When opening the door of the dishwasher, it will quickly drop wide open if not held and manually eased down to the full open position. I checked and verified that both springs are attached to the left and right door arm hinges, and they appear to be functioning normally.

I did find a broken rubber "gasket or band" on the floor that has a flat oval shape and is 1 and 1/8" long and 9/16" wide. I also noticed rubber filings piled under the right arm hinge. My best guess is that this rubber gasket goes over the right arm hinge and works as a resistor to allow the dishwasher door to be opened to any angle and remain in that position without falling wide open. The problem I am having is finding a replacement "gasket", that is if my diagnosis is correct. Looking at the Whirlpool parts diagrams I was unable to find any individual part that resembles the broken part I have. Perhaps it is a component on another part, I looked at the parts picture of the right door hinge but could not see any gasket on it. Please help me identify the problem with the door falling open, where this rubber gasket goes and possibly getting a new one. Thanks!

I have a Whirlpool dishwasher which encountered a sudden door problem. Upon unlatching, the door would drop quickly down, much quicker than normal, but not stay down all the way without spring back up a bit. Formerly the door would descend slowly and have no problem staying horizontal. This began happening at the same time as my wife picked up a little black sleeve on the floor under the dishwasher. This sleeve is black, rubber, about 1in x 1/2 in, much like a small tite rubber band. When I pulled out the dishwasher, it was clear that this rubber sleeve fit precisely on the right door hinge and acted to provide friction to the action of the door. [Note the springs are fine] After wrapping the part with duct tape, I slipped it back on, and the door acted normally, that is, its descent to a horizontal position was again smooth and slow.

The problem is that this part appears to be completely unavailable. It does not show up on any parts list or exploded diagrams from internet parts providers nor Whirlpool itself. Whirlpool people had no clue.

I'm sure there are many who have had this problem as a rubber part like this would have to fail fairly frequently.

Any thoughts out there?