Maytag Dishwasher has died

[mfmguy]

I have a Maytag MDB6650AWQ Jet Clean II dishwasher. About 2 months ago the heater stopped working. Replaced the heating coil and associated parts with no improvement. About a week ago it quit working altogether.

Anyone have any ideas on where to start or how to troubleshoot. All I have verified thus far is that the machine has power.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

[whirlpooltech]

How did you check power to the dishwasher?

I ask because I have had customers say they have power to the dishwasher because they unplugged it under the sink and checked for power at the outlet. Then when I get there I find a bad connection under the dishwasher were the power cord was wired to the dishwasher.

Once I was sure the power to the dishwasher was ok I would disconnect the power and take a look at the door latch and switches.

I replace a lot of these door latches, part # 99002292

[mfmguy]

I hadn't thought about checking the power connection to the dishwasher. I'll do that first. Is there a way you can test the door switches before you replace them?

The manual says to test for continuity, I guess i'm not sure how to do that?

I have access to a meter just not sure how to check these things??

Thanks.

[whirlpooltech]

Yes, check the junction box at the bottom of the dishwasher were the power cord goes.

I found burnt wires, burnt wire nuts and even pinched wires in the cover.

With your meter set to ohms put the meter probes across the two switch terminals.

When you push the little plunger in on the switch it should short out and give you a reading on the meter if the switch is good.

Often times I can tell if one of the door switches is bad just by looking at it. The plunger maybe stuck in on the switch or the switch does not make the normal "clickie" sound as you push the plunger in and out with your finger.

[Repair-man]

As WT pointed out, there is a chance of wiring issues, but what we normally found after that was a bad control. My service truck was (and is) jammed full of new DW controls for just this reason. My own opinion is that steam and electronics should never be in the same enclosure, but hey...they want to sell more stuff

The control for this model is shown below.

Control for MDB6650AWQ -

[mfmguy]

Ok, no wiring issues that I can see in the junction box where the power cord connects to the DW.

I tested the continuity on the switches and they both apper to be functioning. I get a reading on teh meter of 0.2 when I depress the switch. I assume this means that this is not the issue?

Is there a way to test the control board before I replace it?

Mike

[Repair-man]

OK, so you want to "test" the control now...good. Find the black wire that feeds the control...it runs from the door switch. If you show 120 volts at the black wire to the board (use any white wire for the other lead), then the board is bad. If you  buy the board thru the links you find here, you can always return it if it does not solve the problem, so there is no risk for you.