Inner Door Foam Insulation Strip

Repairing the dishwasher turned out to be somewhat of an odyssey since my experience with dishwashers was very limited. (model #DWU7300BAX Maytag) I first cleaned the float which did have build up on it and allowed the water level to be about 1/2" above heating element. After cleaning, the water was level with the element. I removed and cleaned the upper and lower spray arms. I could not be completely sure that there was not a split in either of them so I replaced both. The delivery from part select was very prompt. Still had leak. I ordered a door gasket from another company (simply because it was cheaper) and replaced the old one. It seemed a little short and did not stop the leak. Also note there is a right way and a wrong way to install the gasket. When installed wrong, the door leaked everywhere! I then looked at the repair experiences on this sight and removed the inner door. You will need a Torx bit for the seven screws around the door. I saw evidence that water had been running down inside the door. I removed and replaced the reservoir O-ring and the soap cup door latch and gasket.( Note: you can pop out the rinse aid actuator arm to make it easier to get to the screws holding the retainer in place. I also replaced the dispenser latch spring. It was a little difficult to get the hinge pin out.) Still had the leak. Next i found comments about the inner door foam insulation strip. On the parts blow up page this did not appear to be something that would stop water. But I removed the old foam and cleaned up the old adhesive by scraping and using lacquer thinner carefully and not around plastic parts. I installed the new foam strip. Still had leak. But when I again removed the inner door, I could see that the indentations in the foam did not go all the way across where it contacted the tub which apparently let water spray up inside the door and run out the corners. I came to the conclusion that the tub had warped over the years and was allowing the water to get inside the door. Finally, I read a story where the repairer doubled the foam strip with a second one on top of the first one. VOILA!! I ordered a second one put it on top, ran the dishwasher and NO LEAK!! Knock on wood, hopefully, I will get a few more years out of this machine. This is good because while waiting on parts I searched the internet for new dishwashers and found hundreds of horror stories about problems. New dishwashers have electronic control boards that go bad often and even catch on fire!!!!! Thank you for your help and for the repair videos which are very helpful.

One of the easiest repairs you can ever make. Took a hex bit and put into my drill. 10 screws later and the front panel pops off. My piece of inner door foam wasn't even stuck to the door like the video showed so it was easy for me to spot the problem instantly. I left the old one on the piece of insulation it was stuck to and put the new one exactly where the video showed me. Ran a couple of cycles and not one drip. I usually don't leave reviews I but I thought the help on this site was great esp the installation video. The part was $19 plus shipping , a little expensive for a little strip of foam IMO but I work in HVAC field so I understand manufacturers can charge whatever price they want if nobody else makes that part.

Watched video how to install. Removed old door gasket. Installed new gasket just like video said but it was 1/2" short. removed from short side to corner then streched gasket while installing. door still leaked. removed gasket and reinstalled leaving 1/4" short on both sides and not streaching it. No leak at door gasket. Went on to replace inner door insulation strip because water leaking from inside door. watched video on how to change. Still leaking. read comments and some one said they had same problem so they installed old strip ontop of new. Thought I would try this and it worked. thanks for the on line comments.

Peel up one corner of the old insulation strip. Use the hairdryer to heat up the old adhesive. The old strip will lift off with very little residue.