How to repair a dishwasher, not draining - troubleshoot Whirlpool 

I know this is an old video... but I swear this just saved my relationship (as well as my dishwasher) .. haha 😄 THANK YOU

I have been a tech for 27 years and watched countless how to videos for everything under the sun. You Sir, have made the holy grail of DIY video's. Clear, easy and concise. Kudos!

Thank you. This saved my 15yr old Whirlpool dishwasher and I did it myself. I am a 70 yes old female.

I can’t thank you enough for the great video .I am a 69 year old woman .I followed your instructions ,removed the debris and my dishwasher is like new .Saved time and money 💰.Thank you so much

I watched this 5 years ago and again tonight to fix my dishwasher. This is an enduring RU-vid classic. Thank you!

Thank you! Your instructions were very clear. My husband had no faith that I could fix our dishwasher. He kept telling me to "Call the guy!" I propped my iPad on the counter and replayed until I finished. He was astonished at my success. Saving the cost of a service call... Nice. The expression on my husband's face... Priceless! Thanks again!

Well, VICTORY!! Me! A married mother of two teenagers and a retired military man fixed the dishwasher! Your video was awesome. The impeller blade wasn’t spinning! Floss was wrapped around it! The dishwasher has been “broken for 3 years! Maybe 3 1/2. I fixed it. Thank you!

This is the best tutorial I have ever used. I was done in no time, and I am terrible at fixing things. It included all the necessary steps, good visuals, easy to follow directions. Thanks Adam!

My dishwasher hadn't been cleaned in YEARS. Finally figured out how to clean the filter. Thank you.

Top shelf! This is among the best DIY repair videos out there--for any product. Thorough, clear, with just enough helpful tips and no extraneous info. Good job!

Thank you!! I followed your steps today and got my dishwasher to drain properly. I found so much gunk inside. It was nasty! If anyone is nervous about trying this, just do it! The only issue I had was getting the blade cover off because it was caked shut with grime. I slowly worked at it with a butter knife. But overall it was very easy.

Just finished cleaning out my dishwasher, and I have to tell you this video is incredibly easy to watch and learn from. Your guidance and calm, reassuring tone made this DIY tutorial an A+ in my books. Thanks Adam!

I am an ecstatic that I found this video. I am a "haying" widow, i.e. haying season just started in NE PA and the dishwasher has been acting up for a while and it finally has gotten so bad that this lady had to take care of it herself. I disassembled it all the way down as you showed. THANKS so very much for the information.

Thank you so very much - I've done 675 guitar lessons on YT and your video made everyone worth the effort. My wife nagged me into checking into the drain problem and your video solved our issue. I won a big kiss and you won my appreciation! My Very Best ~ Joe

9 year old video and still helping people. Bought my house a few years ago and our dishwasher is about 15 years old now and started making a God awful grinding noise. This video gave me exactly all the information I needed and was easy to digest. I found a kids toy lodged in there, tons of gunk and fur, and some weird twig or bone that was preventing the disposal grinder from spinning. I got all of it cleaned out, put back together, and it's working so well now! Thank you so much for your video and saving us about $1000 on replacement and plumbing!

I watched a number of videos and read posts with step-by-step instructions on how to handle a dishwasher that doesn't drain but yours was the only one that started at square-one, to first check the drains and the hoses. It was just a small piece of a ceramic bowl that chipped off and was blocking the hose that went into the air gap. So easy and you saved me $50 - $100. I can see why your videos are popular, they're good. Over 1M on this one alone. Think of all the people like me that you helped and saved us money. I'm a new fan! :)

great video; Clear, precise, with no filler. This video allowed me to perform the exact repair demonstrated, and I would have struggled without it. I wish everyone made their videos as well as you have.

THANK YOU! I've lived in this apartment 4 years and even the manual doesn't explain how to clean :D Relatively easy to do thanks to your clarity! Running it with some baking soda now!

Thank you for this video! My wife and I just used your directions to clean our dishwasher. We moved into our house about 2 years ago and noticed that the dishwasher wasn't cleaning very well. From the looks of it, the previous owners had never cleaned it since it was installed about 10 years ago. Thanks to your video we got it apart and back together with no problem. After having to get 10 years worth of nastiness out of it, you can bet that we're going to make this an annual task. Thanks again!

