DWU7400BAE Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

This ended up to be a (2) phase project. The first repair was to replace the door seal and inner door foam. Thanks to earlier online comments this part was really easy, but we still had a small leak. When I had removed the interior face of the door panel to replace the inner door foam, I had noticed the insulation was wet and deducted that the 'soap cup door latch gasket' was the real culprit so I had to place a second order (Phase 2). The order came quickly and in time for next Saturdays to to list. My advice is to replace all 4 items at the same time and save on mailing cost and repair time; reservoir O-ring, soap cup door latch gasket, inner foam gasket and door gasket. net repair time, about an hour start to finish.
Don and Rosie
Rochester, NY

First, I removed the foot plate(s) at the bottom of the Dishwasher. (2 screws each side)

Then I removed the two top screws at the front of the dish-washer. The screws were mounted into a board under the counter that had broken loose. (A minor secondary issue specific to my situation.)

I gently inched the dishwasher out from under the cabinets.

SLOWLY, I tipped the dishwasher over on its side, allowing the water still inside to drain into a pan. Minor cleanup required for the cup or two that missed.

I then had access to the part. I disconnected the power from the wall socket, and I closed the valve for the inlet water from under the sink.

I removed the screws holding the Water Valve to the DishWasher case. Then I took a sharpie and marked one side of one of the two power connectors, black-mark to black-mark.

When I went to disconnect the inlet pipe, there was more dripping than I expected, so the valve under the sink was not closing completely. I needed to shut off the water supply to the house for the next stage.

I disconnected the inlet water supply, which continued to drip slightly into a bucket. I then removed the coupler from the old water valve. It was badly clogged and corroded, so I went to a local HW store and found an exact match 3/8" to 3/8" right angle coupler with compression fitting on one end.

BIG TRICK, before installing the new coupler, WRAP the compression fitting threads with teflon tape. You will not be able to wrap it once it is installed. In fact, I needed to uninstall the part once after I discovered this, to wrap the threads smoothly.

Once pre-wrapped, wrap the other threads that screw into the water valve. Tighten until secure, AND aligned with the direction of the flow tubes of the original.

Match the electrical connectors, black-mark to the same position as before. (The new water valve will NOT have the black-mark on it, unless you transfer one!)

Connect the Water valve back to the Dish Washer chassis with the two screws previously removed.

Connect the inlet water back to the compression fitting with the pre-wrapped threads.

Gently return the dishwasher to upright, and then plug it in.

Open the valve under the sink slowly and watch for drips or leaks.

Run the dishwasher at the start of a cycle, long enough to determine that the valve activates, and allows water to flow. Then stop the cycle.

Gently walk the dishwasher back under the counter, observing that you do not kink the copper water inlet pipe, or the drain pipe.

Adjust the feet, if necessary, back to fully support and level the dishwasher.

Install the two screws holding the dishwasher to the cabinet front. Then install the kick plates and tighten those 4 screws.

Clean up any residual water from the process.

The initial repair was more involved due to figuring out how to get at the problem. A foam sealer strip located at the bottom of the inner door had lost it's seal. I first sent off for one and it was of relatively thin material. It was carefully installed but still leaked. I ordered another one from Part Select and it had thicker foam. It was installed right over the previously installed strip and made a tight seal. (knock on wood)

I first removed 7 Torx screws holding the plastic housing to the door. Then removed two hex screws holding the
dispenser in place. At first I thought that the wax motor was broken, but measuring it with an ohm meter, it had the same resistance as a new wax motor (about 2-3 kOhms). Examining the release mechanism it looked like the stem at the back of the latch was a bit bent. I replaced both the latch and the slider. However, I probably only needed to replace the slider. After reassembling the pieces, the soap dispenser now works. By the way, as another poster noted, you can only test the mechanism when the dispenser door is closed and the latch is
displaced from its normal position.

The wax motor seemed to work.
At first I thought something was broken and I tried to figure out the "theory of operation" Working the actuator of the wax motor, I COULD NOT GE THE LATCH TO MOVE THE WAY I THOUGHT IT SHOULD. I ASSUMED EITHER IT WAS BROKEN IN SOME WAY I COULD NOT DETECT OR THERE WAS A FLAW IN ITS DESIGN!

It took a long time to figure out the latch would not be worked open unless it was actually holding the lid- this positions the latch at "half mast" and allows the mechanism to "pick it up from there" and open the rest of the way. So once I figured that out, I concluded the failure was really just worn out parts that were out of tolerance for how this "half mast" position and opening was supposed to work. So I ordered all fresh pieces just to be sure, assembled it (very easy) and put it in (easy). It all works fine now.

float was missing palnut and letting the float slide up too much causing small leak around the float

We were happy to find the basket we needed listed on your website, even after we could not find it on the Maytag site. It was perfect. I can't believe we lasted almost 2 years with the broken basket we had.

