KUDS01DJSS0 KitchenAid Dishwasher - Instructions

The air inlet strip has a flap and two smaller side flaps that seal the bottom of the inner door to the bottom pan that hold the water. The flaps don't form a watertight seal as they only serve to prevent the water surging during wash and rinse cycles from splashing out of the bottom pan onto the floor under the door. What I learned after dismantling the door is that the problem I was having with water dripping from the bottom of the bottom of the outer door was being caused by a loose upper round louvered vent and not he lower vent strip. If the lower vent strip were the problem, water would leak from the front lip of the bottom pan, which is located well behind the face of the front door panel.

Here's my recommendation on the lower vent srtip repair. Turn off the power to the unit at you breaker panel. The air inlet strip is fastened to the backside of the inner stainleess steel door panel. To access the screws the outer door panel must be removed. Open the door and remove the six torx head screws that fasten the outer door panel to the stainless steel inner door. Don't remove the two torx screws top dead center as they hold the door latch. After removing the screws, raise the door up to the nearly closed position. Lift up the outer door panel handle and door bottom to disengage the outer panel from the inner stainless door. The next part is a little tricky since the vent strip hex head screws are at he bottom of the stainless door panel, facing out with the door closed. The lip of the bottom stainless pan is high enough to make it a tight fit to access the screws. There is also a steel bracket that is a door stiffener and holds electrical wiring. I found removing the bracket held by a 1/4" hex head screw on each side made access to the vent strip scews easier. Lay flat on the floor. With a 3/16" nutdriver or socket wrench each of the five vent strip screws can be removed. It's a tight fit between the bottom lip and door bottom, but it can be done. Remove the old vent strip and attach the new one. Make sure it fits snugly into the slot. Best to have an extra pair of hands at this point to hold the stip securely in place while screws are reinserted from the opposite side. Reassemble everything in reverse order.

It was when I had the outer door panel off that I noticed my problem was water getting past the upper round louver vent seal and thus running down the inside of the outer panel. Simple fix was to remove and clean the scale residue from the parts and door. Then reassemble the vent and twitst tighten the vent to compress the rubber seal on the inside face of the door.

SAFTY: Turn water off. Flip the circuit breaker.
PREPARE FOR REMOVAL: Unscrew / Remove kickplate. Disconnected water connect just behind the kickplate. Be ready with a couple of dishtowels. Pull the door down and remove any screws that go into the under part of your counter top. Jack the front legs screw down.
REMOVE: Gently pull the Dishwasher from under counter. Push the insulation flat against the side of the dishwasher about every six inches that you pull the dishwasher out to prevent it from snaggin on the cabinet face edges. Remove the baskets and spray arms. Careful not to damage the heating element.
NOTE: Here I noticed that the guy who installed the dishwasher kinked the copper line limiting the water into to my dishwasher. So my circulation pump/motor was probably running dry. I replaced with a flex type "dishwasher" hose that will easily coil up behind / underneath without kinking when I push back in. DO THE REPAIR RIGHT - DO IT YOURSELF!
REPAIR: I gently laid the dishwasher on it's side (cardboard underneath). I disconnected the power - 2 wires. Then, I only disconnect one wire harness, the sump tubing and the I thought I'd better remove the impeller that the sump tubing was connected to (it was only attached with one screw). Remove the 3 plastic clips around the pump/motor. Carefully push the pump into the dishwasher. DO NOT LET THE PUMP FALL AS IT MAY DAMAGE THE HEATING ELEMENT IN THE DISHWASHER! Push the new pump/motor in place until the seal is at least flush with the bottom. I used the back of a wood spoon. Don't pull on any part of the motor from the bottom or you'll break the thin aluminum casting. Just inserting the plastic clips back in place will pull the seal flush with the bottom again.

I was lucky. I simply removed the motor/pump, replaced it with the new motor/pump, and put everything back together in reverse. I put a little bit of silicone grease on the o-ring of the temperature probe. I happened to have some silicone grease because I also have a pool.
Done. It cost me $220 Vs. $550 quoted by Sears. That doesn't count the extra Sears would have charged my for repairing the kinked copper line. And you know they would've kinked it again. That only cost me $20 more and the flexible line couldn't have been easier to install. I could have done the whole thing for less but I opted to replace the pump/ motor together.
Getting it all done right, no leaks, no kinked line, keeping the dishwasher that matches the other appliances (VS. replacing it at $550 repair price), all less than 1/2 the price of a quoted repair - PRICELESS. - THANK YOU PART SELECT. DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with Part Select.

