I will try the white vinegar rinse, but the dishwasher cleans well, and there has never been any white deposit left on the glasses. We have a water softener that works real well. We use Electrasol, the same detergent for 12 years and nothing ever smelled before this year.

It smells like boiled celery.

Thanks for your help, but unless you can think of someplace we haven't cleaned out that we can still try, we're thinking a new Whirlpool ($350) is a better bet than a service call ($?).

We've had this 'new' water softener not quite as long as we've had the dishwasher, 4 or 5 years. And the water is not hard.

The phosporous in the Electrasol is lower than what your post recommended. Can that result in a build-up of tan gunk everywhere except on the clean dishes?

Yesterday my husband replaced the airgap section, and the bad smell completely disappeared. I won't go into how many other plumbing problems ensued (it was one of those days), but at least our dishwasher doesn't smell like garbage anymore! :D

Gene, thanks for trying to help. Having an experienced person offering ideas and support made a big difference, and I really appreciate it.