WU601 Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

I attempted to fix it about a year ago. Took apart the screen center stem and water spinner.
I could not find anything wrong. The machine was used very infrequently over the years. Recently my wife approached me again to fix it and knowing I didn't find any thing the first time: I took the lower panel strip off and found the translucent belt broken. I found your site matched up a belt size and ordered it. Three days later it arrived, I installed it and everything seems to work. The water drains and I'm back in business. It was so easy I was embarrassed I did not fix it the first time.

This repair is very simple. Partselect.com sells a repair kit for this problem that you can use but for simplicity the entire unit is not that much more. First remove the four outside lower philips head screws on the inside of your dishwasher door. Support outer door panel while removing screws. This will remove the outer door panel to gain access to the detergent cup. Remove panel by pulling out bottom first then slightly pulling downward. You will then see the detergent cup. Unplug the two leads that are connected to the unit keeping in mind their orientation. Remove the five screws that hold the detergent cup in place. Remove the cup assembly and gasket. Clean gasket area and install new cup and gasket. Reinstall five screws (do not overtighten) and plug leads back in. To reinstall door panel position door panel at a slight angle and install top first sliding upward into place under control panel then push inward at bottom. Reinstall the four philips head screws on the inside and you are finished. The complete repair will take you less than 30 minutes.

I had already loosened the motor from inside the tub....so it was fairly easy to wrap the new belt around the motor/pulley system.... even though the old broken belt was 2 inches longer than the new belt(probably as a result of age and use, but the new belt is obviously the right size!) Once in place, I did have to take some care in screwing down the seal from inside being as it wanted to go more to one side than the other from the pressure of the tight belt, but all in all, it wasn't so bad. Unfortunately for me when I put the dishwasher on, I thought the dirty water problem would go away, but I soon learned that I also had a clog in the plumbing. I guess I'll never know if one thing caused the other or it was just 2 things going wrong at the same exact time. But everything is perfect now. Also, the part I ordered was at my doorstep in less than 36 hours!!!! That's fantastic!

Removed under-door front panel. Removed broken spring from right side. Hold door half open, insert spring with plastic bearing into hole in door hinge. Pull down to seat bearing in hinge. With needle nose pliers insert spring into hole at base of washer. ( You do not need to pull washer out of position)

First, I removed the 4 screws & Toe plate assembly below the door, exposing the undercarriage. The springs for both the right and left side are visible. Secondly, to help gain access to the springs (and for ease in reattaching the new sping to the appropriate tension bracket), I opened the dishwasher door and unscrewed the two small screws (located above the door) that secure the counter-top attach brackets to the underside of the counter. This would normally allow you the opportunity to simply pull the diswasher out a few inches from the counter for easy access. In my case, the lip of the counter did not allow me to pull the diswasher out very far, but I was able to angle it just enough to make access easier. Thirdly, I referred to the diagram that accompanied my replacement spring to make sure that I had the spring positioned properly. There appeared to be a slight difference between tension bracket spring angle for attaching the spring to the door vs side bracket. Fourth, I attached the vinly piece provided to the top spring connection and simply pulled down on the spring to create enough tension to attach the spring to the lower side bracket. Finally, test the door to make sure you have the proper resistance. Push the diswasher back into it's original position, realigning the top bracket holes and reattach the screws that secure the counter top attach brackets. Put away your tools, pack your patience and you are done. It's easy!

Getting the new belt installed is a bit tricky; it seems too small to span the pump and drive pulleys.

Nevertheless, start with the belt positioned in the drive pulley and stretch it so one side fits into the slot of the pump pulley. Using both hands, crank the pulley over until the belt "rolls" into place. It may take several tries as the workspace tends to be rather tight. Good luck.

