[Exquisite Dead Guy]

Hello all:

I have a Whirlpool Model DU8700XY-4 dishwasher (14 years old) that
came with the house when we moved in. It never did a fantastic job
cleaning and over the last few weeks it has gotten much worse. In my
reading of various posts on the subject I discovered that the water
level should be coming up to just under the heating element. Lo and
behold I was only getting a few cups worth of water. If I add about 8
cups of water manually to the tub the dishes come out better than
ever.

I removed the inlet valve and dis-assembled it. I rinsed it out
removing a very small amount (a few specs) of gunk and replaced the
old supply line with a flexible metal dishwasher line. I also tested
the valve with an ohm meter and I do get a reading, which is supposed
to indicate that the solenoid is OK.

I now get about twice as much water, but still not enough so I rigged
the door so that I could watch the tub fill and it the water just kind
of flows slowly out of the hole. In contrast, the sink faucet has
plenty of pressure. I've even made sure there was no other water in
use anywhere in the house that could be lowering the pressure.

My question is should the water be entering the tub with more pressure
and thus filling it up higher? If so, is the valve still the most
likely suspect at this point?

Thanks.

[PS Staff - Sheila]

I would check the shut off valve in the water line.

The water valve in the dishwasher is working. These valves either work or they don't.

Shut the water off to the dishwasher and remove the line.

Hold line in a bucket and turn water on and see what kind of pressure you have.