This video SAVED MY LIFE!! Came home to a wet floor and standing water in the bottom of the dishwasher...on the same day my husband left for a 3-week trip! This video walked me right through everything! THANK YOU!!

So, the cloth trick was something my father taught me when working with small screws 30 years ago. Great tut !

I would also like to thank you Adam. I have never had a dishwasher apart. I'm a mechanic by trade and the unknown can sometimes bite you if you dont know what you are doing. Your video was perfectly done and now my wife is happy happy happy!

Thank you! By far the best and easiest to follow video. We wrote the dishwasher off as it had been leaving dishes dirtier than before they went in. I gave it a shot, popped everything off and the entire catch before the blades was completely blocked. Plastic wrap, shredded labels, and more. Cleared the blockage, cleaned the filter and put it back together. Once again the dishwasher actually washes dishes. Thank you for saving me a ton on buying a new dishwasher!

Awesome job on this video. I am disabled and my wife was able to follow this video with my assistance and did a great job getting our dishwasher working well again. Thanks for taking to the time to do this!

This was invaluable. Really appreciated the calm, thoughtful guidance and good production values. Many thanks, James

Thank you for this sir! 8 years later and this helped me clean everything. God bless people posting random videos years and years ago that help people out in the future.

This should be a model for all How To video makers. Simple, clear, succinct and thorough. Thanks for sharing your know-how.

This was one of the best DIY fix it videos I’ve ever seen. It was SUPER helpful. The only minor thing I’d add is actually verbalizing that the plug holding lower spray assembly actually has a LEFT HAND THREAD. It was clear in the visuals of your video, but worth a mention. One becomes so accustomed to conventional threads that frustration might ensue if not watching the video carefully for your visual cues. Petty comment aside, this was a GREAT video. Thank you!

Thanks!! Very good instructions! When unscrewing the wing nut screw holding the spray arm, you explained that it unscrews to the right - opposite of 99% of most screws. Many of us would try to unscrew the normal way to the left, which would break it. Also, saying you need a T-15 driver was again very helpful.

Followed your direction, including the cloth trick. I'm glad I could rewind and pause. Your video really helped. It's together again and I hope it works...

We have a 14 yr old Whirlpool that stopped draining, thanks to Adam's calm, step by step video my husband and I were able to take it apart, clean all the built up crud out of it and put it back together and now it is working! Thanks Adam, will use your videos when we need help!

Thanks Adam. Great video, very clear. Took awhile to get all the label stuff out. Before I found your video I had called the "repair guy" he said that I should just purchase a new one because parts for dishwashers are to expensive and they are basically a use it until it breaks and purchase a new one appliance. So you saved me the price of a new dishwasher !!!! That is a LOT more then a service call. Oh hay, one last thing. 4 years later and your video is STILL helping people.

Hi Adam. I appreciate you posting info like this. Learning to fix basic things is an essential home owner skill. It saves the owner money, and extends the life of appliances and devices.

A fellow couldn't ask for a clearer explanation and video - awesome! Everything was as you explained and we're back in business.

Love how clear and precise your instructions are. My washer isn't broken but couldn't pull myself away from the video. Now, thanks to you, I know how to fix my machine should it fail. Mine has been working since 1983. Woo wee!!

Adam you helped a woman out!!! My blade was broken at the bottom I ordered a new one off of the Internet received it today and put my dishwasher back together and it’s working perfectly fine!!! You are the only person on RU-vid with this exact model thank you so much dude you’re awesome!!!! 🙌🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

You just saved me $500 since I didn't have to buy a new one. Motor wasn't working, wasn't draining. I got this nasty greasy stuff out of it and it seems to work fine. Thank you so much!!!

this video was perfect! followed you step by step ,turned on my dish washer and BAM! FIXED!

This instructional was excellent! I am short on skills and as a result not generally motivated to take things apart ... but your tutorial and images got me through a maintenance project that I hope will give our dishwasher a few more years of life. My wife is happy, too, which is icing on the cake!

Can't express enough thanks to you! Our dish washer was making a wonky noise that had us worried we'd have to replace the whole unit! Luckily my husband found your video and we spent a "date night" fixing our machine. The damn thing is back to purring like a kitten. You are a wonder person for posting this.

