I have a Whirlpool dishwasher model number GU1500XTLQ1. It seems like the water isn't getting hot enough - dishes don't dry completely, leaves a soap residue mainly on plastic dishes, and overall doesn't clean well at all. Tried different detergents, for the quality of cleaning and the residue, but this obviously would not change the fact that the dishes will not dry. Around the time this started, I pulled a melted chopstick off the heating element that had fallen down below. I'm not sure if this caused the heating element to go bad or not. I called sears and it was sugested that it might also be the thermal fuse. The person I spoke to was a parts person and admitted that they really didn't have the technical skills. So that really didn't help much. I read on the internet that I could test the heating element with an ohm meter, and as long as the meter wasn't at infinity or zero, the heating element is probably ok. I don't know if this is true, and I definitey don't know how to test the thermal fuse. Any recommendations?

Thanks

It doesn't look like you think that it is the thermal fuse. I will check both things that you suggested and let you know what it was, by the way i will definately order parts from you as you are cheaper than what i have seen, not to mention more helpful! Thanks for you help.

Yes it sounds like you found it.
I would also check the high limit also since you are in there.
Also short the leads together just to be sure the meter will read close to a 0.

Perhaps the following will help with your meter use.

A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
1. Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
2. Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
3. When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale's dynamic range.

There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it's use.

Never heard of that.

In any case if using a meter you do not have to remove the heater from the unit.

I have the same problem with my KichenAid dishwasher. Do you have the Tech Sheet for my model?

Here is the tech sheet
http://www.servicematters.com/docs/wiring/Tech%20Sheet%20-%208537797.pdf

Yes, it could be the heater or it's hi-limit thermostat.
The heater should measure approximately 20 ohms (see the tech sheet)
The hi-limit should read 0 ohms.
Note: Always disconnect one side of any device that you are measuring for resistance (ohms). This prevents you from reading an alternate/parallel circuit path.

If both are OK then you may have a broken wire or a bad control board.
Could also be a bad thermistor, if your unit has one.