Removed mushroom shaped float cover by simply pulling up. Cover simply slide down into switch which is mounted through the floor of the tub. Using an adjustable wrench loosened and removed plastic fastening nut allowing removal of switch assembly from below. Disconnected two wires from switch and attached replacement assembly, reinserted in mounting hole, reattached nut from top, reinserted float cap and job done! The only tricky part is that the switch needs to be mounted inside assembly, wires connected and snapped shut before reinserting. Not difficult once you figure it out, Also need to make sure rubber washer is inserted on the overflow tube before reinstalling. Keep track as you remove and simply reverse the order. Tried to obtain part locally and was told it would be 6-10 days before delivery. Order from Part select arrived in 2 days.

I called an experienced plumber, who balanced and installed my new dishwasher properly, using the brackets I ordered from Parts Select, after an INEXPERIENCED plumber had tossed the factory-provided mounting brackets out with the shipping carton. Relief!

First I checked the power supply and noticed the breaker was not tripped. Confirmed the unit was getting power. I then downloaded a parts breakdown from the Kitchen Aid website and noticed there was a fuse mounted in the control section. Using my digital multimeter I confirmed there was no continuity through the fuse. I then ordered the part, installed it and washed a load of dishes:-)

Recoved the screws which secured the handle assembly (approx 8). Removed the old parts and screwed home the new parts and replaced the assembly. Worked perfectly.

The hardest thing for me was to decipher the model number as they use '1s' and 'Is' and you can't tell them apart.

Also the part diagrams should have each part number listed to make it easier. Took me longer to work out what to order than do the repair.

Repair is a piece of cake, much to my relief. The difficult part, if you can call it that, is that when you go to put the small piece in the top that will ultimately hold the Upper Wash Arm in place - don't drop it. Drop it and you are screwed. It goes into the sump area, and you have to disassemble the whole bloody thing to retrieve it, which isn't maybe the easiest thing in the world to figure out. My recommendation would be to 1) remove the top dish rack so you've got a clear shot at it, and 2) cover the sump area with something, anything, that will prevent little bitty pieces that you drop from falling into that sump. Prevent this. Learn from a chump how not to be one yourself.

Pulled out dishwasher after checking the air gap, etc. Washer would marginally pump out water and could hear motor running on drain cycle. Usual mess from water draining out of hoses.

Ohmed drain motor at 24ohms, should be 16.3 ohms from repair manual. Noted check valve, a rubber flapper, was canted out from sealing surface.

New motor ohms at 24 ohms, installed new motor prophylactilly. Installed new flapper valve through the sump. Washer checked okay for drain cycle.

Feed tube assembly was ordered as upper rack flapper valve was worn into open on upper position due to normal use. Feed tube spinner was small, so the rubber flapper was scavenged from the new assembly and used on the old feed tube assembly.

Switched circuit breaker off.
Removed kick panel.
Removed the dishwasher from counter.
Disconnected drain hose from the pee trap.
Disconnected drain hose from pump.
Installed new drain hose.
Reinstalled dishwasher in counter.
Connected hose at the pee trap.
Turned power back on. test for leaks by running a cycle.
Reinstalled kick panel.

Took racks out, loosen screw on top and back then twist feed tube to right and whole assembly can be removed. Now you should be able to see some torx screws; remove those and then remove the piece they were holding down, from there you'll see another screw, remove it and the piece and so on until there are no more screws. Now there is the food chopper cover that needs to be removed; mine was stuck there. You should notice some ribs underneath that allow the water to be sucked in while keeping really big pieces out; I got a pair of channel-locks, opened them all the way and was able to slip one of the pieces under the cover and pull straight up, once off you will see the chopper covvered in food. I cleaned mine off and it looked good, but when I put it back and stuck my finger down teh discharge tube and turned the pump, the chpper did not turn. when I put the new one in and did the same test it did turn. If the chopper is still fits in the slot, it can be cleaned and put back and work for several washes while the part is shipped. I went ahead and changed the check valve since I had it opened which is just to the right of the chopper(all you can see is a little slit and some black rubber). Use some needle nose and pull it out. I would not do this unless you plan on changing it, I pulled mine out to look at it and when I put it back so I could order the parts the dishwasher never drained properly. When you compare a new one with an old one you will see what I mean, you can drop a new one right in but the old one you will have to force in (gets water logged over time and expands). This job is very easy and a lot cheaper than a new DW...and your wife will be impressed, so do not be intimidated.

