MDC5100AWW Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

I suspected that the wax motor had gone bad based on reviews I had read. The repair requires a TORX bit to remove seven screws holding the plastic cover on the inside of the door. I sat in a chair with the door resting on my knees and took the screws out. Once open, the two wax motors are under the cover and easily accessible. You simply pull the wax motors out and detach two wire plugs. You should note how the wires are attached. The wire plugs were a little difficult to pull off but with a little effort they came straight off. Once new wax motors were installed, the soap dispenser opened.

I was also using a gel dishwasher detergent and was told that, for some reason, it might have begun to act like glue and this might also have prevented the soap dispenser from opening. I switched to powder and that did not solve the problem leading me to replace the wax motors. The soap dispenser spring seems a little weak so I have continued using powder.

First off, I must give thanks to Partselect.com for excellent service. They had the parts I needed, a Diagram of how the parts should go into the Dishwasher, and shipping was very quick and reasonable priced. Thank you Partselect.com.


After dinner we heard our Maytag MDB5100AWW dishwasher start grinding during its wash cycle. Needless to say we found this quite concerning, as this is not what a healthy dishwasher should sound like. After fiddling around with it, I started researching the issue and found Partselect.com where it was stated the “Discharge Housing Assembly (Discharge Pump Housing)” was a common failure point. After disassembling the “Pump and Motor” section of the dishwasher, it was confirmed that the Discharge Housing was indeed broken. Since this Dishwasher is over 8 years old, I figured that I might as well replace a few other parts as well, since I'm in there working on it.


Following the blow-up image of the Pump and Motor picture;

Unscrew part 34

Pull out part 1

Lift Part 2, which is attached to part 36

Unscrew part 5 (6 of them) from part 4, be careful not to loose part 3, sitting inside part 4

Lift out part 6 and 7

Unscrew part 8 and lift out part 9

Unscrew part 27 (three of them) and lift out part 11

The bottom plate of this part is the broken part.


Now, since we are in here replacing a part, we might as well replace a few other parts and give this dishwasher a little longer life. I opted to replace the following parts as well, being that my dishwasher was over 8 years old and the gaskets were showing some age.

Part 4 – Pump Cover and Secondary Filter Assembly; I replaced this part because food often gets caught inside the filters and will throw off the balance during a wash or rinse, thus putting premature wear on bearings and o-rings. My filter had a bunch of food on one side, and the only way to remove the food was to slit open a section of the filter, thus damaging the filter screen.

Part 37 – O-Ring that goes inside the Pump Cover and Secondary Filter Assembly. O-rings are rubber and do wear with age. My dishwasher didn't even have this o-ring; now it does.

Part 3 – Lower Spray Arm Seal; I noticed when pulling these parts out that the hard water in our living area was making these somewhat brittle. When ordering these, get two of them, as the picture indicates. If you order one, the package only contains one, and not two was the image shows it should have.

Part 11 – Discharge Housing Assembly (Discharge Pump Housing). This is the part that is making all the grinding noise. The new part will show that it is built a little differently. It appears that Maytag figured out the weak design of this part and made the replacements stronger.

Part 17 – Even though I ordered this, you don't need to order this part if you order the Part 10 kit. The part 10 kit will include this o-ring. Because its an O-ring, I replaced it; as stated above, o-rings do breakdown.

Part 25 – Pump Gasket; This part should really be called the Pump Housing Gasket, as it isolates the Pump Housing bucket and the Dishwasher tub. I bought this because my original gasket was looking pretty nasty and was coming apart.

Part 10 – Seal Kit (Motor/Pump) (Motor/Pump Impeller and Seal Assembly), this kit includes several components that if purchased separately would easily be twice the cost of this kit. Again, seals and Motor Pump seals are a good thing to replace when needing to do work inside the dishwasher.


Continuing on from the previous dis-assembly list;

Unscrew part 12 and remove part 14, 15 and 16.

Unroll part 17 (o-ring) and remove part 18.

Unscrew parts 19 and carefully remove part 20, being VERY careful to not loose part 39.

Lift out part 22, which will include the bearing inside of part 22.

Pry out part 24 with a pick (the replacement is in the kit of part 10).

To remove part 25, you must Remove part 12 of the Door Assembly (see the Door image) to reach the motor element.

Next unscrew part 14 of the “TUB” i

Ordered replacement basket online at much better price than available localy. When I recieved it discovered that it did not include the handle, but was suprised to see it labeled as "Genuine Maytag Parts" ( I realy expected a knock-off replacement part for the price difference). I was able to remove tha handle from the old basket and install it on the new one. Job done. No problem

Once I figured out how to get the endcap off the roller track (allow several minutes, because it was designed by some dork), I slipped the old roller off the track, put the new roller on, and clipped it to the rack. Then I put the track cap back on (really easy once you've figured out how to get it off) and it was good as new.

As for how the cap comes off, it's difficult to describe. But it may help you to know that the cap, despite what it looks like at first, is actually surprisingly long and folded on top of itself. Pulling it directly out doesn't work; you have to unfold it before there's any chance of getting it out.

