The dishwasher will pump out most of the water but stops prematurely. I have put the drain line into the sink to make sure it was not a garbage disposal issue. I have poked around to see if anything could be clogged and nothing seems to be clogging anything. I did not remove go as far as the pump impeller nor did I remove the spray arm, if that matters.

I do not see this piston and nut anywhere on my machine. There is nothing in the rear on inside of the dishwasher like on some models that show this cover screen that runs the width of the unit. The pump and the solenoid all seem to work fine, it just stops draining before its time.

any ideas? Thank you!

I removed the Sump Cap #508 on the sears website and found nothing inside the Sump Inlet #505 except water. The second part from the left in the Impeller #430 part did not appear to have any obstructions either.

I can't seem to find the fine filter on the left side of the pump. The only fine filter I see is connected to the spray arm #507. I think it's worth noting that this part (#507) was misaligned. The tube on part #507 fits into the rubber tube on the top of item #505 Sump Inlet. Instead, it was pulled out of the Sump Inlet and sitting to the side. I put it back into the tube, but this didn't seem to fix my problem.

The solenoid seems to disengage too early. The pump sounds like it still trying to pump the remaining water out but before it can the solenoid has shut. The pump continues to run for maybe 20 seconds or so before stopping.

Thanks for the help so far.


EDIT: Actually, when I press the start/reset button again, after the rinse cycle I use for testing, the solenoid opens and the pump sounds like its trying to pump water out but it can't move the last few cups of water that remain on the bottom. I've even held the solenoid open when it closes to see if the pump will pump it out and it just won't. I'm lost at the moment :\

The only fine filter I see is connected to the spray arm #507.
I messed up here.
I was looking at 510 (Chamber Coil) and read the description for 507 (Fine Filter).
I do not know what the Chamber Coil is doing and cannot find any info on it.
Hopefully someone else with this info will jump in.

[COLOR="Blue"]is there something that tells a dishwasher how much water to keep inside at all times?[/COLOR]
Not as far as I know. Drain is just a timed event.
Since you have checked the unit for clogs/restrictions, it does sound like the water is somehow by passing the sump when pumping out.
This is basically what the piston & nut on many units does. If it does not seal properly some of the water is directed back into the tub instead of out the drain hose.
Perhaps the Chamber Coil is doing something like that.
It is probably worth pulling it and trying to figure out what the heck it's purpose is and how it works.
With luck someone else will let us know.

I'm having the exact same problem. I hope we can figure something out. I'm still figuring out how to take things apart.

I had this problem -- where my GE Quite Power 3 (model: GHDA480N10WW) would only partially drain ... sometimes more, sometimes less.

Mine has no piston and nut assembly. The check valves are just rubber flaps and it has two motors: one for washing/grinding, one for draining. I'm not sure the mechanical design could get any simpler. After checking all the parts over for proper operation, it was clear everything was working properly (putting it in service mode really helps -- mine came with a slip of paper tucked into one of the legs with the schematic, some basic troubleshooting steps, and details on service mode operation). I was baffled to the point of thinking I should blame some sort of timing fault in the control unit, but then while troubleshooting it, I saw THE CORN.

Ah, CORN, that ubiquitous side dish that not only passes through your digestive system intact, but also passes through the Power Quiet 3 grinding pump intact.

The corn, apparently, was getting hung up in the middle of the drain hose, slowing water flow so that the time allotted for the drain cycle was not long enough to push all the water out at the slower rate.

The hose that came with mine is just a very poor choice: the inside diameter is 1/2 inch in diameter and it is corrugated on the inside. Fortunately it is translucent so I could see stuff flow through (or not). I ran the thing a couple of times and watched stray corn kernels get hung up inside, the water flow rate plummet, and the drain cycle complete with water still in the dish washer. When I ran it with the unit completely clean (i.e., no CORN), it drained properly.

I replaced the drain hose with one with a larger inside diameter and that is smooth on the inside and the dish washer drains perfectly now.

As a side note: I think it might be washing better now as well. I suspect any larger food particle (e.g., BEANS) would get hung, at least temporarily. I hypothesize that often a little water was remaining from the wash cycle and getting blown back onto the dishes in the final rinse, thus leaving food particles inside my glasses to be consumed again by the less observant. I think it drained in the end as the rinse drain cycle, or late wash drain cycle, knocked loose the food particle hung up in the drain hose.