Thanks for posting this. I followed the video this morning, it was bang on, and now my dishwasher is cleaning dishes again like new. I'm not a "handy" guy, but this sure made me seem like one. Awesome.

Thanks, this worked like a charm! I had a wrapper or piece of cellophane obstructing the blade so it wouldn't spin properly. Being the most non-handy of men, I found it very easy to fix and it made me look like a hero to the wife ;)

You're a life saver. At about 50 seconds in I realized it was probably just a clogged hose. I unhooked it, ran some water through it, and done. It was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my kitchen, but now everything's working again. Thanks for saving me from the $100 service call I didn't need!

Adam, you helped me immensely with my service of the exact same dishwasher in the video! We had not cleaned the filters in the 4 years we've had and we noticed that it wasn't performing well. We had lost the instruction manual to boot. You made look doable so i thought i would go for it. Thank goodness I did. Inside were the filters are were clogged to the max! It was amazing it still worked at all. The manual says to do a filter clean every month and its not easy for people who are not mechanically inclined such as yourself and me. Thanks for the video

Thanks so much! Not only was I able to clear years of mushy paper clogging the drain, I also popped the filter apart & cleaned that out too! The hardest part was having the confidence in myself to actually remove those two little clips and get started! Without your video I would have had to pay someone to do what I was able to do in less than an hour :) Thank you!

Thank you very much...you saved the day! I had ordered a drain pump and was dreading putting it in, appliance repair isn't easy for a delicate lady. I cleaned everything on the bottom as shown in the video...and then checked my line to the disposal. It was completely plugged...dishwasher is up and running. All is well. I put a bottle of white vinegar to clean it out more. THANK YOU!!!!!! great explanation.

I am so very grateful for this video. I am 72 and never realized that cleaning the filter, etc. was a necessary chore. I watched and rewound so many times to get the job done. Thank you so very much.

Fantastic video. I followed it start to finish. I tried others previously, but always got frustrated with the meaningless banter. I appreciated your straightforward style.

Well done. Great photography, VO and no rambling!

I would have never dreamed it would be so simple. Thank you for clear instructions. I saved me some money by fixing it myself.

🙂 FINALLY someone who knows how to explain something clearly and correctly to the average person. Thank you so much for posting this video.👍🏻

I just moved into a new to me place and my daughter clogged the dishwasher with peanut butter powder. I was ready to buy a new one when my wife showed me this. You're awesome.

Thank you! Your calm and thorough manner gave me the confidence to do this.

You saved me a big repair bill. Exact model Whirlpool in your video. Found popcorn, toothpicks, broken glass that was apparently hitting the blade, once I removed the cover. Cleaned it all out (used a wet/dry vac,) got some of the gunk off the blade. Cleaned the filter also. Runs like a champ. BTW: It was making a loud grinding type noise. Manual doesn't show how to disassemble, so this video did the trick. Thanks on posting it.

Thanks for this video! I am a single mom on a budget and really didn't want to call a repair man. My dish washer was a bit different but followed this video and fixed my dishwasher. Appreciate all your help!

OMG !!! Thank you so much Andy. 😀 I just saved so much money thanks to you. Love the step by step explanations without the unnecessary “blah blah” and some dreadful music in the background. Your tone of voice is soft and pleasant and exudes knowledge and patience. That’s exactly what I like. You can’t go wrong with Andy ! Your the best ! Thank you again.

Thank you very much for this excellent video. I was able to follow it precisely. My dishwasher is as good as new and runs like the day I bought it after following your directions. I have a Whirlpool Gold Quiet Partner III. My own advice to anyone watching: DO NOT use any detergent pellets with the gelatin wrappers (The clear packets that dissolve). The wrappers melt, which is convenient, but I found out after opening the chopper cover that the gelatin will eventually clog the entire chopper and filter. Use liquid detergent or powder or powder in pellet form with no wrappers. It will definitely extend the life of your dishwasher by doing so.

straightforward, logical, well-spoken, well-edited - thanks!

Followed your instructions, then did the baking soda paste/vinegar soak followed by boiling water and now my dishwasher works like new! I pulled out a hunk of plastic and several pieces of glass that I didn't know had broken in there. Amazing. Thank you so much!

