Whirlpool dishwasher will not fill

[aaron2010]

I thought I'd let you know what happened. The water inlet valve I installed seems to be working fine but this dishwasher has some other issues. For one, it never shuts off. I ran a couple test loads (still in my garage) and though the owner's manual said the cycle should take between 64 - 84 minutes, after 2 hours, this thing was still cleaning the dishes. It keeps filling, washing, draining, over and over.  I've run 4 test loads through it and each time, it keeps going and going and sometimes, it will drain the water out within seconds of filling it. If I had to guess, I'd have to say the board or 'brain' was messed up (sort of like me).
Oh well, I'll give it away on Craigslist and move on to something else. Thanks to everyone with their advice.
Aaron

[jumptrout51]

Before you ditch this dishwasher you may want to test it correctly.
It has thermistors and optical sensors that will cause the result you describe.
First of all the dw must have HOT water to operate correctly. Otherwise you get extended cycle times The optical sensor must be clean and in good working order or you get frequent dump and fill.
Just saying.

[aaron2010]

The water gets plenty hot from the heating element at the bottom. The insides are very clean but I guess the electric eye could be dirty, if I could find it.
I long for the old days before all this computerized crap was on appliances. How about a big red button that says: 'WASH'.
You press it and walk away.

[jumptrout51]

8178741.pdf
This manual will help you.
While the heater gets the water hot it adds a lot of time to the wash.