KDFE454CSS2 KitchenAid Dishwasher - Instructions

I opened the package took out the replacement part and installed it with no tools. Easy, done in 10 minutes.

With a little pressure, I was able to push off the broken wheel pieces with my thumbs. I was able to snap on the new wheel pieces really easily.
This job took less than 15 minutes to replace all 4 wheel pieces.

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...

Removed old housing parts and replaced them with the new parts I ordered. Very easy

These wheel assembly that came on the lower rack of my dishwasher were junk! They started falling off within 6 months. I put them back on to the point that the pin in the center of the wheels would no long stay in place, thus the frustrating situation of the wheels falling off often.

Assembly was easy peasy!

Removed broken tin row. Replaced with new tine row. Tokk less than 1 minute.

Laid on my side amd reach under unit

The air just unscrews with one twist and the new arm twist right back on. No tools needs. Saved me $100 service call.

Unplug dishwasher. Remove lower front accessible panel. Disconnect wires to the drain pump. Rotate pump to unlock and remove. Apply plumbers grease to rubber seal and install new pump. Connect wires. Plug in dishwasher and run rinse cycle to check for no water leak. If all okay replace access panel. Done.

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.

pulled the dishwasher out (took the most time-1 hour) and 30 min. to install new door balance kit and springs. Replace both sides while the unit was out.

Following the video was quick and easy. Without the video it would have been slow and painful.

Took off the old wheels and placed them on the new rack - fast and easy if you watch the video.

Replaced the strainer. This keeps the two sprayers clean/clear so they do not clog up. Dishes are cleaner now. Note : if your sprayers are clogged it is a long process to clear out the sprayers. Dishes will not be clean until your sprayers are all cleared.

The top and bottom parts of the lower wash arm were separating. This caused water to spray out the ends of the wash arm and come out the front of the dishwasher. In addition this water was not spraying upward resulting in dishes not getting cleaned. Took me a while to figure this out but the repair was simple.