I have a rather newish Kenmore Elite 665.13922K010. It has been leaking from the diverter motor, W10056349, which has been replaced by W10155344. The problem is the seal that the diverter motor rests against, which basically a 3/4" rubber washer with a spring behind it. I just ordered a replacement diverter motor, but I can’t see that the seal is included; the exploded diagram didn’t have a complete breakout.
Q: Is the seal included?
Hi.
I am having the same problem. The description doesn’t specify what is included, but because that seal isn’t listed separately most likely it’s included.
Thank you. Post the results.
Simon.
[quote=Simon / APP Team;727133]Hi.
I am having the same problem. The description doesn’t specify what is included, but because that seal isn’t listed separately most likely it’s included.
Thank you. Post the results.
Simon.[/quote]
I just received the Diverter Motor, W10155344, and the seal is NOT included. This is just wrong because the seal is what caused the Diverter Motor to fail. It looks like I will rely on some automotive silicone the help create an effective seal against the thrust face portion.
Home appliances are really made like “chit” these days.
[QUOTE=rmsmith;728388]I just received the Diverter Motor, W10155344, and the seal is NOT included. This is just wrong because the seal is what caused the Diverter Motor to fail. It looks like I will rely on some automotive silicone the help create an effective seal against the thrust face portion.
Home appliances are really made like “chit” these days.[/QUOTE]
The seal is incorporated into the sump housing.
See AP4324823
We have run the dishwasher twice now, and all is perfectly dry; I have a flat piece of cardboard slid beneath the center of the dishwasher.
The fix: I sparingly smeared a light lubricant around the rotating shaft that fits through the center of the seal to prevent the silicone from sticking to it. Then I spread automotive silicone carefully around the neck that supports the rotating shaft of the diverter motor and rests against the face of the seal. I also spread silicone on the face of the seal to insure good adhesion between the two pieces. I let it dry overnight.
[QUOTE=rmsmith;728840]We have run the dishwasher twice now, and all is perfectly dry; I have a flat piece of cardboard slid beneath the center of the dishwasher.
The fix: I sparingly smeared a light lubricant around the rotating shaft that fits through the center of the seal to prevent the silicone from sticking to it. Then I spread automotive silicone carefully around the neck that supports the rotating shaft of the diverter motor and rests against the face of the seal. I also spread silicone on the face of the seal to insure good adhesion between the two pieces. I let it dry overnight.[/QUOTE]
Glad you were able to get your dishwasher fixed.
If you need anything else please let us know.
Thank you for choosing AppliancePartsPros.com.
I had the same problem with a leaking diverter motor (actually not even functioning) and leaking around the sump seal. To fix this problem, I bought a new diverter. The leads for the diverter motor were so corroded on one set of wire terminals that I had to take apart the diverter motor and solder the wires right to the diverter switch terminals…keeping polarity intact with the wires. I did not know where find a new terminal connector for the wires. The more important part was the seal. It CAN be removed from the bottom of the sump on the Kitchenaid dishwashers just by popping it out with a screwdriver. I then used some silicone plumbers grease and coated it very well and pressed it back into place. Reinstalled the motor and hooked it back up. Works like a champ now. The design is a poor one and it seems hot water will eventually melt out the grease seal. I always wondered why the dishes weren’t getting clean any longer and didn’t associate that with a failed diverter motor.
Thank you for shearing you experience with us.
Simon.
To fix the water leak on my Whirlpool Gold 3600xtvy2, I removed the diverter motor assembly and removed the seal from the bottom of the sump housing.
When slid in place onto the diverter motor shaft groove, the seal was a little wobbly. I noticed the tensioning spring on the inside of the seal had one distorted wrap.
I removed the spring and bought a comparably sized o-ring at my local hardware store that slipped nicely into the back side of the seal. The o-ring increased the seal’s tension on the diverter motor shaft groove and eliminated the wobbling.
I reinstalled the seal into the sump housing and remounted the diverter motor to the bottom of the sump housing. Test ran the dishwater and find no leaks.
I’ll keep an eye on it, but buying a thirty-cent o-ring sure beats paying for a new sump housing, which is what my local appliance parts store said would be necessary for me to get the new seal.