first I noticed that the dishwasher wasn't making any noise. Then I saw that there were no lights on the control panel. I opened the door and found water dripping off everything... I closed the door and tried hitting every button I could see, nothing happened. I checked the breaker, it was ok, and since I did all the wiring myself, I knew that was ok too. So I pulled off the upper panel of the front door and got out the electrical schematic that came with the washer.
first stop, the TCO, the thermal cutoff, it's like an inline fuse. I got 120 volts going in and nothing coming out. Did an ohm check and it was open.
Found it locally and replaced it. Now I've power to the control panel but the washer still doesn't work
because the micro switch in the handle is broken and that turns out to be the original problem...
the stupid plastic handle broke the micro-switch which shorted the TCO...

First, I brought in my electric screwdriver and torx bit set. The screws holding the door are torx type. I removed the screws holding the door cover allowing access to the (6) hex head screws holding the dispenser in place. Raising the plastic flap covering the dispenser I removed the (2) electrical plugs from the solenoid. Using my elec/screwdriver and a 3/16" socket I quickly removed the old dispenser.
I cleaned the gasket area with some 409 and a paper towel and slid the new dispenser into place. I used a 3/16" nutdriver to tighten the screws. I tightened the screws in a cross pattern in (3) stages so as not to squeeze the gasket out of position. Screw slowly and the screws will bottom out when the proper gasket tension has been achieved, don’t over tighten.
I closed the door and ran the dishwasher in rinse cycle checking for leaks. After a couple of minutes and no leaks I pushed the cancel and drain button. I folded the plastic cover back down over the dispenser and reinstalled the outer door cover tightening all screws with my electric screwdriver and torx bit. I opened the door and filled the rinse dispenser.
We've used the dishwasher several times since the repair and the dispenser has worked fine.

My dishwasher motor was getting very noisy lately and finally died altogether. (the fwd bearing and seals had worn out. There was a small pile of what looked like white sand under the motor from the wear) I removed the dishwasher from the counter after turning off the power at the breaker box. I then turned the dishwasher on its side. The pump motor is removed by first removing the electrical connector, then loosening the retaining bolt and twisting the motor counterclockwise about a quarter turn. The gasket required a little force to become unseated from the housing but not to bad. Wiggle and pull! Be sure to take a look at the alignment at this point to facilitate reinstallation.To install the new motor, align the mark on the impeller(small delta) with the mark on the motor. Insert Motor into housing and turn clockwise one quarter turn till retaining bolt hole is aligned. Install retaining bolt. Be sure to note the position of the stainless steel screen where you insert the motor. Place it back in position before installing the pump if it is disturbed. I lubed the oring with vaseline prior to install also. The new oring was diffrent and did not feel very tight when i installed , but there were no leaks and the dishwasher is running like new. Partselect had the part at my door the next day with no upgrade in shipping charges and I will use them in the future. This forum helped me choose them and made the task easier to do. Hope this helps you as well.

As I pulled out the old rubber gasket I noticed there was a flat side and a curved side, this is how the new one must go. When I put in the new gasket in I just made sure the flat side (faced out) and it really was very simple. It just fits inside a grove, very easy to install. I compared the to parts (old and new) they were exactly the same shape and length.
I was very impressed with the web site navigation and layout. I was able to zoom in on pictures of the part and there were exact measurements of dimensions.

Replacing the heating element was very easy. Simply required 1) disconnecting water and power, 2) unfastening the dishwasher from the cabinet, 3) removing the big, white plastic bolts from the back, underside of the dishwasher, 4) disconnecting the electrical leads, 5) dropping in the new element from the inside of the washing chamber, 6) reconnecting the bolts and leads.

Replacing the electronic control unit was more difficult. The first challenge was figuring out where the old box was installed. There are no instructions to indicate that it is in the front door assembly. The replacement required 1) removing the 8 (or 10) torx screws from the door 2) removing the 2 torx screws that attached the front door cover 3) disconnecting the 5+ connections to the electrical control box, 4) removing the electrical control box, 5) replacing everything in reverse.

Some of the electrical connections were a little challenging to disconnect (a small set of needle nose pliers helped here). Removing the electrical control box was also a little tricky to do without damaging the plastic tabs.

In all, the electrical control box replacement took me about 60 minutes because I had to figure it out from scratch.

i hope this helps others because, in all, I am very happy that I chose to do this repair myself instead of paying for the service call.