re: Inexpensive dishwashers-worth the repair?

Okay. This is a unit that uses two pumps one for circulation and one for draining.



I assume it drains fine but just doesn't circulate?

#18 is the issue here. If you can hear whining that is a good thing, it means the motor is running, just nothing is happening.

There is an impeller that you can acces from inside the machine, a lot of times this just has food stuck in it.
If you take the bottom rack up and remove the water sprayer you can access the panel. If you remove the screws that hold the panel (#1) in the diagram, you can get in there and clean it out.

Sometimes the pump impellers just break, factory retail for the impeller is $25 so it isn't an expensive part.

The motor itself is not the one I was thinking of earlier, it is more expensive. But it's likely not the problem anyway.

Is this a stand alone dishwasher?
Those are much easier to just replace but also just as easy to work on.
It looks like one on the diagram.

not the same unit, but basically showing you what you need to do to clean it.


The goal is to force the impeller to spin over a few times, once it moves pretty easily you can put the parts back on and it will be fine.

This is a basic service. I even have a code for it in my service software. DWIMPCL1 - $40