GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Stay Open/Close/Sense Door Is Closed

If you’ve been having some troubles with your GE dishwasher door, you’re not alone. The door might not open or shut properly for many reasons, all of which are explained in-depth in this article.

If your GE dishwasher door might not close or stay locked, you have a defective door latch, strike plate, string, or gasket. It might not remain open if you have a faulty friction sleeve or open fully if your door hinges or springs are maladjusted.

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Stay Open/Close/Sense Door Is Closed

If you want to learn which repairs you can and cannot make by yourself and how to save the most amount of money, keep reading.

GE Dishwasher Door Doesn’t Close Fully: Causes/How to Fix

If your GE dishwasher door won’t close, it might be due to an obstructed dish rack. Sometimes, oversized dishes or utensils can protrude, preventing the door from latching. Check both the upper and lower racks for any items that might be sticking out, reposition them, and then try closing the door again.

Another reason the dishwasher door might not close is a misaligned door latch. Over time, the latch can become misaligned due to wear and tear or accidental force. Inspect the latch for any visible signs of damage. If it appears bent or out of place, gently adjust it back into its correct position using pliers, ensuring it aligns with the catch on the door.

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Stay Closed or Stay Locked: Causes/How to Fix

If your GE Dishwasher Door doesn’t stay closed, you probably have a mechanical problem.

Here are some potential problems causing its inability to stay closed:

Faulty Door Latch: The door latch could be misaligned, resulting in an improper interaction with the alcove and the door snapping open. This can be rectified by simply unscrewing the mounting bracket and moving it into the proper position. However, the latch could also be broken, meaning that you’ll need a replacement part for it.
Faulty Strike Plate: The strike plate refers to the location where the latch is inserted into. A single metal plate, it rarely becomes damaged, meaning it’s probably just misaligned. However, if your model has a plastic strike plate, it is likely damaged and needs a replacement part.
Door Spring Problems: If a door spring has come out or has abnormal amounts of rust or gaps on it, the door will not be able to close evenly, if at all. This is because it affects the placing of the door latch and metal plate.
Deformed Door Gasket: The gasket refers to the strip of plastic rubber that runs along the edges of your dishwasher door and forms a watertight seal. Once deformed, you won’t be able to close the door. You might also notice telltale signs that your gasket is problematic in the form of water leakage around your dishwasher. Fixing this is straightforward as you simply need to buy a replacement part and fit it around the door.

It’s relatively easy to detect if you have a door gasket problem but much harder to tackle the other issues. If you’re unsure as to what your problem is even after reading this article, call a technician to do your diagnosis and repairs for you.

You might also be interested in the article GE Dishwasher not starting.

DID YOU KNOW:
The GE dishwasher top rack may fall off track due to worn-out end caps. These caps prevent the rack from sliding too far and falling out. To fix this, remove the old end caps and snap new ones into place on the rail ends. This will keep the rack securely on the track during use.

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Recognize Door Closed: Causes/How to Fix

A faulty door latch means that the unit won’t recognize that the door has closed. As a result, your dishwasher will refuse to run the cycle after you’ve loaded the dishes, added the soap, and closed the door. This issue is minor and easily fixable as long as you have access to the necessary parts.

Here are the steps for this repair:

Unplug the power to your dishwasher. Use a quarter-inch nut driver to remove the screws securing the lower access panel.
Remove the panel and insulation, if any.
Turn off the water supply valve.
Use pliers to unthread the water supply line fitting from the inlet valve. Use a ⅚ inch nut driver to unthread screws securing the junction box cover.
Pull the lid off.
Take a picture of the location of the wires inside the junction box.
Untwist wire nuts to disconnect the wires and unthread the strain relief nut and detach the strain relief from the junction box.
Disconnect the drain hose.
Open the dishwasher door and remove the mounting bracket screws.
Adjust the legs, pull it away from the cabinet or any surface that the dishwasher’s back is to. Use a Phillips screwdriver to unthread the door latch mounting screws. Remove the old latch, and disconnect the wire connector.
Connect the wire connector to the new latch. Position the latch in the frame, and rethread the mounting screws to secure it. Slide the dishwasher back in place.
Replace screws to secure the mounting bracket. Reposition and secure the wire strain relief.
Connect the wires in the junction box. Secure the junction box. Reconnect the water supply line to the inlet valve and replace any insulation.
Secure the lower access panel.
Turn the water supply and power back on.

For a more comprehensive understanding of this repair, you can watch this video:

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Open: Causes/How to Fix

If your dishwasher door doesn’t open, it could mean that your entire latch assembly is faulty.

Here’s what you need to do in this case:

Clamp a long, skinny, Allen wrench between a vice grip. The l-shape of the wrench should be facing away from you.
Hook the l-shape into space where the door opens and shift it to the center. You should hit the latch for the door handle.
Lift the wrench and then pull the door open. What you’re doing is sliding the wrench under the latch, lifting it, and pulling the door open.

Once you have the door open, remove dishes if there are any within. The door might not be opening due to a faulty door latch, a door handle mechanism issue, or a door hinge problem. As you most likely don’t have technical knowledge of how the various parts are supposed to look like, with some parts being located inside the dishwasher in harder to reach places, it would be best to call a technician in this instance.

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Open Fully: Causes/How to Fix

The dishwasher door might not open fully if there have been some unknowing modifications to the door hinges. If the dishwasher has slid or moved slightly, the door hinge would have bottomed out against the carpet preventing the door from opening fully.

To resolve this issue, remove the lower access panels using a nut driver to unthread the screws. Once this is done, you should have access to both the door hinges and hinge springs, so check to see if they’re in the proper position. If not, adjust them, and your door should be able to open all the way again.

It could also be possible that your door hinges are broken, in which case, you can look for replacement parts on PartSelect.

You might also be interested in our article GE Dishwasher not drying.

Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on December 15, 2020.

GE Dishwasher Door Won’t Stay Open: Causes/How to Fix

If your dishwasher door doesn’t stay open, you probably have a defective friction sleeve. The friction sleeve should be attached to the door hinge, and you can buy a replacement part from PartSelect and do the repairs quite easily, no technician required.

Final Thoughts

As not all GE dishwashers are manufactured in the same way or have the exact specifications, some parts might be located elsewhere, or a different type of screw might be used for your model. To ensure that you don’t waste time, do your research on where the various parts are located for your specific model number and end up changing them as needed.