Mend > Dishwashers

Fisher & Paykel 920 dishwasher will not wash?

The dish washer fills with water until it overflows and the main wash pump does not kick in. The motor itself gets so hot you can not put your hand on it. Would this be the capacitor or the motor itself?The motor turns freely but the wiring conector plug appears that it is or has been getting hot. The terminals are not discoloured.

Brian Nielson
July 2012

Fisher & Paykel Kitchen Appliances, Dishwashers Wash Fills Water

The wash pump motor should be running while it fills. The water will add resistance to the wash motor impellor which can then be detected by the control board. That is how it knows when there is enough water in it and to stop filling. It should however come up with an error code U1 if it does not detect that the water has primed the pump after 1 minute. Very rare that these motors fail. The start capacitor does fail often so I would try a new capacitor first and see if pump starts. It should not be that hot. That is a sign that it is trying to go but can't. If capacitor does not fix it then either motor or motor control board is faulty. Do you have a multimeter to check the motor windings?

Lincoln Appliance NZ
July 2012