I removed the two plates located below the dishwasher door to expose the float switch. I removed the two screws holding float switch, I removed screw holding switch actuator, then I removed float assembly.
Installed new float assembly, but could not use the float palnut, it had too small of a hole, I substituted a larger one that fit the float better. Note I fitted the palnut to the float (the nut cuts it's own threads in the float) before installing the float. This made installation easier. Next I transferred the two wires from the old float switch to the new float switch in the same positions as the existing switch wires. Then I installed the float switch. Finally, I cleaned up the float switch actuator and screw so that the actuator moves freely on the screw. I then installed the float switch actuator and ran the dishwasher to check for proper operation. Note: this float and switch control the water level in the dishwasher. If the actuator sticks, the dishwasher will fill with too much water and leak. If the float has collected dirt inside, it will weigh more and the water level will be too high, causing the dishwasher will fill with too much water and leak. If the switch sticks or fails the water level will be too high, causing the dishwasher will fill with too much water and leak. That is why I relaced the parts: float and switch. I don't want to go back and work on this again.
Lastly, after a few days of proper operation, I installed the two plates located below the dishwasher door. Job done!

Turned machine on side. Removed two casters with Wonder Tool prybar. Then used it to remove plastic push screws holding cardboard bottom cover. Unscrewed water hose. Used screwdriver to remove clamp on drain hose. Stood machine upright, opened door. Unscrewed two screwsfrom tabs into woodblock top. Slid top forward and removed it. Cut plastic hose retainer. Removed hose assembly. Installed new hose by reversing steps. Used a new wire strap to hold hoses in place on top corner of machine.

1. I removed the covers below the door and watched during a wash cycle to see where the water was leaking. There was a small pinhole on the rubber connector at the end of what turned out to be the "top shower hose". I was hoping I could just replace that rubber connector, but apparently it is permanantly attached to the entire "top shower hose" assembly.
2. To remove the top shower hose I first turned of the circuit breaker to the dishwasher.
3. I needed to slide the dishwasher about half way out of the cabinet, requiring removal of two screws at the top of the dishwasher attaching it to the counter.
4. I also had to turn off the water and disconnect the water supply hose (at supply valve, not inside the washer) because it had no slack to allow the dishwasher to slide out of the cabinet.
5. I removed the hose clamp at the bottom of the dishwasher.
6. I removed the top dish rack (there are clips on the ends of the rails that can be opened to allow the rack to come out).
7. I popped off the upper washer arm by fiddling with the clip mechanism. Then I removed the threaded "nut" holding the hose in place.
8. As others mentioned, it is good to remember to save and re-use the hose clamp and rubber washer.
9. Removed the old hose.
10. Ordered new hose, waited for delivery. Kids washed dishes by hand for a few days.
11. Installed the new hose. Replaced the rubber washer at the top end and fastened with the "nut." Replaced the washer arm and top dish rack.
12. Connected the bottom end of hose, re-using the hose clamp.
13. Positioned dishwasher back under cabinet and replaced screws.
14. Re-connected the water supply hose.
15. Turned circuit breaker back on.
16. Began using dishwasher again. Observed a few wash cycles to ensure no leaks.
17. Re-attached the covers below the door.
18. Done.

snapped on new roller and job done

Stuck new wheel on, time to find and order part on partselect 2 min, time to open package and install part 1 min.

Total job 3min.

removed the door gasket by just pulling it out and pushing the new one in its place. very easy, took five minutes at most. Then removed the 7 screws holding the inside of the door in place, removed the dispenser assembly, held by two drive screws and replaced the dispenser door latch grommet. Finally, removed the insulation foam gasket. Had to scrape the old adhesive from the door as the old a\gasket had disintegrated. This took the most time. Then just pressed the new foam gasket in place. Reading the comments from others was a big help. Don't think I would have replaced the dispenser grommet had I not been warned about it. I'm sure it was part of the problem. All is well now, no leaks.

First, removed end cap in steel sliding upper rail, second, removed broken roller, third, attached new roller, you can look at other rollers to see how it goes on, fourth, feed new roller into track, replace end cap. Takes less than 10 min, saved 85. 00 Bucks.

Took off old part. Modified new roller w'knife. Found a nut and bolt in scrap pile. Attached.

I pulled the interior of the door until I was able to get to the switches on the door latch. I determined at least one switch was completely worn while the other worked minimally. I then looked for the latch assembly and found out that it was no longer available. So I did some searching and found the exact switches I needed from PartSelect. The switches came in about 3 days which then I installed them. The dishwasher powered right up and stayed on. So in the end it was much cheaper to repair this unit than buy a new one right now. Plus, my wife is happy and so am I. Thanks PartSelect for carrying the parts I needed.

This ended up to be a (2) phase project. The first repair was to replace the door seal and inner door foam. Thanks to earlier online comments this part was really easy, but we still had a small leak. When I had removed the interior face of the door panel to replace the inner door foam, I had noticed the insulation was wet and deducted that the 'soap cup door latch gasket' was the real culprit so I had to place a second order (Phase 2). The order came quickly and in time for next Saturdays to to list. My advice is to replace all 4 items at the same time and save on mailing cost and repair time; reservoir O-ring, soap cup door latch gasket, inner foam gasket and door gasket. net repair time, about an hour start to finish.
Don and Rosie
Rochester, NY

Figure out how to remove the spray arm (15 min); remove all the parts below (15 min); figure out what's not right (5 min). the pump discharge head is two parts. The flat disk that is attached to the under side of the discharge head came off and was being ground up by the impeller nut. Hence the noise. I superglued it back together and ordered the replacement parts. the superglue lasted through about 1 rinse cycle. The repair parts arrived the following day, and since I already knew how to disassemble and reassemble, the actual replacement was about 15 minutes. The dishwasher hasn't been this quiet in over 2 years.