Dishwasher is 3 years old. Recently after washing dishes, the dishes smell bad ---like fish. The drain is not clogged. Help!

1 Scrape and rinse dishes before putting them in your appliance. Small food particles, grease, sauces and bones clog up the system, keeping the dishwasher from properly rinsing your dishes. You don't need to prewash the dishes but be sure to rinse off any solids.
2 Use a toothbrush to clean around the dishwasher door.
Clean around the seal and hinges of the dishwasher. This area often is forgotten and holds a good deal of bacteria and food splash. A tooth- or bottlebrush is the best way to get into the crevices.
3 Clean chunks of food out of the screen and drain at the bottom of your dishwasher, recommended The Family Handyman. If the drain is plugged, the dirty water can't be washed away and ends up back on your dishes. Nut, bean and seafood shells, bits of plastic and small dishes can lodge against the drain, keeping it from doing its job.
4 Unclog the holes in the sprayer arms. If the holes are blocked by food or soap, water cannot freely spray inside the dishwasher to thoroughly clean the dishes. Leftover food on the dishes can make the dishwasher smell.
5 Keep space around your dishes. Overloading a dishwasher keeps it from running efficiently, allowing gunk to build up around the drain and the spray arms.
6 Run your dishwasher as hot as possible to break down food and grease. The recommended temperature is 120 F.
7 Run the dishwasher with vinegar added to neutralize odor. Empty the dishwasher, place a dishwasher-safe cup filled with white vinegar on the top rack, and run a cycle at the hottest setting. If you prefer, use unsweetened lemonade powder or baking soda in place of vinegar.

It sounds like it is a board issue. The board tells the washer what to do. What brand do you have?

Check the main drain system, that is connected to the dish washer drain hose. There must be some clogging!

Remove that hose junction point and clean it. Try draining the hose straight into a bucket and watch for free flow.

Otherwise there should be some dead rodent inside the machine. It would have got trapped inside alive and died. Try to locate. It is a difficult job. Have a nose mask or cloth wrapped around and start the search. After you are satisfied leave the machine open with a fan ON.

Hi,

I have an older dishwasher also and recently my wife also complained about it not cleaning right... so me being the man I am tried in vain to clean the things... Bought new spray arms online and installed them in minutes...now the thing works like new... However I have also found that if the heating element goes bad then that also can mess things up bad... So I would buy new spray arms, and also check out the heating element to make sure it is working... Here is a tip that will help you with the online buying...

Dishwasher Spray Arms not Spinning

How to Buy Appliance Parts Online

A bad heating element causes many problems in dishwashers...

Dishwasher Problems The Heating Element not Working

Dishwasher Maintenance

Dishwasher Residue and Film on Dishes

heatman101

Asker's Testimonial "explanation very clear. will give it a go and see how simple it was. thanks Ronnie " - ronnieshomes
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Check the main drain system connected to the dish washer hose pipe. Clean the junction if clogged. This smell might orginate from the pipe.

Check incoming water quality. If hard water is noticed, use softener attachments to the inlet.

Fill dish washer salt in the dispenser. Refer user guide. The salt will help softening the water to certain extent. Finally check whether rinse aid dispenser filled with the rinse aid liquid.

Check your main drain system, where you discharge the water.

Remove the machine hose and collect the washed water in a bucket. Check the m/c for smelling. No mell noticed then check the main drain.

Use a wet/dry shop vac to clean out the strainer and drain from the inside of your machine. A musty smell is a sure sign that food particles have clogged your drain BUT can also mean that your wash/spray heads have become clogged as well. Use a pipe cleaner on the spray heads and run water over the jets to make particles flow to the big hole in the center of your wash heads, then reassemble. Don't forget to put those little plastic looking rings back exactly the way you found them or your wash heads wont turn properly. They are usually made of teflon to lubricate the spray heads.

HI, usually, if the dishwasher dose not drain properly, it will be the fault of a defective or, malfunctioning pump. i will list several problem areas to check. Inspect each area properly and, replace any component that is faulty or fouled.


1. Air gap / Drain hoses
If there is an air gap (located in the sink, near the faucet), check to see if it is clogged. Unscrew the top cap and see if there is anything blocking inside. Note: If there is no air gap installed, the dishwasher might not drain properly.

If the drain hose is clogged, the dishwasher would not drain. If there is an air gap installed, it is very common that a hose going from the air gap into the garbage disposer is clogged. Remove and clean the hose. Make sure to reattach the hose before starting the dishwasher.

Note: If you recently had a garbage disposer installed, it is common to overlook removing the drain plug.

2. Broken belt
Some dishwasher models use a belt to drive the pump. Replace the belt if found broken.

Note: Sometimes the belt would just come off the pump. Even though it might not be broken, it is recommended that you replace the belt, because it is probably too stretched out.

3. Pump
Some models have two impellers inside the pump - one, wash impeller, takes care of the wash cycles, the other, drain impeller, drains the water out. If the drain impeller is broken (broken blades, shaft), the dishwasher would not drain. Replace any broken pump components.

4. Drain solenoid
Some models (for example most GE dishwashers) use a drain solenoid to drain water out. Sometimes the solenoid gets stuck, preventing the water from draining out. Try to free up the solenoid. If unsuccessful, you might have to replace the pump assembly.

5. Motor
If the motor is stuck, it is sometimes possible to free it up by manually spinning the motor.

Replace the motor if defective.

6. Timer/control board
Replace if defective (note: uncommon problem).

Sounds like you have 1 of 2 problems. Either your pump is clogged or you need a bigger drain loop.

MILDEW...use arm and hammer baking soda in a few cycles, to see how that works for you