When you start a KitchenAid dishwasher cycle almost instantly water will start being sprayed all over the dishes, and it will begin to fill with water. However, there are a few issues that can cause your KitchenAid dishwasher to not fill with water. Today, I will explain the reasons why this happens and some tips to get it working again.
In general, ensure the door is completely closed, the float is not out of position, and the spray arms are not obstructed by a piece of crockery or cutlery. If neither of these are the issue, there is a leak or kink in the water supply hoses to your KitchenAid dishwasher, or a component has failed.
The easiest thing to try first is to open and close the door, making sure to close it all the way. In other cases, a few tools will need to be used to inspect the water hoses, and connections and it may be easier to have a repair technician do this for you. Below, I will cover all the potential reasons, how to fix each of the issues that cause it to happen, and how easy or difficult it is to fix each of these issues yourself.
KitchenAid Dishwasher Not Filling with Water
A KitchenAid dishwasher can fail to start a wash cycle and not fill with water. Or it can start the cycle but does nothing and never fills with water. Below are the reasons why this happens, and what you should do to get it working again.
As a general rule, the float is stuck out of position, your KitchenAid dishwasher door is not closed properly, the drain hose has come loose, or was not installed correctly, there is a leak or kink in the water supply lines, or the water in your home has gone out.
The water in your home being out is very rare, and is easy to check by turning on a faucet in your home such as in the kitchen or bathroom. After that, there are step by step instructions for each of the troubleshooting steps you should do when your KitchenAid dishwasher won’t fill with water.
Start with step 1 a bit further below, which is to check the door is closed properly. And then after that do each additional step to get your KitchenAid dishwasher to begin working again.
Reasons Why KitchenAid Dishwasher Not Filling with Water
There are a few reasons why a KitchenAid dishwasher won’t fill with water. It’s not difficult to do some initial checks to see if you can identify the issue but if you try all of them, there a repair technician will need to fix your KitchenAid dishwasher for you. Here are the reasons why it happens, followed by the troubleshooting steps anyone can do to get your KitchenAid dishwasher working when it won’t fill with water.
There is a leak or kink in the water supply hose, the water inlet screens are clogged, there is no water from the water valve that connects to the plumbing in your home, or a component in your KitchenAid dishwasher has failed and needs to be repaired or replaced.
Below are detailed step by step instructions for how to fix your KitchenAid dishwasher when it’s not filling with water.
1. The door is not closed properly or the door latch is broken
A KitchenAid dishwasher won’t start and fill with water if the onboard computer detects that the door is open. The door can look closed, but has not been closed firmly enough to click it closed. First open and close the door, being sure to push it closed all the way.
It’s also possible the latch is broken. Take a look at the latch and see if you can see any signs of damage. If the latch is broken, then skip to the last step which is to contact KitchenAid support.
It is possible to replace the latch yourself and isn’t too difficult. But, you will need to order a replacement part from KitchenAid or from a website like RepairClinic.com.
And will take about 1 hour depending on your experience working with tools. It may be the case that you’d prefer to have a repair technician do the repair for you.
2. Kink or leak in the water supply hose
There are typically two water supply hoses to a dishwasher, a hot water line, and a cold water line. These connect to the plumbing in your home. These can develop a leak, and therefore, there is not enough water pressure entering your dishwasher.
Or, somehow they have a kink in either of these two water supply lines. To inspect the water supply lines you do need to pull your dishwasher out from the wall. Doing so is a little bit complicated but even a beginner can do it.
Below is a video that shows how to do it. Note that the video is for a Whirlpool dishwasher. However, KitchenAid and Whirlpool dishwashers are made by the same company. Therefore, the process to pull a dishwasher out from the wall, and inspect the water inlet hoses is the same.
However, to check all of the other issues that can be causing it, it’s necessary to pull the dishwasher away from the wall anyway. Inspect the hoses to see if there is any issue with them.
If there is a leak, you will see a puddle of water on the floor. If the water supply hoses look fine, and there are no leaks or kinks then move on to the next step.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on December 11, 2022.
3. Drain hose improperly positioned
If the drain hose is not properly positioned/installed water can drain out of your dishwasher as it’s filling. Therefore, even if water is getting into your KitchenAid dishwasher, it won’t have enough water to do a wash cycle. The drain hose needs to be installed in a special way so that it functions correctly.
It needs to have an ‘n’ shaped bend in it that is at least 20 inches (50 cm) from the floor. Refer to this article on the official KitchenAid website, which has a video that shows how the drain hose should be installed. It’s possible it has been moved somehow.
4. The float is stuck out of position and needs to be put back
There is a float that stops your dishwasher from overflowing. When the water level rises, the float rises. When this happens the onboard computer on your dishwasher won’t let any more water into your dishwasher.
It can get out of position from normal use, and needs to be pushed back into position. The float is located on the bottom of the inside of your dishwasher. And is typically 1.5 inches (3.75 cm) in width.
Visually inspect it, and put it back into place if required. If you can’t locate it then refer to this page on the official KitchenAid website where you can download an online version of your owner’s manual. Or, refer to your paper owners manual if you have it.
5. No water coming from the plumbing in your home
As you may know, the water that enters your dishwasher comes from the plumbing system in your home. There are typically two valves that are being used to supply water to your dishwasher. They can be turned into the on, or off position.
A good first check is to turn on the nearest faucet to your dishwasher, such as the faucet in the kitchen sink to verify your home has hot and cold water. After this quick check, you should turn off the valves for the water that supplies your dishwasher. Then disconnect the hoses.
After that you can check the valves are supplying water by turning them on. But, have a bucket or similar on hand to catch any water that comes out when you turn the valves on.
6. A component failure that needs a repair technician to fix
If you’ve tried all of the steps above, then a component has failed. It needs a repair technician to identify what the issue is and repair or replace the component that is causing the issue.
It’s possible the repair is covered under warranty. Therefore, you should contact KitchenAid support, and they can advise what to do.
Tips to Fix KitchenAid Dishwasher Not Filling with Water
For a dishwasher to work it needs a near constant supply of water. But, there are a few issues that will tell the computer on a dishwasher not to fill with water, or an issue with one of the components or hoses on your dishwasher that will stop your KitchenAid dishwasher from filling water. Here are some easy tips to do first if your KitchenAid dishwasher is not filling water, as well as, some more involved steps that may require a repair technician to do.
Overall, open and close the door ensuring the door closes completely, then inspect the float. If the float is out of position your dishwasher will think it’s full of water, and the drain pump will try to drain the water repeatedly. After that, check the water supply hoses are not leaking or kinked.
As the water level rises the float rises. But, sometimes a small piece of food or something else can get stuck underneath, and it won’t go back into its normal position when all of the water drains out of your KitchenAid dishwasher. When this happens it needs to be cleaned, or manually put back into position.
Each of the steps to fix a KitchenAid dishwasher when it has no water are explained in detail near the top of this article. Refer to those, and do each of the steps until you get to the last step which is to contact KitchenAid support to organize a repair technician.
In general, there is an issue with water entering your KitchenAid dishwasher, it can be caused by either the drain hose being improperly installed, the door not being closed completely, a kink or leak in the water inlet hose, or the float is stuck out of position.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on December 11, 2022.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on December 11, 2022.