MDB4651AWS40 Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

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)

Removed plastic lining from dishwasher door with torx screwdriver, then removed screw holding door latch assembly in place. Removed existing switch from door latch assembly and replaced.

This switch was not the correct one initially as it was a normally closed switch, whereas the existing switch was a normally open. Was able to pry open the switch and switch the contacts to normally open so it worked out in the end. Would recommend purchasing the complete latch assembly w/ switches if you aren't comfortable taking the switch apart.

took the bottom spray arm & lower plastic pieces out, unscrewed the impeller & replaced it. the original impeller which holds the disposal blade down & wore down & no longer retained the blade. snap.

Replaced the door seal. Removed the old seal and gently stretched the new seal and pushed it into the channel. Snipped off about 2 inches excess seal. As far as the Inner Door Foam Insulation Strip goes, it was not as easy. To begin with, the old Foam Strip was attached to the door insulation and not the door. The attempt to remove the old Foam Strip from the insulation became cumbersome, so I just attached the new Foam Strip on top of the old Foam Strip. So far, after a few cycles, it appears that it corrected the leak.

Simply popped the new cover in. My part by the way was really easy to identify on the website, easy to order and arrived in a very timley fashion!

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.

This product comes in a bottle with a brush like Liquid Paper. It goes on incredibly easy. A second coat might be needed. I wanted to prevent rust from setting in so I covered the scratches and dings. The paint is a little brighter since my washer is 10 years old but it still looks great.

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 first thing I did was read the all of repair stories that others had submitted. Then I set the timer and chucked up the Torx bit in my electric drill/screwdriver. There are 10 Torx screws on the inside of the dishwasher door and they came out very quickly. The top two screws hold the latch in place. I lifted the inside stainless steel cover to get acces to the latch. There was enough slack in the wire that I was able to remove the latch from where it was and extend it above the door. This let me lay the stainless steel liner back onto the inside of the door without removing or disconnecting the soap dispenser. Thus exposed, disconnecting the connectors from the old latch and reconnecting them to the microswitches on the new latch was a breeze. Once connected, I reinstalled the latch assembly, repositioned the liner correctly and replaced the ten screws. The entire job, including putting my tools away and cleaning up took eight minutes. I did it on my lunch break. The eight minutes included pulling the circuit breaker and reconnecting it (very important, that step). The new latch/handle assembly completely fixed the problem.

Turned off water and power to the unit. Removed kick plate from under the dishwasher to access the water contol valve. Placed an absorbant rag under the water valve and water line. Disconnected solenoid on water control valve from electrical connection with my fingers. Used a standard adjustable wrench to disconnect the water line from the water control valve. Then used a 1/4" nut driver to loosen the two bolts that hold the water control valve on to the mounting bracket. Pulled the water control valve slightly forward to disconnect the water feed line to the dishwasher. Used a blunt end plier to pinch the clamp open and slowly wiggle the feed line off of the water control valve. Then removed 90 degree elbow off of the water control valve and used pipe dope and connected the elbow onto the new water control valve. Replaced water control valve in reverse order and utilized new hose clamp to reconnect feed line to new water control valve. Saved door seal for future use, when seal goes bad.

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

I could not reach the heater element nuts from under the dishwasher so had to pull out the dishwasher. I removed the screws around the front of the dishwasher and pulled it about half way out before the water inlet pipe and the electrical wires stopped me. I shut off the water, unhooked the copper pipe, and unhooked the electrical wires (shut off circuit breaker first). Pulled the dishwaser out so I could remove the element nuts and wires to the element. Removed the old element and installed the new one - the old nuts would not fit. I went to a local appliance parts store and found that my element is no longer made. I had the correct replacement element but you need to order the nuts also. Luckily, the local store had a small brass nut that worked. Reattached the electrical wires to the element, pushed the dishwasher half way in, reattached the water inlet and electrical wires, pushed the dishwasher all the way in and scewed back into the cabinets. All is well now and the dishwasher is working much better.

The spring mechanism is on the side, so you have to pull the dishwasher out onto the floor. To do that, you have to remove the floor molding (preferably without breaking it) and remove the base coverings (painted metal plates on the bottom of the washer. Unscrew the side gasket plates on the side of the dishwasher (just inside of the door) where it attaches to the cabinet and the screws in the braces at the top (inside the door) where it attaches to the counter top. Now you will be able to slide the washer forward to look at the sides where the door springs are. Depending on the floor, you may have to raise the washer's front feet. They screw up. As you pull the washer forward be careful to not mess up the insulation which drapes over the top and sides. You only need to come out 1/3 of the way to see the sides where there is a plastic wheel at the forward bottom corner. As you move the door up and down you can see the hook where the cable goes and further up the side you can see several notches where the spring goes. Hook the cable and bring it around the wheel and attach it to the spring. To reinstall, just follow these directions backwards. Good luck.

Ist Repaired a hole in a rubber hose under the sink. 2nd Removed the 10 foot drainage hose with a regular screw driver (1 clamp at each end of the hose).
3rd Removed the insulation and replaced with the new after disinfecting the entire top and sides of the dishwasher with bleach. This eliminated all bad odor etc. only had to remove 2 plastic brads, 1 on each side of the unit.

Done and no leaks.

I wanted to get the dishwasher cleaning better and thought that maybe the accumulator needed to be replaced. I figured that I'd swap out all the spray arms as well, just for good measure.

I needed Torx screwdrivers (T15 and T20, I think - not 100% sure on that) and patience because there's really quite a lot of screws to get the accumulator out. Finally got to it and it didn't look damaged, but replaced it anyway.

The spray arms are easy - they just snap in except for the lowest one, that had a plastic nut. I ordered a replacement nut just in case I broke this one (you know how that goes) taking it off. Well, it took pliers, but it came off ok.

In the end, my dishwasher is happy and cleans much better now.