Why is My Dishwasher Stuck on Wash Cycle?

Why is my dishwasher stuck on wash cycle?

Usually people complain about it not washing at all.

If it is running constantly, I’m concerned about the waste of water, electricity and possibly more water.

You can turn it off.

That’s a short term solution. I’m concerned that it running constantly increases the risk of water building up and overflowing.

The thing may not be stuck on a wash cycle but have the water inlet valve stuck open.

No, it actually runs with the spinning arms constantly.

Your first step to fixing it would be changing the cycle, since the problem might be a glitch with one particular cycle.

Everything but heavy duty does not do the job.

Well, it is heavy heavy duty now.

And wearing out all the components running this much.

You could reboot it in case the problem is the control board.

How do you reboot a dishwasher?

Normally, turning it off, waiting five minutes and turning it back on, but you can do that via the circuit breaker too.

And that might not fix the problem.

I do not know if your dishwasher has a dirt sensor equivalent, but if it is not working right, it may not recognize that the dishes are clean.

I know that an oven can overheat if the temperature sensor is broken. I’ve never heard of a similar issue with a dishwasher.

I do not know if your dishwasher is expensive enough to have that level of intelligence, though if it did, it is either the control board or the sensor.

And unlike a flame sensor, cleaning it won’t fix the problem.

No, but cleaning out the drain cover or hose connecting the dishwasher to the garbage disposal in the sink so it can actually get rid of the food particles it keeps trying to get rid of might.

I at least know how to do that, as soon as I’ve turned off the water and scooped out the extra.

I would say you may have water coming in from the sink then, or even excess overflow from the garbage disposal.

That would mean my dishwasher may be cycling because it is getting dirtier with each cycle.

At least you could try running the garbage disposal separately or cleaning out its hoses and valves to see if that fixes the problem.

At which point I run a couple gallons of bleach, vinegar and baking soda through it before I can trust it to clean anything again.

These are all the cheapest solutions to try. If fixing hardware and rebooting don’t fix this, then you’re down to calling in a pro.