Maytag dishwasher how to diagnose what is wrong with it?

Question

I have dishwasher Maytag model# MDB7600AWS. Waranty just expired. The push button "start/cancel" and "normal wash" are not reacting, every other button is reacting. I thought, since those two buttons are most used, that control panel( the outside plastic piece with control buttons) is bad. But somebody else told me that control board usually goes bad on that model. Could anybody tell how I can find out what is wrong. Both parts are individually more than 100$. I know I have a choice to call serviceman and end up paying fat bill! So I would rather not. Any suggestion is welcome! thanks!

Answer 1

I don't really have the answer to your question, but I've got the same model and it's the worst dishwasher we've ever owned.  I just had to pay $40 for a slide for the upper rack because the plastic wheel, which is all I needed was discontinued.  How the heck to you discontinue a wheel???  I had the other slide replaced under warranty.  Wish I could help, but thanks for letting me vent.

Answer 2

Possible you have an electrical contact burn, it's worth the few dollars at Radio Shack for a spray can of Electrical Contact Cleaner, make sure you get the little plastic straw that comes with it. With the circuit breaker for the dishwasher OFF. Spray a little of the cleaner along the sides of the buttons. Push the buttons three /four times to clean the contacts. Wait 15 minutes to make sure the contacts are dry. Turn the Circuit breaker ON. See if that helps. Do not use WD40!

Answer 3

check out repairclinic.com they have a free diagnostic service. The also sell repair parts. I used them and now my dish washer is working fine.

Answer 4

First, I would go to the breaker and cut the power off to the dishwasher then back on to clear the board, reboot it. Try that.

Since you say the touch panel and the board are separate parts then they are connected with a flat ribbon. Where that ribbon connects to the board is a place where you often can have a bad connection. It is not unusual for me to disconnect the ribbon and reinstall it to cure the connection problem.

You need to be careful doing this (power off). There is a catch on both sides of the receiver connection that raises a little bar to loosen the ribbon. When you put it back on it tightens it and locks it in. They are a little easy to break if you don't know what you are doing.

As to determining which is bad, if it is, I think the only way is to ohm out the touch pad using the ribbon and check that. You need a good tech manual, schematic,  to know what connects to what.

Good Luck.