Swapped

My dishwasher has had an issue for several weeks where it sounds like an airplane when it’s in a wash cycle. I have already replaced the drain pump on it a couple years ago. My research indicated this was probably the main circulation pump getting ready to fail. However when I looked up the price of just the part it was $300. The idea of putting that much into a 10 year old unit didn’t appeal to me, especially when I saw I could spend the same sort of money and get a used unit for around the same money. Well that’s what I did.

Like many transactions in my life, this came about quickly. Although I have been looking at used units for awhile for some reason I decided to move on this one described as only being a couple years old but was pulled as part of a kitchen renovation. It was an LG unit which is what I currently had which was appealing because I knew I could use the same mounting hardware.

So I reached out to the seller and after some standard FB Marketplace negotiations he agreed to sell the unit for the same $300 I was going to pay for a new circulation pump. He lived all the way up in Port Charlotte a solid 90 minute drive which was not appealing. When he offered to drive the unit to my door because he was off work yesterday that sealed the deal. I told him I would be happy to give him some gas money for the trip. I met him at home during my lunch hour and plopped the dishwasher in the garage.

As I mentioned I have messed with dishwashers a few times so getting the old one out was not a big deal. Getting the new to me unit back in was not quite so smooth. The seller forgot to include the little hook tabs that are used to secure the washer to the countertop. I reached out to him to check if he had them but he said he wasn’t sure. I wound up modifying the hooks I used on my old unit. It sort of worked but it was not ideal which may be part of the reason I had the issue I did later on.

So after reconnecting the drain hose and connecting the AC to the junction box I flipped the breaker and the unit came to life, great! I thought I would have it do a quick cycle to test functionality. I selected a quick wash, hit the START button and watched the display count down 4,3,2,1 which I wasn’t sure that was about. After the countdown it just returned to the ready state and did not initiate the wash cycle. WTF? Of course I immediately was suspicious of the seller but he has a good rating so I found a manual online.

I found out the countdown is what happens if the door is open and you hit START. It is giving you that time to close the door. If the door is already closed, which it was, it should just start. So I went back and tried several more times to get it running without success. Another Google search revealed that the door switch/sensor can be problematic with this model however I also saw suggestions that if you lift on the door a bit it can clear the issue. So I went back and fiddled some more. I actually did get it to engage and start a cycle successfully.

So I am not sure if my issue is the rigged mounting straps I am using to secure the dishwasher or the switch is faulty or failing. I did notify the seller of everything I did/found and he seemed willing to try to help resolve it which is nice however I proactively just bought the correct mounting hardware and a replacement switch from LG to cover my ass. Much like the circulation pump, these parts were stupidly over priced as well.

The dishwasher itself seems nice. My old one in addition to sounding like it spun a bearing also had dish racks that were rusting and falling apart at places. The new LG feels like an upgrade all the way around, as long as it keeps working….