I love the tone of your speaking voice. Very calm and friendly. I wish the contractors I hire were like you! Awesome clear spoken concise video. Well done and thankyou.

Thank you! I just about tore my hair out trying to get my husband to fix the damn thing, now it's great, I fixed it myself! A big kiss to you!

I know this video is considered old.... But thanks so much, saved my 2020 bacon...

You are right about the dishwashers not being much different. Your video matched my Kenmore dishwasher directly. I followed your video and found a bunch of broken glass and toothpicks by the chopper clogging up the drain of the flooding dishwasher. Your video saved us at least $200 for a service call, or more, as due to the age of the dishwasher, and the possibility of a $200 plus service call, we were thinking of just ordering a new dishwasher. Thank you very much!

THANK YOU!! My dishwasher was not washing due to material clogging the strainer, and all sorts of garbage under the filter. Removing a few screws and both racks and the unit runs better than it has in MONTHS. Simple repair and your instructions were clear, precise and all around excellent. Take care!

One of the best made home tutorials out there. Great steady camera work. Thanks!

The instructions works very well and it is pretty amazing that I have the exact same dish washer. The cloth part is definitely needed and it saved my day!

What a great video! Helped me! And I'm a 60 year retired gal and I really cleaned out my dishwasher and stopped the noise!

I just want to say THANK-YOU! Normally I would just ask someone to come over and help, but I decided to tackle this on my own. I know it’s a small job, but I feel so accomplished :)

Thank you so much. You gave the best step-by-step instructions. I was able to do this very easily. subscribed.

You made that easy, even for someone like me who has never done anything like this before. Thanks !

Excellent, clear instructions. We just bought a new-to-us (used) dishwasher and my nephew helped install it and recommended cleaning the filter as a preventive. I had no idea how to do that. Your instructions demystified the whole process. I appreciate the finer points you made, like recommending laying down a towel just in case you drop a screw, to avoid it going into the filter area. Very professional. Thank you.

Incredible DIY video. I am the worst “handyman” on earth but fixing the drain issue on mine was super easy with this video. Thanks a million!

Okay, my dishes have been getting worse and worse. CONSTANTLY having to reward and scrub gunk by hand. I've mentioned to my husband but finally tonight I took matters into my own hands. I don't know if the problem is fixed yet but you did an EXCELLENT job explaining everything. I seriously had zero problems. My biggest issue was finding a torx screw driver. Then finding the right size. My husband has every tool and could have easily done this too but I try to fix things as needed. And, because it's 2:00 am and I'm just finishing up, everyone's asleep and I couldn't as were the screw driver was. I cleaned out glass and gunk and foods. Also, my silver wear holder keeps breaking along the bottom and guess where all those pieces ended up as well. Yup, got all those out of the grinder area as well. And of course, labels/stickers. We shall see. One concern I have, there is a double flapper thing (technical terms, I know) on the water feed tube. One of the flaps won't close. The flap stays about 45 degrees open. I don't know if that will affect anything or not and it seems like Kenmore only wants to sell the entire feed tube assembly. Hopefully this will work. Thank you so much for very clear instructions. If I can do this without a problem, anyone should be able to.

Really helpful! Done smoothly and directly without a lot of extra stuff. Thank you for your clarity!

Absolutely the BEST video for getting the dishwasher back to life. Ours is a 15-year old Kenmore QuietGuard, but essentially the exact same layout & process. The hardest part is having the correct Torx bit, which I did. Thanks so much!!

Thank you for your efforts in making this video! Recently, bits of debris were showing up in my coffee mugs and bowls on the top shelf, of course baked on after the dry cycle. I thought it was something to do with the filter/disposer unit. Your vid helped me to take it apart and fix. Gunk everywhere! Now, no more debris. Saved me mucho $$$ because my 20 minutes of labor saved me from having to buy a new dishwasher! I especially liked the tip of putting a towel below in case of a dropped screw, which I did. Thanks.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! It's the perfect video to help me clean my dishwasher! Your video and tutorial was awesome! Clear,concise,and easy to follow!b so glad I found it!

Very informative and helpful! Thanks for being so clear dude, it felt great to be able to do this on my own

Thank you so much for this. I just saved a huge repair bill by following your instructions and cleaning out some debris. You are awesome for putting good into this world!

