Vent: I accidentally fixed my dishwasher by dropping a butter knife into the drain pump

So yesterday I was trying to unstick a spin arm on my old GE unit and dropped a butter knife straight into the bottom. I panicked, fished it out, and somehow the whole thing started running quiet for the first time in 6 months. Turns out the knife might have knocked loose a chunk of debris in the drain pump. Has anyone else fixed something by pure clumsy accident like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_butler381d agoMost Upvoted

You probably jostled the impeller loose or broke up a gunk ring around the pump shaft. Common problem on older GE models where the drain pump gets packed with crud. If it starts acting up again pop the bottom cover off and give the pump housing a good tap with a screwdriver handle from the side. That usually frees up whatever a falling knife would knock loose. Had a fridge ice maker that stopped working for a year until I accidentally kicked the panel and it kicked back on.

irishenderson20h ago

Did you ever try tapping the pump housing like adam suggested? I had a similar thing happen with my old washing machine where it wouldn't drain no matter what I did. One day I dropped a plastic bottle cap near it while trying to scrape out some lint and accidentally jammed it into the drain hose opening, which somehow dislodged a buildup of hair and soap scum that had been blocking the water flow for months. That little boost fixed the whole draining issue and it ran perfect for another year until I finally replaced it.