Dishwasher Chopper Assembly

1) Remove top and bottom dish baskets from the dishwasher, this will give you room to work. To remove top basket there are clips at the end of the slide rails.
2) Remove lower spray arm by unscrewing plastic screw, it should only be hand tight.
3) In order to remove the strainer cover, you will need to remove the plastic tube that takes water to the middle and top spray arms. Unclip this tube from the top and middle clips and then work it out of the strainer assembly tube. Now you should be able to remove the tube at the bottom of the dishwasher by unscrewing it 1/4 turn.
4) Remove the strainer cover by unscrewing the 4 Torqs screws.
5) You will now see two smaller torqs screws that hold the hold the Chopper Assembly cover down. Take these two screws out and remove the two piece cover.
6) Pull out the broken Chopper Assembly, make sure you get all the pieces!
7) Install the new Chopper Assembly. Make sure that you install the Assembly with the small part of the screen towards the bottom of the housing. Also make sure you compress the spring as you install the part. I used a small pair of neddle nose pliers to compress the spring behind the screen in order to install the chopper assembly.
8) Put everything back together and make sure it works!

Had to take apart dishwasher and replace chopper assembly. The dishwasher had a lot of debris in in including pieces of broken plastic forks. Now works great

I removed the plasic inner parts, used the torx drivers to remove the internal platic plate that covered the sump. Found the food chopper cover and removed it. It had gotten a piece of plastiic wrapped around it. As it spun it had ground the teeth off the end of the drive on the impellor and the food chopper. I replace both as a set and it works fine.

Took racks out, loosen screw on top and back then twist feed tube to right and whole assembly can be removed. Now you should be able to see some torx screws; remove those and then remove the piece they were holding down, from there you'll see another screw, remove it and the piece and so on until there are no more screws. Now there is the food chopper cover that needs to be removed; mine was stuck there. You should notice some ribs underneath that allow the water to be sucked in while keeping really big pieces out; I got a pair of channel-locks, opened them all the way and was able to slip one of the pieces under the cover and pull straight up, once off you will see the chopper covvered in food. I cleaned mine off and it looked good, but when I put it back and stuck my finger down teh discharge tube and turned the pump, the chpper did not turn. when I put the new one in and did the same test it did turn. If the chopper is still fits in the slot, it can be cleaned and put back and work for several washes while the part is shipped. I went ahead and changed the check valve since I had it opened which is just to the right of the chopper(all you can see is a little slit and some black rubber). Use some needle nose and pull it out. I would not do this unless you plan on changing it, I pulled mine out to look at it and when I put it back so I could order the parts the dishwasher never drained properly. When you compare a new one with an old one you will see what I mean, you can drop a new one right in but the old one you will have to force in (gets water logged over time and expands). This job is very easy and a lot cheaper than a new DW...and your wife will be impressed, so do not be intimidated.

Took the two baskets out and removed the spinners which simply clip on. The bottom center spinner screws on/off using a tab in the center. Then removed four screws holding the filter cover in place. Then removed the one screw holding on the chopper cover and removed cover. Old chopper came out easily. Then rinsed and washed everything down to clean out all of the disgusting stuff that was clogging the unit. Put the new chopper in place, put chopper cover on and everything else in place and it now cleans like it was brand new!

Several hours to diagnose problem: Removed all the plastic water distribution tubes to top rack and found no blockages. removed lower water jets, drain screens using star driver on 6 screws. still could find now blockages. decided problem had to be in pump mounted below unit so completely disconnected unit and removed from under counter. Upon removing lower plate below door I discovered a plastic pouch containing an excellent trouble shooting guide with complete dis-assembly instructions and parts breakout diagrams with P/N listings! First thing I discovered from this was that the chopper assembly was hiding under a plastic cover just under the filter screen I had already removed. The trick was to press down on the right side of the plate to get it to pop up and reveal the chopper. The whole chopper assembly slides out without tools. I found the strainer plate behind the chopper blade totally plugged as the blade had broken off the plastic drive shaft because the retaining knob on the end of the shaft had broken off. I was able to drill and tap the shaft and install a SS machine screw with washer to reassemble the chopper blade on the shaft. Not expecting this "Joe Maggee" repair to last more than a few cycles I went online with the P/N and googled PartSelect. Placed the order and chose std delivery over 2day or next day since I expected the repair to last for the week. I put everything back together and the first load came out perfect! This was Sunday afternoon. Tuesday the part arrived at my doorstep! 15 minutes and the new part was in. My "Joe Maggee" repair is now in the junk drawer awaiting the next pistachio shell that gets run through the washer.

Primarily, I read the instructions on line and watched the great videos explaining the repair. While the DW was out, I decided to change out the Drain Pump and the Chopper Assembly, even though only the Circulation Pump and Motor was my problem. These three items are the primary mechanical wear components and it made sense to me to replace these items. Perhaps I'll get another 10 years out of the DW. Two notes about the repairs. If you replace the chopper it isn't clear in the video where exactly it fits into the housing as the video mechanic did a great job of blocking the view of this part of the procedure. It took me awhile to figure out the chopper screen didn't go in the narrow trough, but just outside of that trough. Also, to lubricate the gaskets when putting the motor and the drain pump back in, I use a light coating of petroleum jelly. It is a good lubricant to facilitate the insertion of the both pumps. The pumps slid in easily and there were no leaks when I test ran the DW outside of the cabinetry. If you have a modicum of mechanical ability this job is a very simple, straight forward process. Good Luck!

Started as dishes not getting clean and I observed that the top arm was not spinning and there was very low water pressure coming out of the jets. After making sure the water level was up to the bottom of the heating element and making sure the jets were not clogged I checked the filter and chopper. It was a little tough to get the cover off of the chopper but once I did I could see that the chopper scraper was broken off and the shaft was broken. The screen was all clogged up with stuff. Ordered a new assembly and put it in making sure to compress the spring and make sure the gears lined up. Now it is running great.
I think the Kitchenaid is the same as the Whirlpools.

I noticed some residue in the dishwasher so I decided to clean the chopper screen. I dismantled the screen and spray assemblies and removed the chopper. The chopper was extremely worn and the chopper washer/gasket was missing. I reassembled the parts I removed and as I was placing the screws in the screen assembly I dropped a screw into the impeller well. Since the screws are stainless I was forced to remove the whole motor assembly. Since I had to order a chopper I went ahead and ordered a motor assembly gasket for reassembly. The mistake I made was not ordering a drain valve at the same time for when I removed the valve to clean it the rubber separated. The dishwasher will not function without it. This is where PartsSelect really came through for me. The 2-3 day shipping came in 2 days and the drain valve which was really going to hold me up with standard shipping came the very next day! Way to go PartsSelect! Everything went back together just fine.

I cleaned the chopper and screen a few times and it continued to get blocked after a couple of cycles. Replaced the chopper assembly and now it works find.