I didn’t have a problem with water not draining, but a plastic fork broke inside my washer and it suddenly it was making a horrible, loud grinding noise! Upon inspection I saw parts of the broken fork in the bottom of the washer and it was obvious pieces had gotten sucked into the innards. You video helped my husband and I easily dismantle it down to the grinder where we found several bits of the fork and even quite a large piece of glass from a broken cup!! So I’m not impressed by the lack of a filter in my dishwasher, but I’m very impressed by your video! You saved us a lot of $ and we really can’t afford a repairman or to buy a new dishwasher. Thank you so, so much for sharing your time and knowledge.

Pray for me yall. Doing a test run

You helped me SO MUCH. Thank you thank you, I fixed my dishwasher myself!

Thank you so much! Today I woke up to a small lake in the bottom of the dishwasher, and this video saved me!! My first repair as a homeowner 😄

I used this guy's video about a year ago and now just today. Helpful without making me feel like an idiot. This guy is great!!

Thank you. Mine was as simple as snaking out the drain tube to the garbage disposal.

Basic problem... I replaced my in-sink incinerator, new one requires to punch open the drain the dish washer, so water was overflowing after replacement. I saw this video, first think I checked was the drain pipe, and figured out the root cause. - Thanks for the informative video...

Thank you for the great video. Fixed my dishwasher today with your step by step directions. Works perfect now. Saved me money and a call to the appliance repair man.

I thankyou so much for this. You either saved us from having to get a new dishwasher or saved us a service call. Either way..following your vid saved us a bunch of cash!! Ours was so plugged up, it was actually disgusting. Who knew it could get like that underneath those bottom parts? We sure didnt. I'm blown away. Hope to get years more from this whirlpool Gold.

Hi Adam, Excellent step-by-step instructions that resolved my problem. Thanks!

Didn't realize that there where filters to clean time to time around the house well beside air filters. Found this out when my washing machine's pump filter was clogged and cleaned that out and found socks, coins, face towels, etc... Now it works perfect. Then this give me the idea that my dishwasher might have a filter to clean too. And it does... Can't wait to find out what's in there. Haha, thanks for the video.

wow thanks Adam, this 9 year old video, I just cleaned my whirlpool. Your instructions were exact.. never cleaned mine in 12 year sooo sooo much grime in there. can't recommend this video enough. probably saved me 300 bucks for someone to come out and clear my slow drain issue.

Best video ever! An hour later my dishwasher is fixed for free and running better than ever! Thank you!!!

Thank you for your video! It felt awesome to be able to fix this by myself. I had a hard time getting the cover off the blade but eventually popped it off with a screwdriver. I also had an extra screw in that area. My dishes were coming out gritty after using but that problem was fixed. I pulled out paper, plastic, glass and a chicken bone out. Gross. Thanks again for your help!!!

I was trying to Loosen that Plastic screw to remove the Lower sprayer arm and was having difficulty as I was thinking the plastic screw threaded into something below, i was wrong!, I did not know until I saw you turn the screw "Clockwise" Thanks for the video, and I hope others will notice that it does not unscrew Counter clockwise like most common bolts or screws.

Wow, looking at the comments I don't know what other compliment I could give this video to show how awesome it is! Clear, short, to-the-point: rare!

I was going to mess with it the old fashioned way by taking things apart on my own. I’m glad I checked RU-vid first. You saved me a bunch of time.

Things went well until I tried to get the lower spray assembly off. I turned the plastic screw to the right, but it did not "pop right off". In fact, it was a royal pain in the ass, but a little creativity got it off. It should be noted that this is not an item that comes out, you have to align things to a small slot inside, then you can get it off. After that the instructions were golden. I found broken glass, those damned plastic stickers from plates, and a five course meal down there. After reassembly, she started right up.

I left the plug in on my new garbage disposal!!! fml lol!!!

Thank YOU!! I just finished fixing my dishwasher while my hubby was out working. So glad I didn't need to ask him to fix it. God bless you.

Hi Adam, Thank you so much for making this wonderful video! My husband and I were very happy to have been able to fix the draining problem ourselves. Plus we got to learn a bit on how our dishwasher works. Thanks again !!!