Our Dishwasher recently started acting up. Upon investigation it appears not to be getting water up to the top rack. Anything on the top rack is left dirty, the bottom rack cleans perfectly. Obviously the water is not reaching up to that top level or rack. The jets look to be clear and unobstructed by debris, but I may be wrong. I have tried cleaning it by cycling a gallon of vinegar with no results. Any Suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated since the thing is relativly new. Thanks
Hi,
You need to clean the food chopper assembly. It is a screen with a blade on it. The screen gets plugged up and cuts the flow of water as it’s being pumped around inside the dishwasher.
You can get to this screen from the inside of the dishwasher by removing the bottom spray arm and then the covers.
Here is a photo of what your looking for.
http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=236
http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=233
If your chopper is clogged, you need to replace this plus the check valve next to it in the housing. Inspect the chopper, if the white plastic end is badly worn, you also have to replace the main pump impeller, this requires pulling out the dishwasher
Just a note to thank you guys for helping me fix my problem with the diswasher. Rick and Appliancejunk Thanks again my Brothers!
ApplianceJunk and richappy,
Thank you for all your help.
I cleaned out the food chopper assembly and everythings fine.
It had some built-up detergent and a few toothpicks (I’ll have to talk to the kids about that) stuck in there.
After cleaning, alls better.
Thanks again.
Frank
[QUOTE=ChiTownFrank;41816]ApplianceJunk and richappy,
Thank you for all your help.
I cleaned out the food chopper assembly and everythings fine.
It had some built-up detergent and a few toothpicks (I’ll have to talk to the kids about that) stuck in there.
After cleaning, alls better.
Thanks again.
Frank[/QUOTE]
My Pleasure. Glad I was able to help.
God Bless
The configuration was not exactly the same as in the photo (different model), but I found the screw that, when removed, revealed the chopper screen and blade. It was full of pieces of plastic baggies, unpopped popcorn seeds, and other seeds. I removed it, cleaned out all of the seeds and plastic pieces, re-assembled it, and now the dishwasher runs like new! Top rack cleans everywhere. Question is: Why did Whirlpool keep this screen a secret? Cleaning this puppy will probably be an annual thing in my house! Thanks ApplianceJunk!!
Glad to hear you got it repaired Joy_Road.
The screen should be self cleaning. If it keeps acting up I would replace the screen. The new screen will come with a new food chopper blade on it and they are cheap to replace if you can do-it-yourself. 
I took my dishwasher apart and found a piece of hard plastic jammed in the cover over the chopper. Then I pulled the chopper out to clean the screen. It wasn’t bad. Now I can’t put it back in! Is there a trick to getting this screen back in and getting the blade on the gear properly?
Having the same problem but looking at the diagram…doesn’t look at all like my dishwasher - any chance that I can get some pics and directions to check this out on my model?
As optiman quotes
I want to thank you for the post from Appliance Junks. It helped me to fix a problem bugging me for months now. I save hundreds of dollars. Your pictures of the food chopper made the difference. It saved me hundreds of dollars to call a repairman to fix it.
The job aid for this dishwasher shows that the chopper is turned by the motor and chops the food particles small enough for most of the food particles to be flushed down the drain when the drain pump turns on. This happens when the check valve opens and the suction sucks everything off the screen.
If the screen is clogged, either the check valve is bad ( rather rare), or the chopper is busted and no longer turns when the main sidewinder pump runs. Soap residue can also clog the screen.
Hope this explains everything.
I was stressing about this dishwasher needing work done.. Once I found this post, and cross-referenced with part catalog on kitchenaid site (specific for my model) I was able to disassemble, clean and put back together. I am VERY not “handyman type” and I managed and it resolved the issue! Thx for saving me probably at least $100 guys!
I had no idea this could be it, and yet, I found hair, string, toothpicks, few bones and other stuff stuck there! Took me a while, but got it all out and the dishwasher washed like new!
I do not have much faith in stuff on the internet quite often, but this worked out like a charm! Than you all, again!
I’m trying to get the bottom screen off, but there is a screw underneath the square plastic “tube” where the water flows up to the upper rack. Anyone know how to get that plastic tube off so I can get to the screw? The screen won’t budge unless the screw is removed.
Well, I had to completely remove the square tubing for the upper rack to get that one tube off the bottom. I went ahead and removed everything and cleaned it all out. Sure enough, the channels leading to the chopper blade were blocked with food. There are about 5 channels that all converge into one which causes a bottleneck effect. Why they designed it this way, I don’t know. The screen for the chopper was completely clean.
We’ll see how it goes!
Take the open end of a 1/2 wrench and insert between the screen and the impeller. This will hold the chopper shaft out far enough to slide the screen back into the slot. when you pull the wrench out, the shaft will slide back and engage with the motor coupling.
I realize this is an old thread, but it sounds relevant to my KUDS301XWH4 (which has had four repairs in its first 18 months, this will be #5).
How do you get the bottom spinner off to get to the grinder?
Oops, never mind, found that.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_To_Repair_Dishwashers/KitchenAid_Repair/Chopper_Replacement
Thank you for posting this solution, which I would not have thought of myself. I will probably be ordering a new chopper from you soon!
Update: the chopper was in good shape but totally covered in food. Apparently, the design doesn’t so much chop food as grind it into the mesh so it won’t be dislodged. Real nice. Guess I’ll order a new chopper just in case… since this seems to be a common repair.
One thing I found hard was getting the chopper back in. The advice of sticking a crescent wrench in worked, but what confused me was that there are two places the screen can go, an inner and outer ring. The inner ring is obvious and I have no idea why it’s there because the screen actually goes into the outer ring. In addition, you have to know that the “smaller” part of the circle in the mesh goes into the LOWER part of the ring. Once you get it exactly right, everything else is easy, but re-assembling just that one bit took me 15-20 awkward minutes, about the same as the rest of the job combined.
I had this same problem. It was suggested by appliancepartspros.com to replace the chopper assembly for $20. I was sure it needed the recirculating pump for $160. I went with their suggestion and sure enough that fixed it. Their video online walked my 14 year old through the process and he did the whole job by himself. Thank you!
Hi -
Just wondering if there are any electrical risks if I just start opening the bottom spinner apart - to get to the chopper.
Thanks for all the great advice!
june
It is always best to remove power from an appliance when working on it.
Changing to crystals had little effect. I will clean out the chopper filter tomorrow and check the inlet valve; see if that solves my problem. If that doesn’t work, I’ll call the APP chat people. Thanks to denman for his suggestions.