Whirlpool 6th Sense Instructions

[Lucretia]

Mydishwasher stops running after it brings hot water in at the very beginning. Sometimes, it will start and stop various times (I suppose, continuing on through consecutive stages, but I can't be sure what it's actually doing because it rarely ends with clean dishes) across many hours. Other times, it never gets past this initial intro stage.

A few times in the past, I had success at cutting the power at the breaker, and then it tended to work perfectly for a handful of times afterwards before it would start acting up again. This last time I tried to cut breaker, however, was unsuccessful, and now it won't get past that first stage (which I always have to hit cancel to drain the water, which luckily still works every time). --Funny but not, I broke the breaker switch flipping it too many times, so I had to replace that today.--

My dishwasher would not start, the buttons all seemed to work except the start button. I found online that the most common issue is the door latch - it was $17 plus shipping and tax - replaced it - still broke. Found error codes to indicate a stuck button (should've done that first) So I ordered what I thought was the touch panel - it was just the plastic parts and not the 2 little computer boards underneath. So I pulled the control panel on my dw apart - there are little buttons on those boards - how they work is kind of annoying. There is a tiny copper disk that is shaped like a concave lens. The shape acts as a spring so if the little copper disk (under the start button) wears out or flattens out it will NOT work and the error code indicates a "stuck" button. I replaced the little copper disk with one from a button I know we wouldn't use (was "top rack wash" only) and left that button not working. This allowed the start button to function. Beware - the parts are tiny! I used tweezers to mess with it.

I read thru the solutions and pushing the door firmer solved my problem and engaged the motor. I recommend others try that before ordering motor parts. Until I did that it would just fill up with water and drain without washing the dishes. This has been the easiest fix ever. Thanks for this forum!

Don't go with the control board on this! It seems like that is what it should be, but in most cases - replacing the wash motor is actually the answer. Especially in the cases where the dishwasher fills, soap dispenser opens, etc...

For whatever reason - Whirlpool did not include any type of motor feedback circuit on these models. The motor has a weak/poor internal connection, and is not running when it is under a load(i.e. - full of water). Because there is no feedback circuit - the control board is still sending the voltage down, and 'thinks' that the wash motor is running. It will go through all of the other cycle functions normally, but you will obviously have dirty dishes at the end of the cycle. These cycles go for 3+ hours too -

The part that I am recommending in this case is called the 'Sump & Motor Assy'. You will also need a complete model number when you find this part! You are missing the final digit in the model number provided. Open the door and look inside at the edge of the tub on the right or left-hand side. The final digit will be a number - 0,1,2,3,4,5, or 6. These are all different versions of the same model, and the part number will vary, depending on the version. Hope this helps -

Boyd, I am having a similar problem as them. I will start a load and it will fill with water. Water doesn't seem to heat up in the bottom. Washer never runs. After 1 hour (appx) it drains then adds more water. RUNS for about 5 minutes. Then drains and refills. Then it ran for another 10-15 minutes before I opened the door to see what was going on inside. The bottom was spinning. Could not tell if the top was spinning or not, it may have been (or the bottom spun it).

Are there any flashing lights happening on the console after the wash cycle has "completed"? If this is the same/similar model, and the heat circuit is not functioning - you should see a light flashing several times in succession when the cycle is over. It may stop early in that case as well.

1. Does the drain go down through the floor or go over to attach to the sink? Floor drains are ALWAYS SUSPECT to siphon water out slowly = all of your symptoms. Way to test: Repeat this 2-3 times if necessary. Start cycle and let it fill. Open door. 'Cancel/Drain' - close the door. Let the drain pump run for 10-15 seconds at least. Open door. Watch the water level in tub for 5-10 min. Should not move.

Granted your dishwasher is 10 years old so depending on how much you want to sink into for repairs, you may be better off just getting a new one for around $400. I took a gamble and ripped mine apart with a YouTube video (I also cleaned the sensors) and the material was only $120. Kinda up to you what your next steps are and how much patience you have with assembly. Best of luck and report back with what you decided to do. It always helps he next person searching :)

Boyd, I went ahead and ordered the sump and motor assembly from repairclinic and this did the trick! Thank you for helping me get it solved. The fix was super easy after watching a repair video on youtube. Only took me about 20 mins.

