Washed out!

The dishwasher in our (rented) winter home quit working. We have a long relationship with the owner, and part of the value proposition is that I fix things.

So, I decided to fix the dishwasher. Off we go to YouTube and other informative sources, where I learned the problem could be as simple as a broken wash impeller. It’s right under the wash arm. The repair video makes it look like no big deal. The dishwasher is perhaps forty-years old, although since it’s installed in a vacation home, it probably has less than eight years worth of use on it.

I might have nine hours in the job. Much of that time was spent on my knees, with head and shoulders thrust into the machine’s cabinet. The impellers (wash and drain) were welded to the motor shaft by age, heat, goop, grit, you name it. I had to chisel them off. Then I had to scrape the motor shaft clean, sand it, scrape it again …

I had to use a gear puller to get the chop blade off. The drain impeller left a stainless washer behind on the motor shaft that refused to come off, requiring vice-grips at a perverse wrist angle.

It was a disaster. I was sore from ankles to shoulders for days. I limped around like I was ninety. Oh, but the dishwasher runs now. Yes, it does.

Also, the soap tray doesn’t trip open anymore.