# New Maytag dishwasher leaking!



## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

Brand new Maytag MDB7759SAB dishwasher.

First leak noticed coming from the right front, soapy water, slowed down toward the end of the cycle, coming from the white piece in the first pic below. Inside the dishwasher there's a dome-shaped plastic piece that rotates and moves up and down, seems to be actuated by a little black rod that's inside the white piece in the pic:











Next cycle only got a few drops, 3rd cycle same few drops in the right front, but now getting a larger leak from the left front. Couldn't tell where it was coming from but this is what it looked like:











4th cycle I switched from the pre-packed squares of detergent to liquid detergent, filled up the soap receptacle half-way to the "soft water" line.
This went really bad, lots of foamy water leaking from the base of the door, left/right/middle/you name it.
Stopped the cycle, soaked up all the mess, opened the door and was greeted by this:










*After I soaked up all the mess with paper towels:*











Needless to say I'm super-pissed ... brand new $600 dishwasher and it's leaking!
Tomorrow I have flooring people coming to install new vinyl tile in the kitchen and I have a leaking dishwasher that I'm afraid to use cuz it might damage the new flooring.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

And your asking a bunch of complete strangers this question because?
Contact the manufacturer directly.
Cancel the flooring people ASAP.
You installed the dishwasher before the flooring went in because?
Is that partical board that was used as an underlayment?


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## sublime2 (Mar 21, 2012)

Is there a question in there somewhere?


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

joecaption said:


> And your asking a bunch of complete strangers this question because?
> Contact the manufacturer directly.
> Cancel the flooring people ASAP.
> You installed the dishwasher before the flooring went in because?
> Is that partical board that was used as an underlayment?


Well, the new flooring will be 1/8" thick so I'm not worried about getting the dishwasher stuck in there or anything like that. The old linoleum didn't go all the way to the wall under the old dishwasher so I figured the new vinyl tile can be installed to the legs of the dishwasher and then the dishwasher's lower trim gets installed and hides the rest.

I just left a message for the flooring company to reschedule but I'm probably gonna still see them ... the store doesn't open till 10am and these guys are supposed to be here between 8-9AM this morning ...

The wood seen in the pic is part of the base of the cabinet next to the dishwasher 

As far as to why I wrote all of the above, I was hoping somebody would know a way to get it to stop leaking from that white plastic piece under the right front, and also if there's a way to adjust the door to make a better seal so the foamy water doesn't leak through the bottom anymore.


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## djlandkpl (Jan 29, 2013)

Check to see if the unit is level. 

Did you use liquid detergent designed for dishwashers? Dishwasher detergent doesn't foam like that.


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

djlandkpl said:


> Check to see if the unit is level.
> 
> Did you use liquid detergent designed for dishwashers? Dishwasher detergent doesn't foam like that.



I just looked at the bottle and it says hand soap ... my bad on that one, but it leaked when using the nuFinish soap pack too so something's still up

I'll have to check the level-ness ... I never did that during install since, going by the instructions, there were no adjustments needed to the legs or the rear wheels to have it fit the opening height


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## djlandkpl (Jan 29, 2013)

I believe the white dome you are referring to is the overflow. If water is getting out of the door, I suspect the unit is tilted forward by a lot. Still doesn't explain the leak unless it was from the door and it dripped backwards into the cabinet.


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

djlandkpl said:


> I believe the white dome you are referring to is the overflow. If water is getting out of the door, I suspect the unit is tilted forward by a lot. Still doesn't explain the leak unless it was from the door and it dripped backwards into the cabinet.


No leaks at the back, I've been on the floor with a flashlight looking under there checking for leaks during every load, and the only leak is at the front.

As far as being level, it's slightly tilted forward :










And this is the dome-shaped plastic piece that spins that's connected to that white part under the dishwasher that's leaking:


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## djlandkpl (Jan 29, 2013)

The round thing is your overflow. Not sure if it should spin. Perhaps it should be tight and that's why it is leaking. 

Before you get it replaced/repaired under warranty, try leveling the unit. Since it is titled forward, the water will be higher at the door side and water could be leaking. One way to test is to run the dishwasher. Once it stops filling open the door see where the water level is in relationship to the door opening.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

It is leaking, because you used the wrong soap, so in turn the water float sensor, is causing overfill. If you just bought it, contact where you got it from, they will take a look at it. If there is signs that you used the wrong soap in there, you may find yourself SOL, and then have to buy the parts to repair, or buy a new one out of pocket, due to may not be covered by manufacturer warranty.

These units are tested on the line, before they are packaged, to make sure they do not leak. Also it should be removed before flooring goes in, no matter how thin or thick it is, you do not want the unit in there when the flooring goes in.

