Kitchen Aid Dishwasher KDTM404EBS3 - F9E4 Error

[louisd]

Model Number

KDTM404EBS3

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

Less than 1 year

Several weeks back we noticed that dishes on the bottom rack of our dishwasher weren't getting clean. After looking online I did some visual testing and found that the lower wash arm on my dishwasher wasn't rotating.

1) I removed the arm and looked at it, all the gearing looked good and if I turned it by hand, it rotated as expected.

2) I then made a sharpie mark on the gear coming from the washarm motor (W10843811) and ran the dishwasher again. Even without the wash arm, the shaft was not turning.

3) I then ran a diagnostic cycle with immediately flashed F9E4 before even starting, then ran and after the cycle flashed F-E-

Putting this all together I ordered a new motor W10843811 which arrived yesterday. Today I put the motor in. When doing I noted that everything was dry, no corrosion, connectors all looked good etc.

Put it all back together and lo and behold. Same exact issue. Shaft doesn't turn (and therefore arm doesn't) diagnostic flashes F9E4 immediately upon start and then F-E- after running.

Just to be sure I removed the gray cover that goes on top of the shaft and rotated the shaft on the gray cover by hand and it turns easily and without any binding.

I'm unclear what the next step is. The manual appears to say this is either the control board or a fuse?

Argh. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Jake]

Hi, --->You posted the age of the dishwasher Less then 1 yr. old, if that is true, don't try to fix it yourself while its under warranty, Whirlpool will come out and fix it for free under the 1st yr. warranty. If the dishwasher is OVER 1YR. OLD then continue reading below.

W10843811 is the diverter motor, not the wash motor.

Here's the diverter motor for your model:
Diverter Motor W10843811


On these models there has been a problem with the pump filter breaking and jamming up the wash motor, thus you will hear little to no water spray out the spray arms. I'd check that first.

Mike took lots of photos and documented them here:

FIXED - KDTM354ESS3 KitchenAid Dishwasher - Motor is buzzing

I'm not sure if anyone is still having issues with this, but it's basically a 100$ fix (CAD)... or at least it was for me... if the motor is buzzing it likely means that it is TRYING to spin but it's jammed. ... I opened up my dishwasher and found the filter inside the main pump had blown...

www.applianceblog.com

Here's that pump filter you can order if needed:
Pump Filter W11084156


If not in-stock at RepairClinic, It's also here: W11084156

If the pump filter is fine, I'd next use a multimeter to check for 120 volts at the wash motor after it fills and should be running, if you get 120 volts and the wash motor is not running, then the wash motor is bad.

Here's the wash motor for your model:
Circulation Pump W10902589


Here's the video:

Let us know what you find.

Jake

 

[louisd]

First, I selected the wrong thing, it is over a year but less than 2 years.

Second, this isn't a water flow issue, there's full flow, There's plenty of water circulating, it sprays both out of the lower arm (though it isn't turning) and everything works properly for the top rack. We've been running top rack only cycles since this happened.

On this model the same unit turns both the diverter and the lower wash arm. For 100% sure the metal rod on the top of the unit extends through the cover and connects to a gray gear that turns the lower spray arm. (In fact the repair clinic link you provided above indicates that it drives both the diverter and the lower wash arm).

The part that turns the lower was arm isn't turning, despite having replaced the motor.

 

[Jake]

Read this thread below about the F9E4 diagnostic error:

FIXED - KDTM404ESS3 KitchenAid Dishwasher Spray Arms Do Not Rotate

I have a KitchenAid dishwasher that has worked as a champ but now has dirty dishes from the lower rack (top rack dishes are fine) starting earlier this week. I removed the lower spray arm, cleaned it (lots of gunk that had got into this) and put this back in the dishwasher. Unfortunately this...

www.applianceblog.com

Jake

 

[louisd]

Unfortunately that thread is not helpful. I'm aware of what the error means and have already replaced the parts that the poster of that thread replaced. Despite replacing the motor, the lower spray arm still doesn't rotate. And it isn't hitting anything, even without the spray arm attached, the gear that turns to turn the spray arm doesn't move.

 

[Jake]

Your not understanding, if the filter is not broken or clogged, you will need to replace the wash motor to fix this problem, you only replaced the diverter motor, if you don't want to replace the wash motor, then its time to go dishwasher shopping.

Whirlpool and KitchenAid have the most problematic wash motors, Maytag has a very strong and reliable wash motor.

Jake

 

[louisd]

If the wash motor was broken wouldn't that lead to either lack of water, lack of water pressure, etc? How would the wash motor being bad cause the lower arm, which is driven by a separate motor from turning? But yet water comes out of the non-rotating lower arm at high pressure and the top rack washes perfectly. How does all that add up to a wash motor problem?

 

[Jake]

Wait, you are correct, on this style the diverter motor and lower wash spray motor are incorporated together in this one unit.

Here's the diverter motor/lower spray arm motor for your model:
Diverter Motor W10843811


You said you already replaced it and that did not fix it.

So its possibly the control board is the culprit: Cntrl-Elec W11341628

I'm attaching your tech. data sheet below.

Do what it says to do at error code 9-4:
(click to enlarge)


(click to enlarge)


Jake

 

[jdcolorado]

Mine had the same issue - lower spray arm not rotating. Water pressure fine so not a pump issue. The diverter part of the motor works as you can hear it switch from top to bottom. My first failure was the wiring in the door. Too much insulation pushing the wires against the rubberized spray coating on the inside of the door. The wires overheated and the 5v line to the motor melted. You can acutally see the insulation browning on the maybe 18-20g wire. I cut and spliced in three new "red" wires to from under the controller to just above the plastic channel at the bottom. That fixed it for about a year now it stopped again. Ugh. The tech manual that came with the unit doesn't seem to match the diagnostic steps that I'm trying to count from the display. Why they didn't just display the step on the 7 segment is beyond me. I'm an EE so this is unforgivable really. Time to chase this down again - what a PITA. The arm doesn't move and the error code isn't there so it probably thinks the arm is moving but can't sense it.