Air Inlet WP8268937

I followed the instructions on a PartSelect U-Tube video showing how to replace the air inlet. It took me two attempts on two different days because the instructions for removing the 5 screws holding the air inlet in place were over-simplified. Accessing the screws was much more difficult than was demonstrated in the video.

On day 1 I followed the instructions for removing the door panel to gain access, but, after many failed attempts to get the nut driver properly seated on the screw heads holding the air inlet to the door, I replaced the panel so the dishwasher could be used until I found a solution to the problem.

After doing online research, I discovered a nut driver with a flexible shaft; it looked like it would allow me to properly seat the nut driver on the screw heads. Next day, I was able to replace the air inlet with no problem. It took me a little over an hour from start to finish. Aligning the holes of the new air inlet with the holes on the door so it could be screwed in place was awkward and time consuming but persistence worked.

Removed the door panel. 6 torx head screws. Then Removed the 5 5/16 hex head screws. Removed the lower plastic door seal

After replacing broken door cables I had a small leak at the door corner. I replaced door seal with that not fixing the leak and found that the door hinges were bent a little from the cables being broke for awile. Installed new hinges and leak is fixed now. A little difficult but once unit was pulled out about 6 inches the hinges were not bad to replace

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.

REMEMBER TO SHUT OFF POWER _ Had to remove the screws using TORX driver on the inside door edge-- then came the hard part -- the foam insulation is glued to the inner door and the outer cover- I was able to finally separate the cover leaving the foam on the inner door. Then had to break off the foam insulation on the lower third of the door up from the bottom. I then had access to the screws holding the air inlet to the door. The screws are located so you can't get a straight shot at them and it is very difficult to get at them. These screws are hex head metric and very small. When they are removed the old air inlet will come right off. Take the new one and duct tape it in place inside the door and replace the screws. I recommend doing the outer ones first and since they are the easiest to get started, then you can fight the others a little easier. After the screws are replaced and tightened replace the lower half of the insulating foam by duct taping it to the foam that remained on the inner door. Then replace the outer cover and secure with the TORX screws. This was a time consuming and tough repair. I don't recommend it to a novice.

I removed the screws around iner door panel. this allowed me acess to the hex head screws holding the plastic
air inlet and replaced it. the small tabs on the ends of the old inlet had bent
up allowing the water to flow by

Removed back of door to access the screws holding on the air inlet. The top of the door with the controls does not need to be removed, I found out--only the bottom part. Accessing the 5 screws was difficult as there was no space to get the socket onto the screws at a 90 degree angle. Also, there are two plastic shields that fall off when you remove the inlet that need to be replaced, with difficulty because of the accessibility to the area.

PartSelect site is excellent and finding the correct part was relatively simple, although I was not absolutely sure I ordered the right part until it arrived--only one day after ordering, although I paid for the least S&H option.