[fredhag]

Starting a few days ago, my washer would occasionally stop running after filling. Canceling and restarting would usually work (canceling does empty the water). Starting last night, that did not even work. Now, either it stops after filling like it did a few days ago or the LEDs seem to shut off after the fill cycle. After about 10 tries, I guess it must have run at least a couple seconds because I came back to it and found that some water had sprayed up into the upper regions. So far, I have tried:

(a) using different washing options including deselecting heat (in case there is a heater problem and the water isn't getting up to temperature),
(b) turning off the circuit breaker for a minute (hoping something would reset)

I am guessing the problem would be with the motor or maybe timer. Since the selectors seem to be pretty operational, Which is more common? I am guessing there is nothing wrong with the control board and that the thing shuts off because of some sensor that the motor isn't working. If that makes sense, should I start disassembling the motor and see if it runs out of the machine or should I follow some other troubleshooting path?

Thanks!

[PS Staff - Sheila]

Was the dishwasher making any abnormal sounds when it started to act up?

Are there any lights that blink or stay lit?

I would not take the motor out.

You should first check to see if power is getting to the motor.

Here is a link to your dishwasher model MDB6600AWQ.

[fredhag]

Thanks for the reply!

No strange noises at all from the washer. Now that I recall, I think I did hear the click of the timer(?), so that's probably not the problem.

No blinking lights at all and either the lights that I set for the cycle stay lit without the wash cycle startin or all the lights go out.

I printed out the circuit diagram and will check out what is getting to the motor.

[fredhag]

Originally Posted by PS Staff - Sheila

Was the dishwasher making any abnormal sounds when it started to act up?

Are there any lights that blink or stay lit?

I would not take the motor out.

You should first check to see if power is getting to the motor.

Here is a link to your dishwasher model MDB6600AWQ.

At this point, every time I start the dishwasher, it loads the water, closes the water valve, spends about 10-15 seconds making clicks (series of long pause, short pause, repeated) and then everything stops, that is, all lights go out and there is no more movement or sound. If I press the Start/Cancel button, it tries to start a new cycle (not needing to refill with water of course), so something is killing the cycle soon after the water fill stage. I checked the electrical leads to the motor and here is what I found:

both the red wire (marked start on the diagram) and yellow wire (can't read the marking on the diagram) give readings that change during the clicking. The yellow wire stays at ~3VAC until it hits a short pause of the clicks, and during each of the short pauses, it goes up to 120VAC and then back down when it's over. The red wire gives ~0.2VAC until the short pauses and then goes up to 120VAC, and again, it goes back down to 0.2VAC during the long pauses. However, for the red wire, it only goes up to ~1VAC during the last two short pauses.

Does this help figure out anything about the problem?

[PS Staff - Sheila]

It sounds like there is something stopping the motor from turning.

You will have to take the wash impeller out and see if something is jamming the impeller.

[fredhag]

Thanks. I've taken the motor out, and it turns freely, so it sounds like a bad motor.