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We noticed our dishwasher started leaving standing water to about the height of the heating element. I disconnected the drain hose from the sink drain and ran it through a rinse cycle and the pump seems to be working - it just stops pumping before all the water has been removed.
I did some online research and learned that a failed piston and nut assembly is a common cause for this. Unfortunately, I'm told by a local dealer this may be the first GE design in 26 years to NOT use the piston and nut assembly.
Can anyone suggest what might make it stop pumping early, and if possible, how to troubleshoot this? I'm thinking there must be a sensor that tells the pump that all the water has been removed, and that possibly it needs adjusting. But this is just a guess (or wishfull thinking).
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Take off the lower spray arm ( lift up and turn counter clockwise) start the dishwasher and let it fill, when done filling push reset/cancel and see if it drains all the way.
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Rank: Member
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I did your test and it DOES drain all the way. What next?
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Now you need to take off the white nut that is above the fine filter, remove the fine filter. Then the hub that has the spray tube attached to it, turn it to the right a bit and pull off that tube that runs up the back wall. Pull off the plastic screen and there is your sump. There is an insert in the sump that that screen clipped to, squeeze that and pull up, and clean it. now stick your hand down in the sump, and pull out whatever it is that is clogging the drain hole.
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Rank: Member
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Abadfish66, I appreciate your help and amazingly clear directions.
When I removed the insert in the sump there was some debris in the performations in the side of the insert, and I cleaned that. There wasn't really anything down in the sump though. With the insert still out I ran a short rinse cycle and it pumped all the water out. But it did that before when I ran that first test without the wand. I haven't reassembled it yet incase you think I should be looking for something else, or do you think this has resolved it?
Also, we've only had the dishwasher a little over a year - just long enough for warranty to run out. Do you think cleaning the sump is going to be a recurring maintenance item? If so, I'm pretty disappointed because our older much cheaper dishwasher ran without a problem for 15 years.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 5/28/2008(UTC)
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Make sure everything is out of the sump, also stick your finger in the hole to the left in the sump, and see if you feel any food or anything in there. If there is you can find something to stick down the hole that the fine filter goes into and try to poke it out into the sump so you can grab it. By running it with all that taken apart if something was in there it may have passed through, so you might be good....By removing the lower spray arm you create a pressure difference, that's how I can tell if something is in the sump or elsewhere. If it drains with the spray arm off, it is in the sump...
As far as general maintenance, as long as your not putting food like lettuce or big chunks of stuff in the washer you really wont have a problem.
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Rank: Member
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I wasn't able to feel any debris but I inserted a long piece of wire into the hole the fine filter goes into, than ran a short rinse, and repeated. Finally I started getting a nice strong flow into the sink drain, and at the end of a rinse cycle there was no standing water even in the sump - in my earlier test although there wasn't standing water in the tub, there was some in the sump. So, I have reassembled and am now running a full wash cycle with dishes. This has been a great service which I will definitely use in the future.
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Joined: 5/28/2008(UTC)
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Great, let me know if you need anything else.
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What if taking the lower spray arm doesnt work and the water still doesnt drain? I have a GE profile GSD4620Z04BB and I've tried the sump thing and I've pulled out the piston and nut and it looks pretty chewed up but still looks like it seals if pushed up. Could I still have an issue with the piston and nut or could it be something else?
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Rank: Member
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Originally Posted by: abadfish66  Make sure everything is out of the sump, also stick your finger in the hole to the left in the sump, and see if you feel any food or anything in there. If there is you can find something to stick down the hole that the fine filter goes into and try to poke it out into the sump so you can grab it. By running it with all that taken apart if something was in there it may have passed through, so you might be good....By removing the lower spray arm you create a pressure difference, that's how I can tell if something is in the sump or elsewhere. If it drains with the spray arm off, it is in the sump...
As far as general maintenance, as long as your not putting food like lettuce or big chunks of stuff in the washer you really wont have a problem. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You just saved me a needless expense of a service call. I followed the above directions and low and behold I found the safety seal that you peel off the ketchup bottle sticking out of the hole inside the sump just as you described. I had gotten all the muck out of it and it still wasn't draining....so I ran it on rinse again a couple of times (without spray arm on) and I guess the force finally pushed it out far enough so I could grab it. I am soooo relieved. I hate spending money needlessly especially this time of the year!
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