Soap dispenser won't open

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Water Inlet Valve

A dishwasher's water inlet valve is its most common part to fail. When your dishes are not being fully cleaned, quite often a faulty water inlet valve is to blame. Test your dishwasher's water inlet valve, and if it is no longer functioning as it should, you will have to replace it.

Upper or Lower Spray Arm


Your dishwasher has a lower spray arm. It may also have an upper spray arm at the top of the dishwasher. These spray arms are designed to shoot high pressure, high temperature water at your dishes. It is possible that the holes of the spray arms, where the water comes out, are blocked with debris, affecting wash quality. You should inspect your dishwasher's spray arms regularly. Clean out the spray arms as need be.

Heating Element

Water temperature is a key element in achieving clean dishes. A dishwasher's heating element is not designed to heat the water that enters it. Rather, the heating element is designed to maintain the heat of the water that enters the dishwasher. Its a good idea to run the hot water in your sink for a couple of minutes before you run the dishwasher. Just to make sure the water is nice and hot before it enters the dishwasher. If the water is unable to stay hot, it can adversely affect your dishwasher's cleaning ability.


Filter/Drain Grate

There is a filter in your dishwasher. Its function is to keep large particles of food and foreign objects away from the pump. Many of the newly-manufactured dishwashers have self-cleaning filters, and routine cleaning isn't a concern. However, some other dishw ashers need to have the filter removed and cleaned regularly. If the filter or grate is clogged or blocked with debris, it may interfere with the normal functioning of your dishwasher. Consult your owner's manual for specific directions for removing your dishwasher's filter and cleaning it.

Detergent or Detergent Cup

It could just be that you aren't using enough soap to completely wash your dishes. Your dishwasher may be designed to dispense soap at two different times during the wash cycle. If you don't fill all of the detergent cups, then the diswasher will lose a cleaning cycle. Also, if you use a gel-type detergent, try switching to a powered kind. Powders tend to dissolve better in hot water. And don't buy in bulk. Detergents are most effective in the first two weeks. After that, they decrease in potency.

Alternatively, your dishwasher's detergent cup could be defective in some way. It is possible that it is gunked up full of built up detergent, and a thorough cleaning may be enough to get it working again. If that doesn't do the trick, you probably need to replace the entire detergent cup assembly. If your cup isn't even opening, please see our section My dishwasher detergent cup won't open.

make sure that the soap dispenser if clean and free of residue build up. if this is clean you need to replace the dispencer

Check the water supply. Start cycle then open the door after it fills and check water level and spray action. If everything is soaking wet, there is probablyl a pizza pan blocking the soap tray.

Yes that's normal for that machine. The soap has to be washed out of the soap drawer by the top spray arm turning, and that's usually the problem - the arm isn't turning. Check both spray arms for blocked jets at the very end - remove blockages with a pin and water flow from tap. In the worst case, you may need a new spray arm - but they are usually cheap.
More points to remember - on a rapid 30 minute wash program only, if you are using wash tablets, don't put them in the soap drawer as there wont be enough time for them to dissolve. put the tabs in the cutlery basket. Also - a dishwasher is not a garbage disposal unit, and uneaten food must be scraped of plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Run a dishwasher cleaner through now and then, or do a full program wash with nothing in the machine to clean it out and to keep spray arms clear.

sounds like the top or middle spray arm isn't rotating, most likely a clogged spray arm, try and remove sprayer arm and clean it

run the dishwasher empty: use 1/2 the amount of soap you usually use in the soap dispenser close it then put white vinegar in the open dispenser and, run the dishwasher

Water Inlet Valve

A dishwasher's water inlet valve is its most common part to fail. When your dishes are not being fully cleaned, quite often a faulty water inlet valve is to blame. Test your dishwasher's water inlet valve, and if it is no longer functioning as it should, you will have to replace it.

• test a dishwasher water inlet valve.
• replace a dishwasher water inlet valve.
  
  
• dishwasher water inlet valve.
• 
• Upper or Lower Spray Arm
  Your dishwasher has a lower spray arm. It may also have an upper spray arm at the top of the dishwasher. These spray arms are designed to shoot high pressure, high temperature water at your dishes. It is possible that the holes of the spray arms, where the water comes out, are blocked with debris, affecting wash quality. You should inspect your dishwasher's spray arms regularly. Clean out the spray arms as need be.
  
  • check a dishwasher spray arm.
  • remove and replace a dishwasher spray arm.
    
    dishwasher spray arm.
  • 

Heating Element

Water temperature is a key element in achieving clean dishes. A dishwasher's heating element is not designed to heat the water that enters it. Rather, the heating element is designed to maintain the heat of the water that enters the dishwasher. Its a good idea to run the hot water in your sink for a couple of minutes before you run the dishwasher. Just to make sure the water is nice and hot before it enters the dishwasher. If the water is unable to stay hot, it can adversely affect your dishwasher's cleaning ability.

• test a dishwasher's heating element.
• replace a dishwasher's heating element.
  
  
• Find a heating element for your dishwasher.

Filter/Drain Grate

There is a filter in your dishwasher. Its function is to keep large particles of food and foreign objects away from the pump. Many of the newly-manufactured dishwashers have self-cleaning filters, and routine cleaning isn't a concern. However, some other dishw ashers need to have the filter removed and cleaned regularly. If the filter or grate is clogged or blocked with debris, it may interfere with the normal functioning of your dishwasher. Consult your owner's manual for specific directions for removing your dishwasher's filter and cleaning it.

• filter
• 
• . Detergent or Detergent Cup
  
  It could just be that you aren't using enough soap to completely wash your dishes. Your dishwasher may be designed to dispense soap at two different times during the wash cycle. If you don't fill all of the detergent cups, then the diswasher will lose a cleaning cycle. Also, if you use a gel-type detergent, try switching to a powered kind. Powders tend to dissolve better in hot water. And don't buy in bulk. Detergents are most effective in the first two weeks. After that, they decrease in potency.
  Alternatively, your dishwasher's detergent cup could be defective in some way. It is possible that it is gunked up full of built up detergent, and a thorough cleaning may be enough to get it working again. If that doesn't do the trick, you probably need to replace the entire detergent cup assembly. If your cup isn't even opening, My dishwasher detergent cup won't open.
  
  
  

Cycle Selector Switch
Sometimes a dishwasher's cycle selector switch is the reason why dishes are not coming completely clean. Test your selector switch to determine whether or not it has become defective. If it has, replace it.

• test a dishwasher cycle selector switch.
• replace a dishwasher selector switch. if bad
  
  

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..

These rely on mechanical timers and springs on the soap dispenser. They get a bit gunked up after a while. Don't prewash and run the the dishwasher for a few cycles with the dispenser open (put the soap tablet in the cutlery basket). If you listen to the machine you may be able to hear the click when the dispenser should open which at least tells you that it should be working

This could be due to 2 problems: not enough water or water is not being pumped hard enough through the system. The 'not enough water' is easy to check - open the door in the middle of a wash cycle. If you have enough water (about 1" or more) then that is probably ok. The 'not pumping hard enough' could be as simple as plugged up filters and holes in the spray arms. Remove the racks and disassemble the lower spray arm and the filter assembly all the way down past the screen. Clean the arm holes, throughly clean the screen, clean everything. Pull the top spray arm and throughly clean the spray holes there. Put it all together and run a cycle. You should see a pronounced increase in the sound of the water spraying around. This should fix your problem - it did for me.