Hey Guys -

This afternoon, my wife came to get me saying that the dishwasher was making a weird noise. A humming vibration is the best I could describe it. It wouldn't occur when filling the washer, but would during the cycle and during draining.

I looked at diagrams and started disassembly hoping to find a foreign object. When in question as to how to remove one part, I consulted a youtube video of the same model rather than risk anything. No force was used as it was easy to take apart.

Once down to the shaft, I noticed that there was no shaft.... Turns out, it was inside another piece. As you can see in the attached pictures, the former spring which sat under the food chopper somehow got bent out of shape and seemingly rubbed against the shaft for who knows how long - wearing it down until it was as thin as a toothpick until it snapped.

The washer works fine. All parts are in good working order - except the 20 cent shaft (well, and what used to be the spring.) I really don't want to drop $160 on a new pump / motor (Part Number AP3604401) when it's just the shaft which is broken. The thing is, I never found any foreign objects in there so don't know what happened!

Note: I've never replaced a pump in a washer before - is it something I should be able to handle or does it require special training & tools?

Wanted to post and attach pics hoping someone may have an idea for a less expensive approach or suggestion. Below are 3 pictures which are as follows:
- One broken end of the shaft
- The impeller(?) which is where the shaft was hiding, the broken off shaft (same as in first pic), the food chopper, and former spring
- What pump shaft currently looks like (~0.50" of shaft remains)

Any suggestions are appreciated - Thanks!