Hi all,

Last week, I noticed the dishes were not cleaning as they should. We have moderately hard water, so I knew right off the bat what the problem was - rust build up in the inlet valve screen. It happens on all of our appliances. On the last dishwasher, I had to clean out the rust every couple months. On this one, I haven't had to do it really since we got it 5 years ago. Amazing.

So, I took out the inlet valve and disassembled it COMPLETELY. I took a toothbrush with Iron Out and even sandpaper to it. When it went back together, you wouldn't be able to tell if it was old or new. I'm confident that it is back together properly.

After that, I ran a cycle and noticed that dishes were much cleaner, but still not right. So I took out the lower wash arm and components, only to find the food chopper shaft had broken, so the screen was all clogged up. I figured, well great, at least I found the problem.

So I ordered a food chopper and put that in today. Ran a cycle and the top rack was indeed cleaner than it was previously. Then I ran a full load and the top rack is surely not cleaning properly.

Anyone have any other ideas?

I have two:

• The water inlet valve solenoid is bad, so I should replace the valve anyway.
  
• The float is defective.
  

I think the bottom line is that enough water is not entering the tank. When I start the dishwasher, I can hear water enter, but it seems like it is trickling out of the port. Is there any way to tell if it is filling with enough water?

I imagine that without enough water, the pump doesn't send enough water to the upper rack arm, and so it doesn't spin.

Does anyone think I should replace the water inlet valve, the sump check valve, or anything else? What is the water inlet assembly? I know the valve sends water there, but is there anything that can become clogged on that part? I assume I have to take the dishwater out to get to it?

Ideas would be great!