**Brand: KitchenAid
**Model Number: KDTE104DSS1
**Main Symptom: Leaking from bottom upon cycle start and while running
**What happens & when: Leaks from bottom, behind diverter valve area
Hi, hoping you all can help. This dishwasher has given me so much grief since new a few years ago.
It is now leaking from the bottom, just left of center, and slightly behind the divert valve area. I read a lot and watched videos on the diverter valve seal going bad, but my issue seems to be behind that valve on the dishwasher, so wondering if it’s a different issue.
This leaks happens within seconds of starting a new wash cycle, as the water starts to flow. If I cancel the wash cycle and it drains, it immediately stops leaking. So this is not a leak that doesn’t show until a final rinse, but rather as soon as it starts running.
Any tips are appreciated, and hoping it’s a simple fix. Here are a pic of the leak, and a video.
Thank you
Hi,
Unfortunately you may have to pull out the d/w to gain a better view of the leak. Water can leak out somewhere, run along a seem and drip off somewhere else…this is common on dishwashers!
Could be a crack in the sump body, bad diverter seal or something else.
LINK>
Sump and seal
jeff sr.
Thanks. I have an inspection camera, so may try that first, to see if I an get a better look, but if I have to pull it, it’s not a huge issue. I was thinking possibly the sump could be cracked. Unreal. All this stuff is just junk today.
It looks like the leak may be coming from the pump and motor assembly. It would be worth pulling the dishwasher out and tracing the water visually while it is running to really identify where the water leak is originating from. Whirlpool W11032770 Pump and Motor Assembly (AP6039091) - AppliancePartsPros.com
Thanks William. If that ends up being the issue, I’ll have to decide if it’s worth fixing, or just replacing. It’s about 5 years old (maybe older, time flies), but it’s been nothing but a headache. I tried two others before staying with this model though, as it is very quiet, and gets HOT to dry. So many just don’t get that hot anymore to thoroughly dry dishes.
Here’s an update. This is a video of the area just past the diverter valve, and what I assume is the pump motor. If you watch closely, you can see the water start to well up before it starts dripping. Does this help? I suppose it could be coming from above it, and dropping down, but seems like it’s coming right from that seam…the drips start about 25 seconds into the video, or about 20 seconds into the cycle starting…
Thank you all again.
That motor stater is very rusty…probably been weeping a bit before the full leak. Still kinda hard to tell where it is coming from but certainly looks like the motor/sump body area.
LINK>
Pump and Motor Assembly. This one gets everything new again…new wash motor, new sump, new sump seal, new diverter.
jeff sr.
It looks like it is coming from the pump and motor assembly and it is probably a damaged motor shaft seal.
Thanks guys. I’ll probably bite the bullet and buy the pump and motor assembly. I was considering just replacing the dishwasher, but the thought of starting over with likely a poorly made product, that will have it’s own issues, isn’t sounding great. At least this dishwasher washes well and dries well, something many don’t do anymore. And replacing this, there’s not much more left to it besides the control panel…
Best of luck, keep us posted.
jeff sr.
Well, it’s all fixed up. At first, I thought just a bad gasket around the diverter valve inside the unit was the issue, but upon taking the assembly out, I could see a badly cracked rubber boot around the motor, and a lot of play vs the new one. Glad I didn’t break the impeller motor too removing it, as I didn’t realize I needed to reuse that! Just ran it through a full cycle though, and not a drop. Here’s some of the pics as I did it, including a video of the loose motor, and the final assembly installed (before I put the weight back on). I can only do 2 links per post (with new status, so 2 posts coming…)
Broken gasket:
Old Assembly removed:
Next…
And the last 2 links/pics:
Loose/broken pump boot:
New assembly installed:
Thank you all for the tips and suggestions. I’m glad I just replaced the whole thing and didn’t try to fix this a piece at a time.
Good job!
Thankx for the update, that should help others.
jeff sr.
