MDB8951AWW10 Maytag Dishwasher - Instructions

Looks like Maytag knew this was a problem. My chopper sleeve (plastic) was stripped and causing the impeller to not spin. The replacement part was all metal and was very easy to replace the old one just by removing screws. The replacement looks to be very sturdy and should last a lot longer than the original. Thanks.

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.

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.

I removed the lower wash arm held by a single center plastic coated nut with pliers.

I then removed the six pump housing screws and the three filter cover screws.

This allows access to the pump impeller which is held by one screw. Once it is removed the filter plate, chopper and motor seal can be removed.

I actually had done this before to find a noise. At the time I noticed the impeller had become shorter due to plastic breaking off the impeller. It still fit the motor shaft so I just cleaned out the plastic and screwed it back on. I did not check for water leakage until I noticed loose flooring material a couple weeks later.

This is the mistake I made. The impeller is made so it presses down upon the motor shaft seal expanding it to seal out water. Because the impeller was missing the lower skirt it was too short to but enough pressure upon the seal to stop leakage.
Never use a impeller which is damaged in any way.

Due to this error I have had to buy a motor assy also. It was destroyed by the water.

After receiving the seal, I installed it and carefully observed its operation and found the reason why the original one was broken in the first place. For some reason the bottom of the washer where it mates with the seal was deformed and it caused the original seal to suffer stress which led to its being broken, and it may be the reason why I got occasional leakage.

We bought this dishwasher at a %40 discount at a Sears outlet. It was probably returned by the original owner for this reason. Using a rubber mallet I was able to easily beat it back into shape and the new seal now fits like a glove.

But probably the most amazing thing was I was able to easily find the part at PartSelect.com after some googling around. Now I know where to find parts for my dishwasher and perhaps other appliances when the need arises.

Snaped new part in place.

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.

I did not know exactly which part was causing the leak so I order all the parts to do the job complete.The repair went very well and was very easy to fix. This is after I had 3 other repair men come and try to fix the leak. They said they could not find the problem of the leak and said we were using to much soap. When I pulled out the unit and started it up you could clearly see the water leaking from the air inlet seal. I was very happy with Parts Select my parts were shipped the same day as my order and I received them the very next day. They saved me from having to clean dishes by hand for Christmas Thank You Parts Select.

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.

The repair is very simple (I had repaired the left side last year), so I knew how to replace the assembly part. I removed the rack by removing the clips on the runner ends. Then I unscrewed the 3 screws holding the assembly to the rack, removed the adjuster lever and removed the broken part (the roller cracked around the screw) the replacement part now is a ratchet instead of a screw. I popped in the new part and put the lever back in place, put the screws back in and placed the rack back on the runner and re-inserted the runner clips. I will never buy another maytag--supposedly a high end unit that we purchased for a hefty price tag but I have done nothing but replace parts. Thank goodness for Parts Select--I find my part from the diagrams, place my order and in just a couple of days I have the part. Best of all no $80 fee just to diagnose the problem and then labor costs on top of marked-up of parts prices. I love Parts Select!!
Thank-you.

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.

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.

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.

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.