After performing some maintenance to get the water flowing properly through the system (that's another story) the door was leaking very badly during any test run of the dishwasher.

We thought it was the gasket because the old one was calcified and dried out from years of harder water.

We ordered the new one and in minutes after receiving the new gasket we had a firm seal and our dishwasher was back in action.

I removed the screws on the inside of the door. Removed the cover and changed door switch and holder and put the new one in. Replaced the cover
all in less than half an hour.

The real cause of the leak had nothing to do with the foam strip. The latch for the front loading door at the top needed to be adjusted to hold the door in tighter to the rubber door seal. This simple adjustment stopped the leak but since the foam seal was all encrusted with dried detergent from probably years of absorbing the leak, I replaced it with your new foam strip. I used a screw driver with torx bit and removed the stainless screws holding the inner door to the outer door. Once these were separated I removed the old foam strip using a putty knife and lacquer thinner. Placing the new strip onto these cleaned surfaces was the easiest part of the whole repair.

The dishwasher is well engineered to perform this work.

Remove the bottom two panels to provide access and visibility to base of pump motor.

Locate plastic pump locking lever and push toward rear of DW to unlock pump from DW.

Inside the DW remove basketsand spray arms. Revove screws holding cover over pump motor and remove cover.

From below raise pump motor and support with block (piece of 2x4 worked well).

insde DW, removre old gasket, clean well around pump and botom of DW, install new gasket.

From below remove block to drop pump motro back into place, and re-tighten locking lever by pull toward you.

re-assemble inside componets, run through a rinse cycle to test for leaks and replace bottom panels.




I

I was able to remove the old handle and place it on the new basket - using only a screw driver.

First, the problem was the little rubber gromet on the soap door operator lever. It was not the door gasket. I had to use a torx driver to remove the 6 screws that hold inside door panel on. After separating the inside door panel from the metal door I was able to see the soap door operating mech. I then removed 2 hex head screws from the soap door operator. I was then able to remove the operators plastic lever along with the rubber gasket. I then slid the new rubber gromet over the operator lever and put the mech. back in place. I put a little silcone grease on the plastic slide bar that operates the plastic release lever of the soap door. I then made sure everything worked properly. I then put the inside door panel back on.
No more inside door leakes when the dishwasher is running.

Thanks to repair stories about door leaks on partselect.com I ordered parts for the detergent/rinse dispenser in addition to the door gasket. The installation of the door gasket is really easy, simply remove the old gasket starting at one end. I needed a small screwdriver to get the old gasket end out of its channel, then pulled the entire gasket out. I cleaned the channel with water and simply pushed the new one into the channel, starting at the left bottom and continuing around. It is important not to stretch the gasket and also to have it equal length on both sides of the tub. Total time less than 10 minutes.

The replacement of the detergent grommet requires removal of the inner door panel. I removed the seven torx-head screws along the edge of the plastic panel and lifted the panel away from the outer metal door. There are wires attached to the detergent cup motor. I tried to remove them but found it was easier to simply snap the motor out of it's retaining clip, leaving the wires attached. The inner door panel can now be removed. The detergent/ rinse aid module is removed by taking out two hex-head screws. It lifted away from the door and the grommet is right on the front, surrounding the detergent cup latch. I removed the old grommet, cleaned the residue of old detergent and water hardness from the latch and the backside of the inner door. and placed the new grommet over the latch. I used a little water on the new one to make it slide on easier. I then reattached the module to the inner door. Be sure the grommet is centered in the square hole and evenly tighten the two hex-head screws. Re attach the soap motor by snapping it in place being careful to align its plunger correctly with the soap module. There is a groove in the plunger that fits into the plastic arm of the module. Re assemble the inner door and tighten the torx-head screws evenly. This job took about 30 minutes and completely solved the leak problem.

The broken spring linkage requires partial removal of the dishwasher. First, I turned off the power and water as a precaution. I removed the undercounter philips head screws, removed the lower access panel and kick plate using a nut driver. To access the door spring mechanism, the dishwasher must be pulled out from the cabinet about 10 inches. I had flexible electric and water lines so they didn't need to be disconnected. If the water and electric are rigid, then they have to be disconnected. This may require a professional. The replacement of the door springs and linkages is very easy once the dishwasher is pulled out. Keeping the door closed and locked, simply hook one end of the spring on the linkage, attach the other end of the linkage to the door and attach the other end of the spring to the hole in the dishwasher base where the old spring was attached. It is a good idea to replace both springs and both linkages to keep equal tension on both sides of the door. Slide the dishwasher back to it's original position and replace the undercounter screws and the lower access panels. Total time less than 15 minutes.

More of a face lift really. I purchased a new Frig. it has a stainless steel (brushed) front with black trim. The dishwasher is all black. I purchased a new face in black (no brushed steel was available) Then I purchased a film that I placed over the panel which was stainless steel (brushed) and it looks like a whole new kitchen.