GE dishwasher not draining

zircon · 10-10-2012, 04:31 PM

Water in bottom almost up to the door. The drain is clean and the sink drains well. I bailed it out and ran a cycle. It sounds like it is draining in the beginning but toward the end instead of hearing the water pumping into the sink drain, I just hear a humming sound. Pump or something else? Fixable myself or service call? Unit is five or six years old. Does it pay to have it serviced or buy new one?

Dan101 · 10-10-2012, 08:49 PM

Yes. Sounds like a pump. You should be able to do it yourself. Kinda tricky but not a huge job. Check the drain line between pump and your sink drain first. It may be clogged. You are looking for a plastic or rubber hose connected to your sink drain. The other end of this hose plugs into the DW pump. Shut power off first and Disconnect this hose where it connects to pump at bottom of DW. Check this hose to make sure it is clear. Then you can get a good look at pump and you should see how to remove it. Usually a clamp on each end of pump and maybe 1 or 2 screws holding it in bracket. 2 wires connected to it. Remember how it goes. Remove it. Get model numbers. Try to spin it by hand and reinstall. Test to see if it works now. Leave it installed until new one arrives. I ordered a few from amazon. Just make sure you get the part numbers right.

zircon · 10-11-2012, 08:22 AM

Dan, thanks for your reply. Based on your clear instructions, I am going to try to fix it myself.

zircon · 10-15-2012, 08:25 PM

I changed the drain pump but unfortunately the problem still exists. There is still a lot of water in the bottom of the dishwasher. I found that the GE dishwasher has a service mode where one can run each element separately. After the normal cycle ended, I ran the drain pump for one minute. It runs and it takes out some water but still leaves a lot. It runs and pumps but very weak even with the new pump. Ideas?

hardwareman · 10-15-2012, 08:53 PM

model# of dishwasher would be extremely helpful here. Did you remove the drain hose and inspect it for a restriction?

zircon · 10-15-2012, 09:02 PM

model GLDA690MWW Drain hose is clear.

zircon · 10-16-2012, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardwareman

model# of dishwasher would be extremely helpful here. Did you remove the drain hose and inspect it for a restriction?

I looked at the hose that goes to the sink and it is clear but I did not check the hose from the bottom of the tank to the pump. At the drain in the dishwasher there is a plastic cage around the drain but there is no screen in the cage. Could it be that there is meant to be a screen and that it has come loose and fallen down into the hose leading to the pump?

hardwareman · 10-16-2012, 08:57 AM

pretty sure you have a restriction somewhere before the pump. Not sure what you are referring to as a cage. You will have look inside the sump housing to see what the problem is. Something in there is stopping the water from getting into the pump.

zircon · 10-16-2012, 11:21 AM

Here is a picture of what I am calling a cage. There is no screen in it, just the large openings between the plastic ribs. Does this piece unscrew or do I have to take the hose off from underneath to get up under the cage?

hardwareman · 10-16-2012, 01:12 PM

that is part of the filter, unscrew it then remove the mesh filter.

zircon · 10-16-2012, 04:02 PM

Thank you hardwareman. I cleaned the screen that I didn't even know was there and removed a load of crud. It's working fine now. It wasn't necessary to replace the pump but I'm still ahead of the game because if I had called a serviceman, it would have been a couple hundred bucks to have him walk in the door and I learned a lot besides. Viva DIY!

hardwareman · 10-16-2012, 06:12 PM

your most welcome