Removed bottom front panel with nutdriver,rolled old belt off rolled new belt on and applied belt grease that came with new belt.New belt came with instructions that were exactly right for belt installation. Thank You Danny Hammons

Removed the lower Front panel, removed the (2) hoses from the Pump Assembly, Removed the Plastic Sprayer Recirculating Tube, than removed the (6) screws that hold the pump assembly in the washer basin, removed the assembly from the unit.
Disassembled the pump unit (6) screws, removed and replaced the (2) water impellers and bottom seal, reassembled everything and all is well. This machine is 22 years old and my local parts supplier said that parts were no longer available for it because of its age, well I have news for him PartSelect.com has any part I need!

I would recommend getting the entire unit. I could have replaced the electrical component only, but the other parts were deteriorating.

I removed the 4 screws in the lower side of the door and removed the front.

I lossened the 6 screws holding the detergent cup. This was done with a small hex wrench.

I replaced the dispenser and connected the wires back onto the electrical sensor.

I put the front back on the door and tested the repair. Worked fine

I will be replacing the door gasket next. I found evidence of leakage when I removed the front of the door to replace the detergent cup.

The repair was fairly simple. The hardest part was figuring out if this was the part I needed or not. After studying the inerds of the dishwasher door and the detergent cup mechanism, it seemed like this part would do the trick.

Here's how the mechanism works . . . the plastic stopper at the end of the bi-metallic strip latches the detergent cup in place. If these strips are bent away from the spring mechanism / plastic cam enough, the stopper will not latch on the cam (as was the case with mine). So, I needed to replace the bi-metallic strip. This part comes along with a new cam and spring.

The actual replacement of the parts is simple. The parts come with pretty good installation instructions.

Good luck . . .

Remove bottom cover.
Put the belt on the large pulley and stretch it about 5 times to make it larger. Remove the belt from the large pulley and put it on the small pulley at the motor. Stretch it to left side of the large pulley and make sure the belt is on partial of the pulley's groove then rotate the large pulley forward. The pulley will pull the belt into the groove by itself.

Put spring in plastic bushing, snapped into door arm and hooked opposite end of spring in first hole. Repeated process on opposite side of door. Did the above without moving the dishwasher from installed position.

On my maytag portable dishwasher I had to remove three side screws on right lower panel,and two lower screws to free up panel. I had to pry the panel away from the body to get axes to the springs. Replaced springs as instructed reinstalled all hardware, finished.

After nearly 20 years of use (and no service) my Maytag dishwasher stopped getting dishes clean. I called Maytag and they made me an appointment with a nearby service center. The Maytag person also suggested I do a run with an open container in the dishwasher filled with a couple of cups of white vinegar – since that dissolves the white scale buildup from hard water. That helped a lot. Yay Maytag!

I had 5 days to wait for service, so I started Googling. I found very negative reviews of my local service center, but I also learned that I could buy a replacement detergent dispenser online and I found excellent simple instructions for installing it. It arrived in two days and I installed it. The hardest part was removing the front panel of the dishwasher to get access and supporting it while taking out the last couple of screws – then holding it in place afterwards while putting the screws back in. I recommend having a second pair of hands!

I also realized that the two rotating spray arms (at the bottom and at the top) weren’t rotating! They’re easy to remove (just unscrew the center component), and I found that many of the holes were clogged – including all the ones pointing sideways that make them spin. I had to force water inwards through the holes to dislodge the debris, then I filled the arms with water through the center hole and sloshed it around to clear things out. That worked. I put it back together – and the dishwasher is now as good as new!

For good measure I took the cover off the strainer in the bottom to clean it, but surprisingly the strainer was almost completely clean.

I cancelled the service appointment, of course. I’m sure I saved a lot of $$$.

I had read that recently mandated reformulation of dishwasher detergent with lower phosphate content makes it less effective – but I’m not seeing that: a little simple maintenance and my dishes are 100% squeaky clean again!

Belt seemed too small at first to fit, but turning the power module pulley while holding the belt enabled it to slip in properly. Didn't help that there's not much space to work.