Kenmore Dishwasher Clean Light Flashing

Dishwasher Repair
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1

Kenmore Ultra Wash Dishwasher Clean Light is flashing. Manual says, “The dishwasher has malfunctioned. Call for service to check heater circuit.”
Sears wants to charge $129 for serviceman to come out to check dishwasher but cannot give price on parts or extra labor. Dishwasher no longer under warranty. Not had any other problems with dishwasher thus far.
Thanks for any help!

2

If the control senses no temperature increase in heated intervals then the control will stop the current cycle and the Clean LED will blink seven times in repetitive fashion. It disables the Start/Resume button until the problem fixed.

If the cause of the problem is just insufficient incoming water temperature (less than 120°F), you can try to reset the control by pressing the following keys, in order, in less than 6 seconds, while in standby: Heated Dry, Normal, Heated Dry, Normal. Then open the door to resume the normal operation.

If it would not help, post the results.

Gene.

3

Thank You So Much! I thought you were just pulling my leg but it worked. I’m running a cycle right now to see if it has any more problems. You may have just saved us a whole lot of money! Thank You!!!

4

Well, I spoke too soon. The dishwasher cycle cut off half way through and is blinking the clean light again. Anyone have any other suggestions?

5

[QUOTE=ecwilson4;332390]Well, I spoke too soon. The dishwasher cycle cut off half way through and is blinking the clean light again. Anyone have any other suggestions?[/QUOTE]

That means there are something wrong with the heating circuit.

There are three parts in this circuit: the high limit thermostat (#30 on the diagram), the heating element and the control board.

The high limit thermostat and the heating element have to be checked for continuity. If any of these parts is open, it has to be replaced. If there is nothing wrong with them, then the control board is the culprit.

  • The high limit thermostat [PART]AP3010530[/PART]

  • The heating element [PART]AP4325066[/PART]

  • The control board [PART]AP3775998[/PART]

Gene.

6

Gene,

I have a similar problem, with the flashing green light. I reset the diagnostic cycle 3 times, then re-started the dishwasher, and it shut off each time. Thus, I am sure it is the heater circuit, per the diagnostic sheet. When the dishwasher cut off the 1st time, I did also sense a burning smell. The motor seems to be fine, so which part of the heater circuit would cause that smell? Thermostat, Heating element or control board? Thanks for the assistance. Dennis

7

The reset is not immediate. When you press the “Heated Dry”, “Normal Wash” buttons, it puts the dishwasher into a 12 minute test mode. After the test mode is complete, all of the lights will go out like normal if nothing is wrong. DO NOT stop the test cycle. Something as common as a power outage can cause this issue. I tore my dishwasher apart before I found a link that told me about this process. It fixed my issue.

8

I debugged this over several weeks, checking pumps, switches, etc. Turned out our hot water heater temperature was too high!!

9

Thank you Gene! 11 years later, your advice is still golden. Resetting it worked like a charm.