If I had to make an educated guess, either someone placed too much strain on the box where the water line connection is, and cracked it during install, water pressure is too high, or the hose is not attached properly, which is causing leaking.

Take it out to the garage and hook it up out there, and run to see if it leaks out there. Also is the rubber washer inside that female hose fitting where the inline water connection is?


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

How high would the water level be?

I wouldn't want to open the door and have the dishwasher be half-full and have all that water pour everywhere ...

I know I sound like a total novice, but that's cuz I am, lol


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

gregzoll said:


> It is leaking, because you used the wrong soap, so in turn the water float sensor, is causing overfill. If you just bought it, contact where you got it from, they will take a look at it. If there is signs that you used the wrong soap in there, you may find yourself SOL, and then have to buy the parts to repair, or buy a new one out of pocket, due to may not be covered by manufacturer warranty.
> 
> These units are tested on the line, before they are packaged, to make sure they do not leak. Also it should be removed before flooring goes in, no matter how thin or thick it is, you do not want the unit in there when the flooring goes in.
> 
> ...


I removed the old one myself, I installed the new one myself.
No leaks coming from the water-supply lines or the connection box. Yes, the rubber washers are all there.
All the leaks are soapy water.
No garage here, I live on the 4th floor of a 6-story condo building.
I saw soapy water traveling down that white piece of plastic (inside it, where the circled area is in the pic in the first post above).
During that last cycle that leaked the most, I stuck my hand up behind the door and felt soapy water leaking down all along the edge of the door


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Again, that is beause you used the wrong soap. Looks like you are sragging it down multiple flights of stairs, to flush out all that hand soap.


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

I only used the hand soap during the last cycle. 

Until the, the previous THREE cycles (which all had leaks) I used "finish Quantum" pre-measured capsules, as the package says ...


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

Well, checked the level and it was leaning forward a bit, adjusted the front legs up, now sits level, ran 3-4 rinse cycles to get rid of the liquid soap that I ran through last night, and now using a Finish pre-packed soap capsule it seems OK doing a "light" load ... ONE dish in there, lol


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

You need to run it with NO soap or finish rinse, to flush everything out. Most have a purge cycle, that you press start/cancel, and they will purge all remaining water.

Do this for four cycles (no soap or rinse product), with a normal cycle, no heat, at te end, purge, then repeat.

Should be good to go after. We only use the solid Finish cubes in our dw, and have had better results than any other product out there. Hard to mess things up with those.


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

That's what I did.
3-4 rinse cycles with no soap. After the first one there was still a lot of foam in there so I reached in and scooped it out with my hand until only a bit was left, then ran the rinse cycle again 2-3 times, not heat-dry.

Yesterday when I told my buddy that sold me the thing that I'm having leaks, his Service Mgr had suggested to pour a half-cup of cooking oil in the thing and run it on hot.
Not sure what that was supposed to do, but before the 2nd or 3rd rinse cycle I did pour in some cooking oil over the bottom of the thing, just spreading it around, not a lot like it may sound. Then ran the rinse cycle, and now in this "light" load of one dish I poured a bit more cooking oil in it then added a Finish capsule. Just checked and still no leaks.
Color me amazed!
Levelling it (and using the right soap) took care of the leaks ...


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## djlandkpl (Jan 29, 2013)

Gabe9195 said:


> How high would the water level be?
> 
> I wouldn't want to open the door and have the dishwasher be half-full and have all that water pour everywhere ...
> 
> I know I sound like a total novice, but that's cuz I am, lol


Glad you got it working. Just FYI, the water level in the DW doesn't get higher than the overflow so there's no risk of unleashing a tidal wave if you open the door while it is running.


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## Gabe9195 (May 13, 2013)

djlandkpl said:


> Glad you got it working. Just FYI, the water level in the DW doesn't get higher than the overflow so there's no risk of unleashing a tidal wave if you open the door while it is running.


Thanks guys, you MADE me check that level and that's what seems to have fixed the leak.
Using the wrong soap aside, I still would've had a leak if it wasn't level.

The Service Manager from the place I bought it at just called me, told him everything I did and he told me I should be OK now with it being level, he said they actually prefer to sit tilted slightly backwards since there's no seal at the bottom of the door, the door's just shaped to deflect water away but no real seal there.

And apparently using the oil is to have it break down the suds from the wrong soap, so yeah, it helped


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## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

You are clearly using the wrong detergent. What did you put in there regular hand dishwashing liquid? Any dish washer will do that with a liquid soap that makes a lot of suds.

My sons girlfriend did that and I was in the basement working. It rained down there. She never owned a dishwasher and thought regular dish soap was OK. You never owned a dishwasher? 

Geez I just read the post on putting in cooking oil, I guess ill try soap in my fry daddy and see if that works.


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