Dispenser Door Latch Grommet

Took out about 7 torx screws to remove the inner door liner. Discovered evidence of leak coming from the sop dispenser latch, and noticed the grommet had turned soft and was torn. The grommet is only about 1" square. Used nut driver to remove two screws to remove latch assembly. Slipped old grommet off and put new one on, and reattached the latch. The foam seal at the bottom of the door looked worn, so we replaced it with weatherstripping from home improvement store. The main door seal was brittle, so we replaced it too - just grab an end and pull the old one out. The new one was installed by starting at one end and we just pushed it in place. We used a nut-driver to push it in - we were afraid a screwdriver might damage it. The new door seal required us to latch the door to get it to stay closed the fist couple of days, but now it has loosened up a bit and works as expected. And NO MORE LEAKS. Cost is much less than a new unit!

My dishwasher was leaking a small amount and it seemed to be happening during the last half of the cycle. The insulation at the bottom of the door was wet but not directly under the dishwasher by the motor etc. I tried the door gasket which was a simple 2 minute job but that didn't solve the issue. I took apart the door by removing the seven torx head screws on the inside (don't worry about the metal pieces on the sides with the phillips screws). I could see some white powdery build up and watermarks coming from the soap dispenser area. I thought maybe there was crack in the door. But after taking out the solonoid (it just snaps in and out) I could see light around the little latch that holds the soap dispenser door shut. I tried a bit of caulking but it just fell out after a day or so. Then I found the little grommet on PartsSelect.com. You have to take off a white plastic cover that covers the door latch mechanism - it snaps in and out on one point. A couple screws hold the plastic assembly in place. You can just remove the whole assembly, it doesn't need to be taken apart. Remove the old grey gasket around the latch and put the new one over the latch. It's more like a "boot" like around a shift lever in a car. Put the assembly back in with the latch going through the hole. Make sure the gasket covers the hole. Tighten the screws down, not so much as to tear the gasket but enough to be snug against it. Snap the white cover back on. Snap the solonoid back in place. Put the door back in place. Put the seven screws back in. You're all set - no leaks. The key to troubleshooting was that it started leaking during the rinse cycle after the soap dispenser latch had flipped up exposing the worn boot around the latch.

I originally thought the door gasket was leaking so I went to partselect on line to order the gasket. After seeing the repair story results, I also decided to order the soap dispenser grommet also. I first relaced the door gasket as that takes about 5 minutes (take the easy way first right,) I was wrong as it still leaked. I then took the 7 torx head screws off from the door and the inside section just lifts off exposing the underside and the real problem. The soap latch had been leaking and was obvious from the dried soap/water trail. You have to remove two small screws and the whole unit comes out very simply. I took the extra time to clean off the build up of soap and hard water before replacing the seal and remounting the soap dispensing latch assembly. Ran another load and no more leaks! Thanks for the advise and the really simple but accurate way to order parts. I will use this site if I ever need any other parts. Very helpful and quick deliver as well as reasonably priced.

removed the door gasket by just pulling it out and pushing the new one in its place. very easy, took five minutes at most. Then removed the 7 screws holding the inside of the door in place, removed the dispenser assembly, held by two drive screws and replaced the dispenser door latch grommet. Finally, removed the insulation foam gasket. Had to scrape the old adhesive from the door as the old a\gasket had disintegrated. This took the most time. Then just pressed the new foam gasket in place. Reading the comments from others was a big help. Don't think I would have replaced the dispenser grommet had I not been warned about it. I'm sure it was part of the problem. All is well now, no leaks.

I first changed the dispenser door latch grommet, which was very eazy except for the left side nut screw which was a little awkwaed to get to with the nut driver. Not a big problem but difficult enough that i stripped the threads (plastic) and had to get a larger screw which is working fine so far. Since the grommet didn't stop the leaking although it was obvious it was leaking from the soap trail. I ordered the gasket and got it very promptly put it on and guess what. Still leaked some. I discovered when they installed the dishwasher the door appeared to be warped. To fix this there are two door tension springs under the bottom panel. By adjusting these with a log screw driver problem finally solved.
It is good to have not only a great place to get parts but the idea's from others are terrific. Although this washer is 15 years old it looks new and now acts new. Thanks so much for good service and advise.

