Pro tip: Read the manual 
My dishwasher was installed when I had the house built in 1992 making it now over 33 years old. It's a KitchenAid and it was always a great appliance and back in the day it was one of the quieter dishwashers you could buy. This last year I started to notice it wasn't performing as well as it used to and I suspected it was getting time to replace it. Then the last three loads the dishes clearly were not being washed and had the appearance of a steam clean with no water agitation and when it ran it clearly was quieter. But, I've been extremely busy with other projects the past few weeks so figured that during July 4th weeks I'd find a good sale.
I started looking at the ads but realized I'm not sure when I'll have time to install the new one if I get one. Thought I'd find the manual that came with the dishwasher...something I never had read before. LOL. Figured maybe I'll see something that just might help it get to the finish line until I can install a new dishwasher. Anyhow, I'm glad I took the time to flip through it as I learned there are a few maintenance type things to look for beyond just the coarse strainer which I knew about and occasionally cleaned out. I didn't realize that part of maintenance includes making sure the water jets on the spinning wash arm are not clogged and that there's a ultrafine filter that should be inspected. Further, I didn't realize how easy it is to simply lift up on both the wash arm and the filter to remove them. Most of the jets on the wash arm were clogged and when I pulled out the ultrafine filter I about tossed by breakfast. Eww gross....mostly plugged up with pink fatty deposits of gunk. Looked like it might contain the next strain of bird flu, covid or some sort of brain eating alien lifeform.
Anyhow, cleaned the crud out then restarted ye ol' dishwasher and wow, ran like it was new again. Before you toss out the dishwasher do your due diligence and read the manual....the section on maintenance. It's a great way to put a frowny face on your wife/girlfriend who was hoping to get a new fancy and expensive dishwasher.
My dishwasher was installed when I had the house built in 1992 making it now over 33 years old. It's a KitchenAid and it was always a great appliance and back in the day it was one of the quieter dishwashers you could buy. This last year I started to notice it wasn't performing as well as it used to and I suspected it was getting time to replace it. Then the last three loads the dishes clearly were not being washed and had the appearance of a steam clean with no water agitation and when it ran it clearly was quieter. But, I've been extremely busy with other projects the past few weeks so figured that during July 4th weeks I'd find a good sale.
I started looking at the ads but realized I'm not sure when I'll have time to install the new one if I get one. Thought I'd find the manual that came with the dishwasher...something I never had read before. LOL. Figured maybe I'll see something that just might help it get to the finish line until I can install a new dishwasher. Anyhow, I'm glad I took the time to flip through it as I learned there are a few maintenance type things to look for beyond just the coarse strainer which I knew about and occasionally cleaned out. I didn't realize that part of maintenance includes making sure the water jets on the spinning wash arm are not clogged and that there's a ultrafine filter that should be inspected. Further, I didn't realize how easy it is to simply lift up on both the wash arm and the filter to remove them. Most of the jets on the wash arm were clogged and when I pulled out the ultrafine filter I about tossed by breakfast. Eww gross....mostly plugged up with pink fatty deposits of gunk. Looked like it might contain the next strain of bird flu, covid or some sort of brain eating alien lifeform.
Anyhow, cleaned the crud out then restarted ye ol' dishwasher and wow, ran like it was new again. Before you toss out the dishwasher do your due diligence and read the manual....the section on maintenance. It's a great way to put a frowny face on your wife/girlfriend who was hoping to get a new fancy and expensive dishwasher.
then recruited some poor sap to clean it up