Hello,

I had the 7 blinking light fault happen to this Kenmore Elite recently. I removed it and first tested the heating element which indicated good at 13 ohms. Then I pulled the door switches and checked them. One was intermittent and wouldn't keep constant continuity when it was depressed. So I replaced it and re-installed the dishwasher. It made sense that it was the door switch because the last run before the light tripped, the cycle was interrupted 3 times with the start light blinking like the door had been open when it was not.

It ran the test wash and seemed to be OK.

I put in a few dishes and started a standard wash. About 45 mins later it drained out and the 7 lights returned.

Now when I try to reset the board the 'normal wash' - 'heated dry' dance, the machine will not reset. All the lights on the keypad turn on and I then push cancel. This time, the cancel light stays on but the rest turn off. However, the 7 blinking green light stays keeps going.

Not sure where to go from here. The fact that it won't reset makes me think it might be the board. However, I never tested the thermistor or the hi-limit thermostat.

I'd appreciate any advice. Not sure if I want to put a $150 board in a 6 year old dishwasher. Especially since I've replaced the motor/pump ass'y once because of a shaft seal toasting the front bearing and shaft. And I now see evidence of that same thing happening again.

Let me know if I've omitted anything or if you have questions.

Thanks,

John

The 'dance' as I know it is when you press the buttons in the following order:
1. normal wash
2. heated dry
3. normal wash
4. heated dry

This should make all the keypad lights turn on. Then you can close the door and it will run a diagnostic cycle.

Sometimes that will fix it if it was something intermittent that started the blinking.

Does your light blink 7 times? If so, it's the heater circuit.