I removed the dishwasher to outside the house and examined it for signs of leakage. Found 2, one at the water injector and a second at the bottom right of the front door. In checking the water injector I found that a large roach had crawled in and died which was blocking the inlet into the dishwasher. I cleaned that out. I examined the door and seal but could not find any obvious source for the door leak. I purchased locally a door seal and installed it. I connected the dishwasher up to water and electricity using a grounded plug. I also hooked up a drain hose (be sure to put an elevated loop in it to keep the water from draining before being pumped out). I ran the dishwasher and found water still dripping from inside the front door during the wash cycle only. After unplugging the dishwasher, I removed the door's front decorative panel (2 screws, one on each outside lower edge) and began watching through one of the 1.5" holes punched in the door metal panel. I noted that during the wash cycle only, water was dripping from the area of the soap dispensor release mechanism. I the inner door plastic panel, by removing the seven screws. I also had to remove the dispensor release actuator since I could not pull the 2 wire connectors off without fearing I would break the mounting tabs off. I released the tabs that held in the actuator easily with my fingers freeing the actuator from the inner plastic panel. The only place that I could see an opening was the the release arm and its rubber seal. However the rubber seal was heavily caked with hardened detergent. Feeling that the seal rubber was probably hardened and cracked, I released it. I had to remove the release arm assembly held in with 2 screws. I reassembled the assembly with the new seal in and ran the dishwasher. No leaks. I did find that if I had just pulled the seal and rubbed it between my fingers the dried detergent would break off and the rubber itself was fine. Should have tried that first. I did replace the dispensor door because of crusted detergent on the door seal. I could not get the crusty stuff off without tearing the seal. I used a small thin punch to push the hinge pin (non spring side) from the plastic inner panel to the dispensor door side releasing the hinge and allowing the door to come out. Reinstalled the pins and spring into the new door. After putting the dispensor door in place, I pushed the hinge pin (non spring side) through the door hinge into the inner plastic panel.
I also wanted to improve the cleaning level that had decreased over the years. I removed the uppper pump housing by removing the hand nut on the lower spray bar then the 6 T-20 torx screws. Inside the plastic filter screen. I found that the screen was partially plugged by either minerals or dried detergent. The old one was stuck slightly to the lower pump housing. I tried to poke out the debris out of each of the screen holes but was taking way too long. I did not try chemicals but since I was ordering parts made sense to have a new one shipped in. You have to snap the new screen together and align the edges before inserting it into the lower pump housing. Reassemble the upper pump housing. Be sure to clean the filter spinning arms of debris along with the lower (and upper) spray arms befrore reassembling them. Ran the dishwasher a couple of full cycles to check for leaks and found none.
FYI, the dishwasher will not clean as well if you fill it with cold water and even with the heat element, the cycles take a very long time to run through to allow for heating the water. Once I reinstalled the dishwasher, I notice an improvement in cleaning.
Good luck.

1- turn power off. 2- remove 7 screws to take door apart 3- remove 2 screws to take dispenser out. 4- i unhooked electic plug from it. 5- replace grommet and all back together. not bad to be 72 years old.

I replaced the door latch grommet just as everyone else has described on this site. It was pretty easy. I was amazed that such a little piece of rubber can let so much water get by. The inlet valve was not too bad either. Take the two bolts out that hold the bracket to the dishwasher. Remove the rubber hose on the back side and take loose the two electrical connections. My water line was long enough to pull it out in front of the dishwasher. Then I took the water line loose and removed the fitting. Installed the new one in reverse order of what I just described. These items took care of the bulk of the leaking problem. But I am in the process of ordering a new door seal which I hope resolves the rest of the issue. Also make sure you check the upper and lower control arms to make sure the spray holes are free of debris. This dishwasher was full of pieces of clear plastic that caused the spray arms to spray indirectly and towards the cracks of the doors.

Myscanning other reviews i saw mention dishwahser developed a small leak on RHS of door. I assumed the door gasket and planned to order that. On of the dispenser gromet which is only a $5 part so ordered that as well. I first replaced the door gasket which is an easy 10 mins job and ran the dishwasher again, but it still leaked.

I then removed the 7 torx screws on the door panel which came away easily. It was obvious that water was in there, so i removed the two screw on the dispenser with a nutdriver to replace the grommet. This process took 20-30 mins. After reassembly the leak was gone.

Without the comments on the website i would never have thought of the disepenser as source of the problem.

I used a torx driver to remove the seven screws holding the inside door panel in place. Flipping it over exposed the dispenser mechanism. There were two hex nut screws holding the whole assembly in place and two wires attached to the wax motor. As an afterthought I had ordered the sealing grommet for the latch, and as it turned out, the main problem with the sticking latch was that the grommet had worn out and allowed the hard soapy water to leak into the slider assembly and build up a hard crusty residue that had helped to ware out the old wax motor. After completely disassembling all of the parts, I scrubbed the residue out of the housing, replaced the slider, latch, spring, and grommet. Next I snapped the new wax motor into place and connected the two wires. The whole thing went back in place and the two hex screws went back to hold it all together. Finally, the seven torx screws went back to put the door back together. The whole repair went without a hitch.