I had one major task this long weekend: to find a leak somewhere in our kitchen. We have had several, and they are hard to localize as we have a click lock floor, so the water travels under the floor, and you cannot see the source.

No, not the fridge since I long ago replaced the water hoses the kitties like to play with in copper.

No, not the pipes behind the sink; I crawled thru under the sink and it is dry.

No, not under the stairs, that is easy to see over the oil burner.

Huh? My only hint was it seemed near the dish washer. DISH WASHER? That uses water, right? Pulled it out and immediately saw the "Water Inlet Valve Assembly AP6012920 Whirlpool PN AP6012920" was dripping, and pretty fast too.

What I have to love about the interwebs is the information you can dig up fast. I gave repairclinic.com my model number and clicked "dishwasher leaking" under "common problems" and the first thing was my part. They are great, but I also cross check with appliancepartspros.com who had a better total deal on another widget I want.

This dish washer is around 15 years old now, still works like a champ though I have fixed it several times. Usually it is just clogged around the macerator, which chokes on bones and glass, though sometimes the macerator itself needs a change.

I get a huge sense of accomplishment every time I fix this thing and we get another couple of years out of it.

 

Congrats...
The "Yes.. I fixed it" feeling is always great...

Who puts bones in their dish washer though? Bones go in the trash before you put the plate into the dishwasher..
My sister does the same crap.. If its on the plate when shes finished eating it goes into the dishwasher.. She is constantly complaining that its clogged/needs to have the filter basket cleaned/chunks left on plates/spots on glass,etc...

 

Score one for DIY! Well done.

The internet makes this type of project sooooo much different than the old days. Now you can often read a number directly off a part, do a search, and before long find the modern number for that part and the world's lowest cost source for it. I remember when you were lucky to have the parts diagram, and super lucky to find that Sears still stocked your part. Then you'd learn that this minor part cost nearly half as much as a new dishwasher. Unless you had a mole in the business, you had no idea there were alternatives.