Bottom water arm won't spin easily so the dishes are not getting clean. How do I fix it?

Remove the arms, clean debris from the holes and rinse well. Check the bearing surfaces are clean. After replacing them, make sure they spin freely.

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If the arm spins easily by hand, but won't spin when operating, that points to poor water delivery...
1) check the strainer. Not just the holey one you can see, but there might well be a very fine mesh filter under it ~ if so, remove it to clean it (it can appear clean, but still be clogged with transparent cellulose fibres). Try running the machine empty without the strainer/filter fitted. You should hear a difference if the filter was causing the problem.
2) you might have a weak impeller. After a while the plastic impeller on some machines just wears away, leaving insufficient fins to move the water, this can be accelerated by e.g. broken glass stuck in the pump. Impellers can also slip on the motor shaft; the motor's spinning but the impeller doesn't. This means removing the machine, turning it over and removing the pump for inspection...

The ring fits just under the spray arm and the split is normal. When you tore the spray assembly apart, did you clean the screens at the bottom (if white hard-water deposit, soak in 50:50 hot water and white vinegar)? Make sure none of the ports in the deck are plugged with food deposits. Check both spray arms for plugged spray holes or split seams. The upper arm moves from water pressure alone--no motor. Make sure it spins freely by hand. We had to try different detergents to get away from a gritty deposit on glassware. Did you fix the leaking problem? Inspect the gasket seal around the door for damage or hardness and check the latch for holding the door closed firmly. Hope some of this helps!

sounds like you have a broken chopper. have you checked the chopper how far have you taken it apart? if the unit is put back together point all wash arms in the same direction turn the dishwasher on after it has started washing give it about 2-3 minutes open the door and see what wash arm is not moveing. if the upper wash arm is not moveing you need to check the chopper.

Could be two different things -- either the pump is not moving water through the sprayer arm, or the sprayer arm isn't free to spin around.
I've fixed one of each in the past year, so either is reasonable.

First, check the easy one -- the sprayer arm.
Open the dishwasher and pull the bottom tray forward so you can reach the sprayer arm.
Reach in and try to spin it around by hand. It should move freely, and if you flick it around, it should spin a full turn around before stopping.
If it's unable to move at all, then look for something stuck like a fork or plastic bag.
If it moves, but very quickly stops spinning, it might be a foreign object or it might need a new sprayer arm assembly. The one I got this year was $38 including shipping.

If the sprayer arm is free and easy to move, then check the water pump:
Start the dishwasher and listen. When it's done filling and sounds like the wash cycle, quickly unlock and open the door.
It shouldn't spray water in your face, but there should be lots of water dripping from the racks and the top (and the dishes, if it's loaded when you do this test!)

If not, then the problem is either a failed main pump or a blocked pump, and the repair will be a bit more money and a lot more time.

If this helps, be sure to click the thumbs-up to tell me so!

When you say the dishwasher is running do you mean that the pump is operating?  If the pump is not pumping water the arm will not spin.  Is there a bottom arm and is it spinning?  If it spins then the pump is working. The upper arm will not spin if it is blocked by hitting a large dish or utensil.  There should be some sort of tube or tower (some are collapsible) in the center of the lower rack that shoots water into the bottom of the spin arm above.   Is it missing, blocked or clogged?

Recommend you pull the bottom spray arm straight up, then out of the DW.
Remove 9 phillips screws that hold the filter shroud down. Remove the filter and clean/rinse it out.
While the filter it out, grab a flashlight and inspect all over the sump area. Especilly in the area the has the check valve that rotates (Vario motor-driven) to feed the water pressure either to the lower and then the upper arms. Watch out for broken glass! Also, inspect the impeller to see if it is undamaged and spins easily.
Reassemble, then test out.
If problems remain, the the wash pump motor is probably the culprit. Do you get any error messages on the time display?
Good Luck!

Yes, the wash arm should spin freely. Recommend that you remove the arms and search for what is stopping it.
In addition to hard water, the ultra-cheap dishwasher powder really does/can leave calcium-like deposits behind. Use brand name powder for 30 days and you will see a difference. Never use gel or tablets in any dishwasher.
Adding a whole-house water softener would eliminate 90 % of your problem. The other 10% will be taken care of by not buying ultra generic powder.

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

heatman101


syte

matt, did you get down to the chopper screen? If that screen is clogged the flow to the upper arm will be restricted. Check out the pic, Catriver