I’ve had the same problem with a Kitchenaid dishwasher (kude70FVSS2). After a little research it looks like the infamous washer was installed upside down. The groove should fit over motor housing to better seal. Post on fixya has pictures. I had to order new diverter motor and wiring harness as leak corroded circuit board and connector into nothing. I plan on snipping connector from replacement wiring harness and wiring into existing so i don’t have to tear entire dishwasher apart and replace all harness connections. Found parts on auction sites so not out to much money. Very angry with manufacturer. Seems like intentional obsolesce.
Same Chinese crap used in my Kitchenaid. The diverter on mine corroded the small printed circuit board with the micro switch. Whoever designed this should have been shot. To think that small micro switch from essentially a remote control TV would hold up in a damp area. Were dealing with idiots at the helm here.
Looks like the seal is stuck in the housing as well and will attempt to resurrect it along with a new diverter valve. I plan to use silicon grease on the seal and hope it will work again.
UPATE - The new diverter came in and I also had to solder directly the wires for the sensor side. I treated the switch/board to CorrosionX first before doing this. I have had good luck with that protecting switches and such in damp areas in the past. The leaking is still occuring but not as bad. I will try removing the seal one more time and replacing the inner metal tension band with an o-ring as indicated earlier. The seal appears to be a 10-18/4mm metric version.
Think the decode is 18mm external, 10mm shaft inner diameter and 4mm thick.
[QUOTE=garret2600;867589]I’ve had the same problem with a Kitchenaid dishwasher (kude70FVSS2). After a little research it looks like the infamous washer was installed upside down. The groove should fit over motor housing to better seal. Post on fixya has pictures. I had to order new diverter motor and wiring harness as leak corroded circuit board and connector into nothing. I plan on snipping connector from replacement wiring harness and wiring into existing so i don’t have to tear entire dishwasher apart and replace all harness connections. Found parts on auction sites so not out to much money. Very angry with manufacturer. Seems like intentional obsolesce.[/QUOTE]
I’m glad that I found your posts. I too am having a problem with leaking through the diverter motor on the Kitchenaid KUDE70FVSS0. I had already purchased a replacement diverter motor from AppliancePartsPros since its operations was suspect. It did not come with a replacement washer. Today I removed the washer and noted that it was groove side up, away from the diverter motor. I did remove it, clean it up, and flip it over. I’m still getting water through the diverter motor. I guess that either the washer needs to be replaced, or there is some other problem with how the diverter motor connects to the sump. Anyone have any advice? I may have reached my level of incompetence and will have to call in an appliance repairman. Some have mentioned using plumbing silicone to stop the leak. How did you do that? Thanks for any help.
Yeah I got it fixed. The trick it to remove the seal, I cleaned mine with CLR to remove the gunk inside of it. I flipped it over so the sealing spring/ring is pointing down. I used silicone grease on the shaft. Slide the seal over the shaft all the way down. Then install the diverter. As I stated earlier the connecter for the small switch was essentially gone. I just soldered to the small board directly the wires. The seal goes into the housing but not as deep as if you install it first. That is the trick. The seal being lower on the shaft seals tighter and no more leaks. I have checked on it half a dozen times to make sure it’s still holding up and not a drop. The diverter motor on mine clacks a bit and I may look to see if the internals of the diverter valve are OK. I can hear the water being shuttled between the upper and middle sections now (the job of the diverter) so I think it’s working OK.
The pump on mine slightly shifted over time and it’s slightly hanging down from the housing. I tried to get it back into the original location a couple of times but the design sucks. I used a small piece of foam rubber under the pump motor to push it back up into position and that reduced a lot of the clack noise. Sad that this dishwasher is only three years old but it’s only designed to last at best about four to five years based on the crappy parts being used.
Thanks jp_austin. My situation is exactly as previously illustrated in fixya. The washer does not have a sealing spring, so we may have slightly different parts.
I did not use the silicon grease, so I may pull it all out again and try that. Another poster had mentioned using auto silicon as a sealer with the washer. I’m not sure about trying that as it may gum up the diverter rotation.
You mentioned that your pump had shifted position. On the KUDE70FVSS0 there is a rubber retention tab that holds the motor in place to the sump housing. I only noticed the tab when it fell out during one of times that I tipped the dishwasher onto its face.
