PDC3600AWE Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

The rear right caster (wheel) under our fairly new portable dishwasher broke. Upon looking up the part, I discovered that it did not bolt into place, meaning that the exterior skin of the dishwasher did not have to be removed and that more than likely I could fix it myself.

The replacement wheels from Partselect were nicer quality than what the original was and showed up just two days after they were ordered.

However, getting what remained of the broken caster out was frustrating. I am not unhandy around the house, having put in two new bathrooms and a staircase.

But after yanking and prying on the broken caster for 20 minutes (slamming my fingers into the floor every time the pliers slipped), I could see where most people would give up and call a repairman. Finally, with help from small pry bar, the broken caster popped loose. Thankfully, putting the new in was as simple as sliding it into place.

Unfortunately, after all that work, we discovered the new caster was slightly taller than the old, leaving the dishwasher with a distinct wobble that my wife said was unacceptable. She, of course, had not been repeatedly introducing her hand to the floor.

I had ordered two replacement casters, thinking that another of the originals might break. But getting the second one out proved just as difficult as the first, even with the help of the pry bar.

After much cussing and kissing of finger booboos, our Maytag dishwasher is as good as the day we brought it home.

The dishwasher is well engineered to perform this work.

Remove the bottom two panels to provide access and visibility to base of pump motor.

Locate plastic pump locking lever and push toward rear of DW to unlock pump from DW.

Inside the DW remove basketsand spray arms. Revove screws holding cover over pump motor and remove cover.

From below raise pump motor and support with block (piece of 2x4 worked well).

insde DW, removre old gasket, clean well around pump and botom of DW, install new gasket.

From below remove block to drop pump motro back into place, and re-tighten locking lever by pull toward you.

re-assemble inside componets, run through a rinse cycle to test for leaks and replace bottom panels.




I

I removed the plastic retainer that held the lower spray arm in place. After removing the lower spray arm I was able to remove the 6 hex screws that held the cover over the filter screen and the discharge housing assembly. I was then able to remove the bolts that held the upper part of the discharge housing assembly, and replaced it with the new part that I received. The rest of the job was simply putting it back together.

Note: While repairing the broken part, I noticed a small leak under the machine around the float assembly. This was simple to fix. Remove the small lock ring on the bottom of the float. Pull the float out and clean the grease and soap scum out of it. Put it back in and attach the lock ring. No more leak and the water gets turned off when the float activates the switch. Something that everyone should check periodically.

The upper washer arm can be removed by just snapping it out of place. Just take a screw driver and put in underneath the spray arm and pry it out of its socket. It will just snap out its place. Sometimes this retainer will break so make sure you have this retainer before trying to remove the upper spary arm. I removed the spray arm and back flushed it out with a garden hose to get the debri out of the washer arm. The holes are all clean now. Washes much better now. To put in back on just put the washer arm back where it goes and then just snap the clip back in its hole. Pretty easy fix.

Removed old gasket and foam strip. Cleaned area. Installed door gasket. Trimmed foam strip to fit and installed.

Leak has stopped!

The replacement of the spring linkage was simple - the pulling out and pushing in of the under-the-counter dishwasher was the difficult and time-consuming part. The repair of the part took less than a minute.

The actual repair -
1. Hook the linkage to the dishwasher door
2. Hook the spring to the dishwasher base
3. Hook the spring to the linkage.

Getting the dishwasher out to be able to make the repair involved:
1. Unscrewing the base panel (6 screws had to be removed)
2. Unscrewing the dishwasher from the counter (two screws)
3. Turning off the water supply
4. Disconnecting the inline water supply from the dishwasher.

Once the part was replaced, I had to return the dishwasher to its original position, which meant performing the four steps (in reverse) used to pull out the dishwasher.

First I disconnected the dishwasher electric, water supply and discharge hoses. I then pulled the dishwasher out. After opening the door, I removed the retainer clip holding the upper wash arm, then the nut holding the top shower hose in place. Close the door and lean the dishwasher on its side to get at the underside where the other end of the hose is. Loosen the hose clamp and remove the top shower hose. Reassemble everything in reverse order. In hindsight, I didn't need to buy the new hose clamp or the tub top washer (I reused the originals). Good luck!

I removed the seven screws from the back panel of the door (special tool) and seperated the back panel from the front. My wife held the back up and I removed the two wax motors (detergent cup and rinse aid), which were clipped in place. I had turned off power to the dishwasher, so I simply unplugged each wax motor from the wiring harness, plugged the wax motors in and clipped them in place, making sure that the wiring harness was put back in the same place. Then I put the back panel back on the door, turned the power on and tested the repair. The dishwasher worked perfectly. Thanks to PartSelect for helping me solve the problem. The parts arrived in two days!

Most all of the workable parts on a dishwasher are accessed thru the bottom. Luckily ours is portable. Took the dishwasher to the garage, flipped it on its back on my motorcycle/ATV jack. that makes it so much easier because you can raise it up 24". Used the schematic from Part Select and found the water valve. Removed two screws, two wires and two clamps and viola, water valve comes out. Installed the new one, and reassembled, I thought. I left off the hose that connects to the wash drum. Started it up and had water all over the floor immediately. Took to the garage, flipped it back over and realized what I had done. Felt like a moron. Reconnected hose like it was supposed to be and it runs great.

We simply removed the old gasket which was corroded, cleaned up the hard water buildup, and popped the new gasket into place. The problem was fixed! No more leak!

I took out both wax motors - tried switching the motors on the rinse dispenser and soap dispenser but they were both dead - new motors from partselect arrived fast - simple installation if you have the torx screwdriver for the door inner panel.

Removed two lower panels using nutdriver. Ran washer through a rinse cycle, to determine for sure where leak was coming from (under door on left). Examined the door gasket and observed buildup of lime deposits and a general depression of the gasket through years of use, especially in lower portions. Removed the old gasket observing how installed. Cleaned out groove with Lime-away and toothbrush. Washed clean using water in a squirt bottle. Dried things out using paper towels, and then pressed new gasket into place, starting at lower left. Readjusted the gasket to fit precisely end to end. Shut door and ran a drip free load.

I first changed the dispenser door latch grommet, which was very eazy except for the left side nut screw which was a little awkwaed to get to with the nut driver. Not a big problem but difficult enough that i stripped the threads (plastic) and had to get a larger screw which is working fine so far. Since the grommet didn't stop the leaking although it was obvious it was leaking from the soap trail. I ordered the gasket and got it very promptly put it on and guess what. Still leaked some. I discovered when they installed the dishwasher the door appeared to be warped. To fix this there are two door tension springs under the bottom panel. By adjusting these with a log screw driver problem finally solved.
It is good to have not only a great place to get parts but the idea's from others are terrific. Although this washer is 15 years old it looks new and now acts new. Thanks so much for good service and advise.

Old rack assembly was rolled out , the plastic water disperser was twisted off of the old rack and placed on the new rack assembly. The new rack was rolled into place. Project complete.

Being that the dishwasher did not cycle through the wash cycles but would work if you manually moved the dial to a wash cycle as marked on the dial I figured it was the timer. Once I received the timer I removed the inside door panel to access the timer, pulled off the dial selector knob on the outside of the door, removed the 3 screws that secured the timer, disconnected the wiring and just reinstalled the new timer. I reinstalled the inner door panel and put the wash cycle dial know back on. Job completed!