Frigidaire FDB126RBQ2 - Tower Arm/Circulation Motor Failure

Hi All:

New to the forum here. Have a Frigidaire “Ultra Quiet” (NOT)
FDB126RBQ2 dishwasher and over the weekend I smelt a slight burning smell, which I am thinking it was the circulation motor burning out. After that smell the dishwasher has been useless since the tower arm doesn’t operate at all. The dishwasher fills up with water correctly, drains the water correctly but the circulation motor does not spin at all. I took it apart yesterday and ran the dishwasher with the door open and I verified the water was filling and draining properly but when it gets to where the circulation motor is supposed to kick off, nothing. That leads me to believe that is has to be that the circulation motor has burnt out, there really isn’t much else it could be. I don’t think it’s the timer/board because it kicks off the cycle to fill the water and to kick the drain pump off to drain right? I just wanted to bounce this off some of the experts before I purchase the motor to swap it out. I have found the part number below for the motor assembly for this unit:

70 # 154474001 A B C Motor assembly, circulation, w/o o’rings

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m a handy person but have never swapped out a motor in a dishwasher before. Does my troubleshooting looking accurate? Should replacing the motor fix it or should I be worried about something else?

Thanks again for the help in advance.

[quote=Heatboy05;117554]Hi All:

New to the forum here. Have a Frigidaire “Ultra Quiet” (NOT)
FDB126RBQ2 dishwasher and over the weekend I smelt a slight burning smell, which I am thinking it was the circulation motor burning out. After that smell the dishwasher has been useless since the tower arm doesn’t operate at all. The dishwasher fills up with water correctly, drains the water correctly but the circulation motor does not spin at all. I took it apart yesterday and ran the dishwasher with the door open and I verified the water was filling and draining properly but when it gets to where the circulation motor is supposed to kick off, nothing. That leads me to believe that is has to be that the circulation motor has burnt out, there really isn’t much else it could be. I don’t think it’s the timer/board because it kicks off the cycle to fill the water and to kick the drain pump off to drain right? I just wanted to bounce this off some of the experts before I purchase the motor to swap it out. I have found the part number below for the motor assembly for this unit:

70 # 154474001 A B C Motor assembly, circulation, w/o o’rings

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m a handy person but have never swapped out a motor in a dishwasher before. Does my troubleshooting looking accurate? Should replacing the motor fix it or should I be worried about something else?

Thanks again for the help in advance.
[/quote]

Probably is the motor as long as nothing is binding the impeller up and keeping it from being able to run. Making sure it is getting voltage to it when it should be running, might be a good idea just to rule out anything electrical. Below is a link for the picture and number.

AP5272390

Thanks for your reply! I checked the impeller and nothing is in its way and it spins normally. Now, if everything else is being powered like the drain pump, heating element, etc. could it still be an electrical issue?

Thanks again.

[quote=Heatboy05;117572]Thanks for your reply! I checked the impeller and nothing is in its way and it spins normally. Now, if everything else is being powered like the drain pump, heating element, etc. could it still be an electrical issue?

Thanks again.[/quote]

Possible, but probably not. If you have the motor out and it smells burnt, I’m sure you’ve found the culprit.

I have seen a few of these motors burn up because the thermostats are bad and so the wash cycles goes on and on . Especially when people turn it on before bed or just aren’t paying attention to the length of the cycle. I would check the thermostats too so you dont burn up a new pump.

How do you check the thermostat?