The wood floor in the kitchen around the area where the dishwasher is has been slowly warping in a manner consistent with water damage, and we have been tearing our hair out trying to figure out if it’s an issue with the floor, with the actual foundation of the house getting wet and leaching upwards into the subfloor, or something else. Of course in the end it was the most obvious thing it could be, since the warping was all around the dish washer, and of course, I am out of my warranty period.
On at least one occasion, it seems like the basin itself has been overflowing, as water was leaking from below the door from side to side. All other occasions, it’s been from the center of the unit, which I now know is the diverter motor. After four or five years of use while leaking, it is, of course horribly corroded, and the contacts on the circuit board are covered in blue corrosion which I assume means the motor itself is not working.
(Side question – what would be the symptom of the motor itself not working? Would that itself cause a leak? Could it have caused the basin overflowing?)
I took the diverter motor off and like many others in this thread, the o-ring was installed upside down. I cleaned + reversed it, but it still leaks. Should I be able to spin the shaft with my hand? I was not able to, and wasn’t sure if this is because it’s so corroded (perhaps from having not moved in a while?) or if it’s just not something you can move manually while holding the part.
Has anyone tried to contact KitchenAid with any success about this? Seems like if this has happened to many people, they should at the very least be offering to replace the parts for free, if not send out a repairman at no cost to install the replacement parts. I intend to call them tomorrow.
I’ve come really close to just buying a new dishwasher, but this one was pretty expensive when I bought it, so it seems like a waste to not try to replace whichever parts are malfunctioning – but the fact that this has clearly been an issue since I bought it makes me so angry!
I’ve attached some images of the parts mentioned, hope they help someone out. It would be great if someone who fixed the problem (I am intrigued by the auto silicone solution) would show a photo of what they did to remedy the issue.
Gallery http://imgur.com/gallery/sVikX/new
Thumbnails
I spoke with the customer service department at Kitchenaid and they were not at all helpful. They claim the unit is out of warranty and even if it was in warranty, I voided it by taking it apart.
They did offer a discount (something like $100-$150) off the purchase of a new dishwasher but there’s no way I’m buying another Kitchenaid after this experience.
Hopefully the replacement diverter motor I ordered will solve the issue but I am not hopeful based on others responses in the thread.
Thanks for the good explanation. I feel your pain. My situation is precisely the same with an expensive piece of junk machinery known as KUDE70CVSS2.
I do have a few questions:
Are you now leak-free?
Did you apply any sort of sealant to the top of the washer where it meets the bottom of the sump? It would seem that this might be the most leak-prone location.
Did your attachment of the terminals from the wiring harness that you purchased work OK? Approximately what was the cost of the wiring harness?
Any other hard-learned advice for another poor Kitchenaid customer (sucker)?
Thanks.
Replacing the diverter motor (and re-installing the o-ring cleaned + facing the correct way) has solved my issue, it is no longer leaking after 5 days of service. The connection points on the motor were still fairly corroded (as you can see in the photos) but I guess not badly enough for it to stop working entirely. I didn’t apply any additional sealant / silicone.
Thanks for the good information and photos. The photos look very familiar – so much so that I think that you must have visited my house, tipped the DW on its side, and then taken the photos. 
Some questions:
If I understood correctly, after you reversed the washer, you were still getting a leak. But then when you installed a new motor, with the reversed washer, you got no leak. That seems odd because I think that all of the leakage originates at the washer seal. The motor assembly has no water in it, so water is simply flowing over it. So, it’s curious that, in your case, installing the new motor apparently stopped the leak?
Re your call to Kitchenaid – the response was typical. Of course, Kitchenaid is simply a label of Whirlpool, the huge company that produces junk and has no shame. Consumers without lawyers have no chance of getting Whirlpool to do the right thing – even concerning its “premier” brand, Kitchenaid.
Yes, I agree I was surprised that it stopped leaking as well, as there were no cracks in the diverter motor that I could see. Maybe it would have worked with the old motor, but I somehow seated the seal better? Not sure, but I’m definitely not taking it apart to troubleshoot!
Edit: another theory I have is that the motor itself stopped working and the leak was caused somehow by that. But I don’t know how the motor not working could manifest as symptoms or explain the leak.
Regarding the call to kitchen aid, I know, I didn’t expect much, but I figured it was worth a shot.
