KDTM804EBS2 KitchenAid Dishwasher - Instructions

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...

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.

In looking at the parts catalog the part I needed didn’t state left or right side piece. I understood that the same part was used on both sides. Knowing the other side may fail also I ordered (2) pieces. Once they arrived I took apart the surrounding element using a screw driver to pop the enclosure apart carefully. I noted where each clip went and re-assembled the enclosure.

pushed the new retainers in the holes and we are set to go

Replaced upper rack adjuster on both sides as these adjusters seem brittle due to heated drying over years. Followed YouTube video for repair. Very easy to fix.

Replaced the detergent dispenser on the door. Followed YouTube video with slight modification given moderate difference in model on video and my model. Relatively easy repair that takes a little bit of time.

unplug, disconnect water, remove all screws holding the machine in the cabinet. slide out the machine to access the 4 bolts hold the rail. Have a prop to hold basket in place as you remove old rail> Plastic clips front and back, hold the basket to the rail. Be careful not to break, not include with the replacement rail. If you are not handy with tools and no insight...hire it 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.

I closed the water at the tank and opened all the hot water faucets in the house thereby draining static water from the inlet hose at the valve. Then I unscrewed the inlet hose from the valve, unscrewed the valve body from the support bracket under the tub, unplugged the electrical plug from the valve body, and removed the outlet hose. I installed the new valve using the reverse sequence. Then I closed all the hot water faucets, turned on the hot water at the tank, and purged air from each of the faucets. I then started the dishwasher and ran it through a complete cycle, periodically checking it for leaks, and found none. Total time for uninstall and reinstall - about 30 minutes. Not bad for an 80 year old.

Due to the way I installed the appliance originally it was not necessary to disconnect supply water nor the drain connections. When the cord broke the spring came out of the point of connection to the appliance. It some "finagelling" to reattach the spring.After some "select vocabulary" it hooked into the correct spot and the rest was history.

1. Remove front of door with torx screws around inside top and sides of door.
2. Unclip and remove plug with two wires for dish soap solenoid. You may have to lie on your back or use a mirror to see the location of the small clip retaining the plug.
3. Unclip and remove dispenser module. Here's the rub: the clips used to retain the unit in the door panel of my dishwasher are tabs cut in the stainless steel cut-out and rolled back at a 90 degree angle to retain their springiness. They seat against the back edge of three plastic ridges along the top, bottom and one along each side of the dispenser module. The key is to remove the module without permanently bending these tabs, thereby losing their springiness and destroying their ability to clip tight against the new module to hold it in. I had some success slipping 3 pieces of flashing under the stainless tabs along the top and sides of the old module, allowing the plastic retaining ridges to ride under the tabs all together and move forward to disengage the clips without permanently bending the tabs.
4. Reassembly is just the reverse.

Upper tray removed and each rack adjuster removed and replaced one after the other. Only tool was screwdriver. Only knowledge was from the online videos. Only took 30 minutes or so. The repair could have been done more quickly if I wasn't fearful that the smaller plastic parts would break when pulled or pried away from the rack adjuster. The only mistake was not making sure the adjuster tabs were fully engaged in back and clicked in the front attachment.

Had to remove 2 screws fastening dishwasher to counter. Also removed bottom faceplate to expose the legs and to be able to lower them. Other sites recommended disconnecting the drain and water line but I did not have to do that, I had enough slack in the lines. I got the dishwasher about halfway out of the cabinet and then was able to remove the 4 screws holding the right track. Put the new track in and was good to go. Problem was that the left track broke and fell off a few days later. Still was an easy fix and thanks to PartSelect it was not very expensive.

First remove the front kick panel by removing 2 philips screws. Turn off the water supply, and then disconnect the supply line if not of the flexible kind. Mine was copper. Remove 2 screws holding dishwasher to counter top and pull machine out. Open door and attach replacement link by hooking the plastic end to the hinge hook on the door side and then place the string portion round the plastic pulleys and then attach the other end of the link to the end of the spring attached to the rear of the machine along the bottom side. Push dishwasher back into position, reattach supply line and re-install both screws attaching the machine to the counter top. Turn on the water supply and check for leaks. Place the kick plate into postion and secure using the 2 philips screws that were removed.

Turned off water supply to the unit. Removed plastic cover at bottom front. I only had to disconnect the copper water line to slide the unit about 1/3 of the way out. I then was able to reach the wires, disconnect them and use a stubby box/open end wrench (5/8? don't remember for sure) to remove the plastic nuts. I then opened the door, removed the bottom basket and slipped the element right out. Installation of new part was reverse.

Unscrewed mounting screws, pulled dishwasher out halfway, replaced arms, 4 screws each side .....very simple 30 min tops. Parts perfect and quick delivery!