulled the hose and made a cursory inspection and didn’t find anything. I called a repairman and he pointed out that I had missed a small pumpkin seed that had wedged in the outlet where the drain line connects to the dishwasher.
Something you can do, as well, while you have the hose disconntected from the bottom of the dishwasher is to pour some water into the tub and see if it pours out, be ready to catch it with something. If the drain line doesn’t have an obvious blockage in it, this might help point to something between the tub and the drain outlet…such as a pumpkin seed.
What many people may not realize as that unlike the inlet, the outlet (drain) doesn’t have a ‘shut off’. After the hose leaves the dishwasher, it loops up the the air gap and then back down to the final place the it drains. Water just sits there and when it’s time for it to drain, the dishwasher pumps it out. The rest of the time, there’s really nothing holding it back, much like the water in your toilet. I learned this the hard way when I installed my parent’s dishwasher. Theirs goes to a drain in the basement so I just dropped the hose down through the floor and hooked it up. When I turned the dishwasher on, all the water just went right down the drain. I had to pull it all back out, and make a big giant loop with the drain hose all the way up to the top of the cabinet, then back down.
IOW, with the drain hose removed A)you should be able to pour some water in and it should pour back out and B)if there’s still water in there from before, it’s likely going to dump out when you break that connection, be ready to deal with that.
When this happens to my dishwasher, it is usually chicken bones in the air gap.