66515912001 Kenmore Dishwasher - Instructions

Was able to replace and repair without taking the dishwasher out. Thermostat is behind and to the left of the power junction box. Has 2 wires going to it. It is up against the bottom of tub. I used an angled mirror to see what I was doing. 1 small screw to detach and pull down thermostat. Be sure power is off before you start. Also reprogrammed defaults. Hit any button 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, fast and close door. Let it sit 15 min to run and re-set defaults. Now I have heat and dry dishes.

No brainer

Disconnect the water supply, the drain line, and the two screws that go up into the cabinet frame, then pull the dishwasher out from under the counter. Tip the unit onto it's face and the main pump/motor is facing up. Turn off the power then unplug the electrical connector from the motor. Remove the single bolt at the base of the motor then turn the whole motor ~1/4 turn counter-clockwise. A firm pull will remove the motor/pump at this point.
The new motor/pump has a new seal. See that the arrows on the pump volute and the motor frame are lined up before inserting into the housing. The new motor/pump slides into the housing easily and a 1/4 turn clockwise will pull it in tight. Re-install the locking bolt and revers the rest of the steps to get running again.

Very simple. We had to remove the screws holding the metal cover on the inside of the dishwasher to access the electrical panel. Then we disconnected the wires that were connected to the fuse kit, unclipped the kit from the panel, clipped the new one on, and replaced the wires. Then all we had to do was screw the metal cover back onto the inside of the door and it worked just fine.

The replacement of the gasket was simple and required only a flat-head screwdriver to push the rubber into the groove around the opening of the dishwasher. Took only about 15 minutes and the door is a tight fit now. I wish I had replaced the gasket 6 months ago when it first started coming loose when we opened the door to the dishwasher.

I removed the screws around iner door panel. this allowed me acess to the hex head screws holding the plastic
air inlet and replaced it. the small tabs on the ends of the old inlet had bent
up allowing the water to flow by

.The easiest way to complete the impeller and chopper motor replacement is to disconnect the power, water and drain line, remove the dishwasher from the cabinet, set the washer on its back.

From this point everything is visible, pump housing, motor, etc. and it's a matter of disassembly and reassembly. Make note or a drawing of where all the wires are connected so you reconnect them in the right spots.

Reinstall water lines and power and check for leaks before replacing shield or kick plate.

First removed bottom kick plate cover to reveal the Inlet valve. Saw that it was leaking around the plastic around the solenoid. Turned of the water shutoff valve and unplugged the power cord. Unplugged the two wires from the valve and loosened and removed the tubing going into the valve. Removed two screws that hold the valve assembly to the front frame with a nutdriver. Slide assembly to the right and remove from the two slots. Ordered new valve from Partselect and replaced.

If your chopper assembly has a catastrophic failure like mine did, chances are it took out the teeth on the circulation motor as well. This will lead to the teeth on the chopper being destroyed by the impeller as soon as you turn the dishwasher back on. First, follow the instructional video to remove the motor (found on this site on the circulation motor page) and chopper assembly (also found on this site on the chopper assembly page). The impeller is screwed onto the input shaft of the motor, and you must keep it from turning so that you can unscrew the impeller assembly. I removed the back cover of the motor (there are four screws holding it on) and held a flat pry bar on the rotating assembly inside the motor to keep it from turning, then unscrewed the impeller from the shaft. Mine came off very easy, but be careful not to let your pry bar slip or damage the motors internals. After that, install the washer and grommet from the impeller seal kit on to the impeller, and screw it back on while keeping the motor from turning with your pry bar. Lastly, reinstall the motor and chopper assembly per the aforementioned instructional videos. The whole thing took around an hour to do, and it is much cheaper than replacing the entire circulation motor.

I followed the YouTube video exactly and it went very well

Replaced the pump drain as one complete assembly. Couldn't do it from under the front panel as there is a small lug that you have to depress on the top of the assembly before you can twist the assembly counter-clockwise by hand. I tried but I couln't get the leverage. Had to take dishwasher out from under the unit and tip it on its side. The rest was very straightforward. If you can remove the dishwasher from under the unit easily I would suggest you don't even bother trying to change the pump drain while the dishwasher is in place. It's not worth the hassle.

You need to pull the unit out to get access to the spring connected to the rear leg frame. Use the everything in the kit. The rollers are upgraded and will guid the cable better.

First I shut off the breaker for the dishwasher. I had to remove the 6 screws that hold the top part of the dishwasher door to find the panel with the fuse. Then following the instructions that came with the new fuse I cut the wires from the old fuse to remove it. Next I installed the new fuse and attached the wires and then replaced the screws. Turned the breaker back on and everything worked great.

I removed the old gasket simply by pulling on it. I compared its length to the length of the new gasket, figuring there would be some trimming to do -- there wasn't. The replacement was exactly the same.
I placed a mark on the center of the new gasket, and marked the center of the mounting groove. I aligned the two marks, and pushed the new gasket into the groove, starting at the center, and worked my way out towards the two ends. After getting a majority of the new gasket to seat by hand, I GENTLY used the tip of a slotted screwdriver to ensure that the New Gasket was completely snapped into place.
The fit was perfect, and no more leaks. This repair was so simple, I'm embarressed for putting it off for so long. ;)

pull out the dishwasher
lay it on its side
use a 1/4" drive socket with extension and a universal joint to undo the the hidden bolt,
twist the motor 1/4 turn. this is the hard part you have to pull fairly hard and rock the motor around a little to get the o-ring to let the motor slide out.
lube up the new motor with jet dry or soap and insert back it, turn it back 1/4 turn, install the bolt and plug the motor control wires back in, then reinstall it back under the counter