66512779K311 Kenmore Dishwasher - Instructions

First, I replaced the bottom door seal. You will need magnetic nut drivers because of the location of the 3/16 screws that hold the seal in place. you also need a 1/4 in nut driver to remove plastic cover that covers up the 5 3/16 screws. Last you need a small star driver to remove the door screws. Note 4 of the door screws, the 4 on top of the door are much longer than the side screws. With all this said, this seal was not my problem. I then replaced the large black rubber seal around the tub. Be sure if you do this you fold the seal in half and start in the middle of the top of the opening so you have the exact amount of seal left over on both sides. Also when you remove the old seal, clean the area it was removed from with a damp cloth. Turns out, That was not my problem either. So now I will move to the next step to see where the water is coming from but maybe this information will help someone with a simple door leak.

Following a utube video made it easy. Removed the outer cover of the door to expose latch. Two screws remove the latch, pay attention to how it was positioned and put the new one on and then replace the panel. But first turn off the electricity to the unit at the fuse box.

simply line up the new pin with the rectangular slot in the kick panel and metal panel behind, slide the pin in and turn it with a flat blade screw driver.
NOTE: the original pin was black. A black replacement part cost $29 plus shipping! A knock-off pin was only $6 plus shipping. I got the cheap one and colored it with a black Sharpee marker before installation.

Turned off power to the dishwasher. Removed the front panel via the screws on the inner wall of the door. Lifted and pulled out the front panel. Disconnected cable connections to fully remove the front panel. Pressed down on the latches to the left and right side of the door latch. Pulled out the door latch. Put in new door latch until it clicked into place. Reattached cable connections. Put the front panel back on with the screws. Turned back on power to the dishwasher.

My wife hired a local repairman when the right side spring cable broke (I was out of town). He took two hours to fix it (and two appointments). The door would then pop open when running. He came back and replaced the latch. Problems persisted. I then ordered new hinges and replaced both in half hour or so. Would recommend doing all of these repairs yourself. None of these repairs are that hard and definitely not worth paying hundreds to do it. Trickiest part is pulling the dishwasher out from the counter without impacting the electrical or water connections. Disconnecting the power is important on all repairs. When you take the screws out of the door to get to the hinges, make sure you have a helper just to hold the door up while removing the last few screws. The left side hinge was really bent (when the right side spring cable broke) - caused the door to be out of square and thus would not effectively close. This was obvious after a 5 minute search on this this and other repair sites. Process that I used: 1. remove screws from both sides holding dishwasher into counter (may have screws into countertop as well). 2. turn off power, 3. pull out dishwasher far enough to see hinges and springs (careful of connections), 4. remove front door screws, 5. take off front panel, 6. remove spring cables (pull cable taut and remove "hook" from hinge)., 7. unscrew two screws holding hinge to door, 8. bend metal fingers around hinge pin to be able to remove hinge., 9. attach hinge in opposite path. 10. repeat on other side (if necessary), 11. reconnect things in opposite order...test door prior to reattaching door panel. Make sure you level the unit with the adjustable feet. Make sure screws in sides of cabinet aren't too tight as it can take the unit out of square pretty easily...

leveled dishwasher, it was leaning forward, raised front 1/2'", to get level.
no More leaks, WOULD LIKE TO RETURN DOOR SEAL. DID NOT USE SEAL.

THANKS,
PETE GODSHALK

Initial inspection of the issue and research suggested the door latch was malfunctioning / broken. I bought the part and expressed it home. The installation involved removing the door screws on the inside of the door, separating the front and back panels, unplugging the door latch, removing it from its niche and popping in the new one. Reverse the take apart and it was done. Very simple swap. Hardest part was juggling the two halves of the door and preventing the door for trying to close in the process as the bulk of the weight is in the outside half of the door.

The new part did not fix the issue. The door strike was the next part that could be broken / malfunctioning. I ordered that part as well and replaced it. In the process of replacing it I found that the original door strike had been installed upside down. I am guessing it was installed at just the right pitch, or maybe even bent at the manufacturing facility, so that it latched. No idea how it managed two years like that. I installed the new one correctly and the door latches perfectly. Both parts I removed from the unit I will retain if my new parts should fail in the future.

Ordered the door gasket and replaced it. Worked perfect. The trick was to stretch the gasket a little as it went around the top curvatures. It would stick out some and not sit as flat as on the top and sides. This helped it to flatten down better.

Replaced door latch

Went to PartsSelect. Put in Dishwasher model number. Chose the screws for that model number. Ordered the screws. Can't get any easier than that!