This machine would not clean dishes and never filled with water, despite the fact that water was entering the machine. I noticed the solenoid plunger was severely corroded and stuck so that the pump door was always in the drain mode. The motor was working and the machine was draining perfectly well. I jiggled the solenoid plunger and got the machine into the wash mode but the solenoid would still get stuck in the drain mode. It appeared that the cause for the corroision of the solenoid plunger was leakage around the solenoid linkage where it entered the pump body. So I decide to replace the entire pump and motor assembly.

After the replacement the machine worked well for a couple of cycles, but now it will not drain. I again looked at the solenoid and saw that it was cycling but the pump door was not fiully engaging in the drain mode. When I helped the solenoid engage the pump door in the drain mode by pushing down on the linkage when the solenoid tried to go into the drain mode, the pump door switched to the drain mode and the machine drained very quickly and completely, then cycled off. At the start of the enxt cycle the machine filled and washed but again the solenoid did not appear to have enough "oomph" to get the pump door to go into the drain mode.

Any ideas?

The assembly did come with a new solenoid. After sleeping on this problem, I looked at the old cruddy solenoid and at the new solenoid. For want of a better term, there is a "wing" that is engaged when the solenoid is energized and the plunger is down. This "wing" was bent on the new solenoid, but not on the old solenoid. I was able to switch out this "wing" and the attached spring from the old to the new solenoid and everything works like a charm.

On close inspection, I could see a crease in the "wing" from the new solenoid. It looked like the solenoid had been dropped and the wing bent at some point before it was installed on the assembly. It would be very difficult to bend this "wing" after the solenoid is installed because it is protected by the motor on one side and the pump and solenoid body on the other sides.

In my field there is a saying to the effect that you should think of horses, not zebras, when you hear hoofbeats. In this case the hoofbeats were those of a zebra.

Thanks very much for the prompt reply.