Dishwasher Chopper Assembly

Disassembled inside bottom section of dishwasher found broken chopper part,removed and replaced with new part,only hard part was holding spring compressed when putting in new part,needed needlenose and thin screwdriver.Thank You for your great website and help

First let me tell you I am not a "handyman". I am a 50 year old housewife who was determined not to shell out $$$ if I could help it. I researched on the internet what could be the problem...it was more than likely the chopper assembly. I found a youtube video that showed how to get to the chopper assembly. So I removed the racks by dislodging the end clips. Next I took the bottom tub sprayer off by holding the middle with my fingers and turning the blade counter clockwise. Next, I unscrewed the line that ran in the back and up to the top sprayer (I only removed the one screw so I could slide it to the right slightly so I could remove it from the connector at the bottom and it revealed four screws that needed to come out of the mesh cover. After removing that there is one more screw that comes out of the shroud that covers the chopper assembly. I cleaned the area removed the chopper assembly (totally gunked up) and replaced it with the new one I purchased here...(lightening fast shipping btw!!...Yea! for PartsSelect.com....you guys rock!) I checked for gunk in the rubber valve assembly, super easy to remove/replace. Vacuumed standing water with my shop vac to get any errant noodles and food bits and reassembled all of the housing and lines in reverse order. Before I ran my dishwasher I put some clean water in the bottom...just poured about 32 oz in. Whether you need to or not....I don't know but figured it wouldn't hurt. IT WORKED LIKE A CHAMP! Super clean dishes again!! I felt so empowered and the whole thing cost me less than 20 bucks! Listen ladies....and men....this is super easy....If I can do it....any one can!

removed both upper and lower racks. removed lower spray arm(left hand thread) removed "water delivry tube and upper spray arm. removed torx screws on pump cover. removed inner chopper cover. Chopper assy had come apart and was full of food crud. cleaned out and installed new chopper assy. kind of tricky don't force it. reassembled. tested OK.could tell sound of more forceful water pressure

Primarily, I read the instructions on line and watched the great videos explaining the repair. While the DW was out, I decided to change out the Drain Pump and the Chopper Assembly, even though only the Circulation Pump and Motor was my problem. These three items are the primary mechanical wear components and it made sense to me to replace these items. Perhaps I'll get another 10 years out of the DW. Two notes about the repairs. If you replace the chopper it isn't clear in the video where exactly it fits into the housing as the video mechanic did a great job of blocking the view of this part of the procedure. It took me awhile to figure out the chopper screen didn't go in the narrow trough, but just outside of that trough. Also, to lubricate the gaskets when putting the motor and the drain pump back in, I use a light coating of petroleum jelly. It is a good lubricant to facilitate the insertion of the both pumps. The pumps slid in easily and there were no leaks when I test ran the DW outside of the cabinetry. If you have a modicum of mechanical ability this job is a very simple, straight forward process. Good Luck!

I followed the YouTube video exactly and it went very well

If your chopper assembly has a catastrophic failure like mine did, chances are it took out the teeth on the circulation motor as well. This will lead to the teeth on the chopper being destroyed by the impeller as soon as you turn the dishwasher back on. First, follow the instructional video to remove the motor (found on this site on the circulation motor page) and chopper assembly (also found on this site on the chopper assembly page). The impeller is screwed onto the input shaft of the motor, and you must keep it from turning so that you can unscrew the impeller assembly. I removed the back cover of the motor (there are four screws holding it on) and held a flat pry bar on the rotating assembly inside the motor to keep it from turning, then unscrewed the impeller from the shaft. Mine came off very easy, but be careful not to let your pry bar slip or damage the motors internals. After that, install the washer and grommet from the impeller seal kit on to the impeller, and screw it back on while keeping the motor from turning with your pry bar. Lastly, reinstall the motor and chopper assembly per the aforementioned instructional videos. The whole thing took around an hour to do, and it is much cheaper than replacing the entire circulation motor.

If your not getting clean dishes this is an easy check to make that will likely turn out to be your problem. If not, you need to get this far anyway and it's an easy check to make. Remove the top and bottom rack. The bottom and top sprayer are connected together as an assembly by the water transfer pipe the goes up the back side of the dishwasher interior. This needs to be removed. There are two clips that hold the assembly in place at the middle rear of the washer and the top of the washer. Grasp the water assembly with your hand at the location of the clips, top one first and give a twist that rotates the piece out of the clip. Once the assembly is free from both clips hold the assembly at the lower rear where it starts up the back of the washer and move the whole thing to your right to turn the base clockwise. The whole thing will release from the bottom of the washer and come out as one big piece. Set it aside and you will see four torx head screws that were hidden under it. Remove these screws and the round screen assembly that they are holding to the bottom of the washer. Set that part aside as well. Now your looking at the well area where water collects to get into the pump. There will be a little standing water there, it's normal and not a problem. To the left side of the well an inch or two under water you will see one Torx head screw. It's one bit size smaller than the other screws. Remove it and pull up on the cover that it is holding in place. Now you are looking at the chopper assembly, it's a four bladed knife that rotates across the face of a screen. If you can rotate the knife blades and not have the shaft behind the screen move, it bad! Grasp it by the top of the screen and lift it slightly and pull it toward you to remove it. The shaft that turns the blades has worn away where it connects to the blades. It doesn't turn anymore so the screen is plugging and no water is able to get to your dishes. Order a new one and put it back in the same order you took it apart. It helps to have a little screw driver to lift the knife blade away from the screen when your putting in your new part. Load up the washer and give it a test run. YOU DID IT!!!

Very simple just remove the rakes and then unscrew the covers and pop out the old chopper assembly and replace with the new and then just put all cover back and it works great.

removed the upper and lower baskets, removed the lower wash arm by rotating the center bearing assembly (its the flat piece in the very center of the lower wash arm) by the way it has a reverse thread...not righty tighty and lefty loosey... it is reverse the normal rotation.. i unlocked the upper arm assembly from it's clip on to mount as well as the clip on to mount on the back wall, looking at the very center pump cover strainer, you will see that the assembly that goes from the pump area to the very top of the machine needs to be rotated clock wise where it locks into the pump strainer assembly. now remove the four star type screws from the face of the strainer, now you can lift out the entire bottom of the machine you will see the half round cover in the bottom of the well, remove one smaller size star screw. simply remove the chopper assembly and install the new assembly as indicated in the instructions provided, be sure to use the trick with the open end wrench as per instruction sheet, makes it easy. now follow the bread crumbs you left on the yellow brick road to reassemble.

The cause of the problem was that the chopper was worn out. As a result, the chopper screen was clogged with unchopped food bits. This severely reduced the amount of water getting to the circulation pump/impeller. This was what caused the spray arms not to spray. As a result of replacing the chopper, the dishwasher now works like new.

As far as how I did the repair, I followed the excellent how-to video provided by PartSelect that you can access when you click on the Chopper Assembly from the Pump and Motor Parts diagram for this dishwasher.