Not cleaning dishes.

Your screens are plugged with food residue in the bottom of the unit. clean it out. You can use 1 gallon of white vinegar for your wash after you clean the screens. Start your washer to fill with water but after the water starts, open your door and pore all of the gallon in the unit. Let it now run for 4 minutes and stop it by opening the door. Leave the door slightly open for 1 hour. close the door and let the cycle continue for 4 more minutes. open the door and repeat it a couple of more times. Let it sit all night with the vinegar in it and in the morning - close the door and let the cycle continue to the end. This should help soften and clean out the food particles in the unit. You can repeat the process and get a better cleaning then too. All the scale should be off your dishes now.

Hello

There are some things you can try, however, if your Maytag dishwasher is not getting your dishes as clean as you would like. Maytag recommends several processes for fixing this issue with your dishwasher.


Do not run your Maytag dishwasher while hot water is being used in other parts of your home, such as washing clothes or showering. Hot water is needed for your Maytag dishwasher to properly clean dishes.


Run water in the sink in your kitchen until it gets very hot. Then, turn on your Maytag dishwasher. This will ensure that the water cleaning your dishes is the hottest possible temperature.


Clean your Maytag dishwasher to improve the cleaning results for dishes. Run your dishwasher on a short wash cycle and wait for it to fill up with water. Stop the cycle and add about 1/3 of a cup of rust remover to the dishwasher and finish the cycle. Run your Maytag dishwasher through one normal cycle with regular detergent to finish the cleaning process.


Check your detergent. Old detergent or those that have been exposed to moisture can be clumpy. This detergent will not clean your dishes as well when loaded into your Maytag dishwasher. Purchase fresh detergent.


Use extra detergent when washing dishes that have a lot of built-up grease or food particles. The extra amount of detergent is needed to get your dishes clean. Choose a long cleaning cycle to clean these dishes.


Fill your Maytag dishwasher properly. Dishes should not be stacked on top of each other or excessively crammed into your dishwasher. This will keep the dishwasher from adequately cleaning all areas of your dishes and from rinsing them thoroughly.

Check your drain hose to make sure no water from the sink is draining back into the dishwasher.
If it is,re-hook the drain hose up high under the sink.
Next.
Start the dishwasher without dishes or detergent.
Once the fill and was cycle begins,open the door and por in 1 quart of WHITE vinegar and resume the wash cycle to completion.

Assuming the detergent dispenser door does open, it is likely the water is not reaching the top arms. Put a cup in normal position on the top rack and see if there is any water in it at the end of the cycle.

Likely causes are blocked arms or water distributor or the wash impeller is not working in the pump. The dishwasher uses the same pump motor for wash and drain cycles. You can check this by hearing if the water is getting swashed around when the wash cycle is on.
Check the impeller and water feed as shown in this diagram.

Hope this helps.

Hi smiller8565,
There is 3 basic problems that will cause a dishwasher to not clean the dishes. You can check these problems and see if any will solve your problems.
1: If there is water or suds left in the dishwasher after the cycle is complete. This will cause dirty water to be used in the final rinse and the dishes will not get clean.
2: The pump that supplies water to the spray arms is jammed or defective and unable to pump the water properly, thus causing the dishes to remain dirty.
3: Timer, the timer is not allowing the machine to work in the wash cycle.
The solutions for these 3 are as follows.
1: check the drain line for blockage, if you have a disposal make sure it is clear and water flows down the drain properly. If you have suds left in the dishwasher, clean them out and run a couple cycles with not detergent to rinse away the old suds.
2: Look down in the bottom for any obstructions in the pump. Popcorn seeds, broken glass, etc.
3: If the unit is skipping the wash cycle you will most likely need a new timer or control assembly.
Good luck and I really hope this will Fix Ya
Mike

Internal filtersEvery dishwasher has some type of filter to keep large food particles and foreign objects away from the pump assembly:

• Most modern dishwashers have self-cleaning filters that don't need any routine cleaning.



• Some have filters in the bottom of the dishwasher that you need to periodically clean. You don't need any tools to remove the filter, and cleaning it is easy. Consult your owner's manual to determine which type you have and its maintenance requirements.

If your filter is clogged, it may be causing the cleaning problem.


Drain valve
Some dishwashers have a valve (or gate) that should open only during draining. If debris lodges in the valve, it can't close properly, so water drains out during the wash cycle. Most dishwashers drain into the garbage disposer. If yours does that, listen for water flowing into the disposer during the wash cycle. If you can hear it then, the drain valve may be clogged.

Spray arms
There's a spray arm at the bottom of your dishwasher--it may have a tall spray tube mounted to the center of it. There may also be a spray arm located directly beneath the upper rack of dishes and/or above the upper rack.

If debris is blocking the holes in the spray arms where the water comes out, it could cause cleaning problems. Regularly inspect each of the spray arms and clean out the holes as necessary.

Detergent cups
Dishwashers don't perform their best if detergent is introduced only at the beginning of a cycle, so add detergent to both parts of the cup.

If the detergent cup isn't opening, see the "The detergent cup doesn't open" section, below.

Note: Dishwashers are usually wired directly to the home’s electrical system. To disconnect the power, switch off the circuit breaker or remove the fuse for the electrical circuit the dishwasher is attached to. Try to turn the unit on after disconnecting the power to be sure you were successful.

CAUTION: If you’re not sure you’ve shut off the power properly, DO NOT CONTINUE. Call a qualified appliance repair technician to complete the repair.

Well the 2nd part of your question is probably the the reason it doesn't clean. If the soap door doesn't open then the dishes will probably not be cleaned. So.. I would focus on why the door doesn't open first.. is it sticking from old soap residue? If so, clean the dispenser with white vinegar and cycle it a few times without detergent and use the hottest/sanitary setting.. Then make sure you are using an approved dishwashing detergent for yuour wash cycle. Add some detergent to the dispenser and try cycling it without any dishes .. does the door open? If no, then you need to resolve that first.. If it does open, try running a cycle with about 1/2 the normal dish load and see if the door opened and the dishes came out clean.. Routinely, check and clean the drain filter so you aren't redistributing the food sediment from the previous load all over the next load of dishes.. Hope that helps..

Water from the wash arms must be able to reach the detergent cup during the wash. It sounds as though the machine may be over-loaded during the wash and water does not cause the detergent to mix with the wash tank water. Try washing a cycle with nothing in the machine. Does the detergent still stick to the door?
If no, the machine is overloaded. Wash fewer items or smaller items so spray will contact detergent.
If yes, you have probably lost wash pressure. Clean all screens and jets.
Hope this helps,
Kermit

clean the dispensor assy around the spring door hinge witha vinegar water solution . liquid detergent has a tendency to not fully break if your water is not hot enough, causes doors to stick, reccomend running hot water before starting d/w, and using a quailty powder( not tabs) detergent

If you have dishes (typically cutting boards or really tall dishes) that block the dispenser door from opening, the water cannot wash out all the detergent during the wash cycle. Check to see that after loading the dishes, your detergent door has clearance.