It looks like the latch could be the problem and not the motor assembly. I had the same issue as others above (filling with water, draining but not washing) and it was the door not closing properly because of the darn latch. Just hold the door firmly against the latch and it should begin to wash.

Same problem.. will definitely try latch first after reading all of the IDENTICAL complaints... Just amazes me .. Of course they wanna sell you $125 parts instead of a recall, shoooot.. Thanks again! Will update post door rigging ;) PS - Whirlpool

By pressing down on the latch, it clicked and made the door handle lock. Did I do the right thing? The door won't close unless I squeeze the handle and undo the click. And still, the washer doesn't work after closing the door.

If you want to you could take off the outer door panel by removing the screws around the inner perimeter and either lifting a little up and out or swinging out, etc. Behind that is electronics that are powered so you may want to turn the breaker off to remove the power.

OMG!!! The latch was the issue with mine too!! Yesterday I took the entire thing apart and manually checked if the motor was working, then the pump, then the drain, I even connected the motor, pump, etc. to electricity individually to make sure they weren't damaged and to my surprise they were all working. I thought it could be a fuse, but the machine was turning on, etc. fine. My only options was a technician, new machine or personally changing the motor assembly or the panel...none of these were good options.

Long story short, after putting the machine back together I found this site today and read about the latch issue and said to myself, what the heck, let me see if by closing the door like they say here the machine will actually start washing (it was filling with water and draining before but not washing). So I held up the door firmly against the latch and voila!!! it started washing again. Thank you! Thank you! I just now need to figure out how to permanently fix that %#*@ latch...

I want to tell this crazy answer. My whirlpool would fill and drain, but not wash. I was getting ready to replace the pump and motor assembly. There isn't much room to work under the machine so I thought I would try one last thing. I removed the lower dish rack, lower spray arm and filters, then I wacked the sump assembly a couple of times. I reassembled the machine, started a cycle and guess what, it started to work just fine.

I have a better solution. I bought a new dishwasher. Not a Whirlpool. A Samsung. Much better cleaning than than the Whirlpool. I have now realized that when someone rates an appliance, they rate it when it is brand new. Not after 4 years.

I ordered a new pump, removed the old and installed the new. Super simple install, which took about 30 mins. After doing this, I broke the old circulation pump down as shown in the video, and my bushing had ovaled out and there was a ton of wear on the shaft. 100% success with the dishwasher since.

I have had the exact same problem with my whirlpool gold dishwasher. It would fill with water, run through the first cycle, pop open the soap dispenser, then just sit... For hours. I replaced the door latch, then the interface (button circuit board), neither of those parts fixed it. It seemed like it had something to do with the house shifting with different seasons, and if I twisted the door Just right, it would catch again and complete all cycles. The other day I loosened the 2 screws that held it tight to the bottom of the countertop and it has worked perfectly since. My theory is that the tabs attaching to the countertop were holding the latch tongue at an angle which wasn't making good contact in the door latch switch. So now it's somewhat free floating. Maybe worth a try!

@mcassell yes! It's a problem with the actuator not making good contact with the switch. I don't know how to permanently fix it, but now I know for sure it's not the pump motor assembly or the timer mechanism. I've found when it gets to that point and won't continue, if I push in and down at the center of the handle it usually catches and continues all the way to clean and dry dishes! Really puzzling, it's a shame because it's a great dishwasher.

yes thank you was driving mecrazy as everything seem to work great except would not wash as i found this site and sure enough that what it was latch swith was not catching right.so i had to adjt the door on the one side

Having a similar issue. We could get ours to run on rinse and light wash, so I knew both pump motors were fine. I was wondering if there was some sensor that was bad that would not allow it to run in normal or express wash mode. Figured I would give the latch a try before tearing into it. I checked it out and it seemed like it wasn't quite seating. The metal hoop seamed greasy and there was some gunk in the receiver on the door. I cleaned them up and it definitely seated/grabbed better when I closed the door. Selected normal wash and sure enough it ran! Hey KitchenAid, if you're not going to put an electronic link for a fully seated latch then make it so it won't run at all... Thanks everyone.

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