Why won’t my dishwasher drain?

Jewellmartin
by Jewellmartin
The dishwasher stopped being used some time ago. It stopped draining the water out. I think it is attached to the garbage disposal or sink drain. But there was half a gallon of water in the bottom of the dishwasher we hap to dip and sponge dry. The dishwasher was turned off a couple of times after that, and the water would not drain again Does anybody have ideas on how to fix this? It’s an old dishwasher with no exposed drain lines or valves. The dishwasher is built-in. Thank you ☺️

  10 answers
  • Rose Broadway Rose Broadway on Mar 04, 2018

    I hope someone on here answers because I know nothing about plumbing. I will just give you this video to see if it will help.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO19zoOyNHA

    • Jewellmartin Jewellmartin on Mar 05, 2018

      Thank you so much. My dishwasher has all the moving parts hidden inside the machine except the sprayer. I watched this video and it’s not helpful in my situation, but I’m looking for more videos. ☺️

  • Hvc14781710 Hvc14781710 on Mar 05, 2018

    I'd like to know the answer to that.

  • Susie Banfield Susie Banfield on Mar 05, 2018

    Could be there is a kink in your water outlet pipe at the back of your machine

    • Jewellmartin Jewellmartin on Mar 05, 2018

      If I can get to it, I will check it. We have never pulled the dishwasher out from the cabinet to see behind it. Thank you. ☺️

  • Ebbjdl Ebbjdl on Mar 05, 2018

    Check the float. It's on the bottom of the dishwasher, on the right. Make sure it's not clogged. If you go to the library, get a book such as Reader's Digest on home repair, it should illustrate the float and how to clear it.

  • Cindy L Moss Cindy L Moss on Mar 05, 2018

    My husband installed a new garbage disposal in my sons house and then his dishwasher quit draining. I'm not sure exactly how he fixed it, but he said it had something to do with the installation on the disposal. He googled the type of disposal and turned out there was an added step that this certain type of disposal required to work with the drainage of the dishwasher. Try googling the disposal and check that it was installed properly


    • See 1 previous
    • Kamala Kamala on Jun 21, 2020

      I had the same issue. Its an easy fix...IF you know what to do. There is a small punch out medallion of metal that you use a screw driver to poke out. (Its only being held in by tabs so is not too hard to push out with a screw driver) This medallion must be removed or the water can not drain from your dishwasher. I bought a home with an older dishwasher. It did not however have a garbage disposal. I had the disposal installed and the repairman did not punch the medallion out despite assuring me he had. Rather then checking it, I took him at face value so assumed the old dishwasher had bit the dust. I got a great deal on a scratch & dent dishwasher but it had the same issues. Now I am assuming that it was damaged internally but that was not the issue. I finally broke down and bought a new dishwasher when the Memorial Day sales were on. When this brand new dishwasher had the same issue it was time to go back to square one. This is when we found out the punch out for the dishwasher had NEVER been removed from the new disposal and so my old dishwasher actually worked just fine. Now regarding the first question asked...if the garbage disposal is new then this could be the issue. If the dishwasher and disposal have worked together properly in the past then I am sorry that I can not add any additional information.

  • William William on Mar 05, 2018

    Check out https://www.repairclinic.com/. Punch in the model number of the dishwasher. They have schematics, manuals, troubleshooting guides, and repair parts. It's my go to.

  • Ginny Ginny on Mar 05, 2018

    I would call a plumber.

  • Sharon Sharon on Mar 05, 2018

    Call a repair man.

  • Dave cozy Dave cozy on Nov 13, 2020

    If your dishwasher brand is samsung then check out this tutorial Dishwasher Not Draining

  • Kmdreamer Kmdreamer on Jul 01, 2021

    Sounds like your pump went needs to be replaced eather the dishwasher or the pump