JennAir Dishwasher Repair

Homeowners can count on Sears Home Services as the local industry leader in home appliance repair. If you own a Jenn-Air dishwasher, count on us when you need unexpected repairs or regular appliance maintenance.

Like most major brands, Jenn-Air dishwashers need basic upkeep as they get older. Our knowledgeable technicians are trained to identify issues, replace wearing seals and attachments, and improve overall efficiency.

Sears is an appliance repair company you can count on. With thousands of dishwasher repairs scheduled every year, the knowledgeable appliance repair experts at Sears Home Services are ready to help you with the Jenn-Air service you need.

Not Cleaning Dishes Right

Load it up, run a cycle, open the door expecting clean dishes. Instead, you've got food stuck all over everything. This is not what you paid premium dollars for.

• Spray arms get clogged more than you'd think. All those little holes spray water at your dishes. Food particles and hard water deposits block them up over time. Take them out and look through the holes toward a light. Can't see through? They're clogged. Poke a toothpick or small wire through each hole. Sounds tedious but it works.
• Water temperature matters big time with JennAir dishwashers. They need hot water to activate the detergent properly. Check what's coming into the dishwasher. Water temperature should be at least 120 degrees. Too cold and the detergent just sits there like a lump, not cleaning much.
• Filter screens get disgusting on these models. JennAir uses a filtration system instead of a hard food disposer. It makes them quieter but means you need clean the filter regularly. It's usually a cylinder in the bottom of the tub. Twist and pull it out. Rinse it under the tap. Crud built up there means dirty water just recirculates onto your dishes.

Detergent Issues

The dispenser door sticks sometimes. It should pop open during the main wash. If it stays shut, detergent never gets released. The spring mechanism wears out or gets gunked up with old detergent residue. Clean around the spring and door edges. This might help fix the problem. If not, you’ll need to schedule dishwasher repair service.

Those detergent pods can cause problems too. Sometimes they don't always dissolve right in JennAir's cycle patterns. They can get stuck in the dispenser or fall to the bottom without dissolving properly. Regular powder or liquid dishwasher detergent sometimes works better in these machines.

Strange Noises During Cycle

JennAirs are supposed to be whisper quiet. New noises mean something's not right.

• Grinding or crunching sounds usually mean something's caught in the pump. Small bits of glass, broken toothpicks, fruit stickers - all kinds of junk finds its way down there. The pump gets jammed up trying to chew through it. You’ll need to take the bottom spray arm off and remove the pump cover to check for debris in the pump. Have an appliance repair technician check the pump if you’re not confident that you can safely do it yourself.
• Buzzing or humming without any water movement means a pump or motor problem. The pump is trying to run but something's stuck or burned out. Have a technician check the dishwasher when you suspect pump problems.
• Clicking rapid-fire often means the the control board's struggling. Relays trying to engage but failing. Not a good sign. Control boards are expensive for JennAir models. Get professional help to fix a control problem so you don’t waste money buying unnecessary repair parts.

Leaking Water

Water on the floor around a dishwasher never makes anybody happy. JennAirs leak for several common reasons.

• Door gaskets harden and crack over time. They're supposed to be soft and pliable to form a watertight seal. After years of heat cycles and cleaning chemicals, they get stiff. Don't seal properly anymore. Water escapes around the door during wash cycles. Usually worse on the bottom corners.
• The water inlet valve leaks on older models. It's behind the lower access panel, connected to your water supply line. The valve body cracks or the seals inside fail. Either way, water drips constantly, not just during wash cycles. Floor damage happens quickly if it's not caught.
• Pump and motor seals fail too. Let water escape from the bottom of the machine. Usually see it coming from underneath, not from the door area. Taking the pump apart is delicate work. Lots of small parts that need to go back exactly right.

Drain Problems

Drain pumps quit working properly. Your cycle ends but there's standing water in the bottom. The pump might make noise but it's not pushing water out like it should. The impeller inside gets corroded or something's blocking it.

Drain hoses kink or get clogged. The ribbed hose from the dishwasher to your garbage disposal gets gunked up over years of use. Food particles build up like plaque in arteries. Eventually nothing gets through. Replacing the hose is easier than trying to clean it out.

Check the drain setup too. JennAirs need the drain hose up in a high loop before it connects to the disposal or drain. Without that high loop, dirty water from the sink drains back into your clean dishwasher.

Control Panel Not Working

Those sleek touch controls look great until they stop responding. Push the buttons and nothing happens. Or the display shows gibberish.

Moisture gets behind the panel. These are electronic components that hate water. Ironic for a dishwasher. Steam seeps in over time or liquid runs down the door and finds a path inside. Causes short circuits or corrosion on the traces. Sometimes drying it out helps temporarily.

Power surges fry the electronics too. One good lightning strike and your fancy control panel becomes an expensive piece of plastic. Surge protectors help but most folks don't use them on dishwashers.

Ribbon cables work loose sometimes. They connect the touch panel to the main control board. The door opening and closing thousands of times makes them fatigue or disconnect. Reseating them sometimes fixes the issue, but getting to them means taking half the door apart.

Not Filling With Water

• The water inlet valve gets clogged with minerals. Especially in hard water areas. It's a small electrically-controlled valve that lets water into the tub. When it gets restricted or fails completely, not enough water gets in. The control board eventually gives up and shows an error code.
• Float switches get stuck too. There's a safety mechanism in the bottom of the tub that prevents overfilling. If it gets stuck in the "full" position, the dishwasher thinks it's already got enough water and won't let more in. Look for a little plastic dome or cylinder in the tub bottom. Lift it up and down a few times to free it up.
• Sometimes it's just water pressure. JennAirs need decent water pressure to operate right. If your home's pressure is low, the machine struggles to fill properly. Pressure reducing valves on the house main sometimes get adjusted too low.

Cycle Takes Forever

Modern JennAirs run longer cycles than old-school dishwashers. That's normal. But when it runs for 3+ hours for a normal load, something's wrong.

• Faulty heating elements take too long to heat the water. These dishwashers heat water during the cycle for better cleaning. When the element starts to fail, it still works but takes forever to reach the right temperature. The control board waits for target temp before moving to the next cycle stage. You're stuck waiting.
• Water temperature sensors get faulty readings. If the sensor tells the machine the water's not hot enough yet, it keeps heating. But if the sensor is bad, the water might already be plenty hot. Wasted time and electricity.
• Some models have load sensing technology. They adjust cycle time based on how dirty they think your dishes are. Sensors get confused sometimes and run longer than needed. Try the shortest manual cycle option instead of auto cycles to test this.

When To Call For Help

Some JennAir dishwasher issues you can tackle yourself. Cleaning the filter, checking for clogged spray arms, making sure nothing's blocking the pump intake - basic maintenance keeps things running right.

But for electrical problems, water damage to electronic components, or anything requiring special tools, calling us makes sense. Our dishwasher service techs work on high-end appliances like JennAir all the time. They’re factory training on these specific models means we know what to look for.

We stock parts for popular JennAir dishwashers on our service trucks. We often fix problems in one visit instead of ordering parts and returning days later to install them. And we stand behind our work with solid guarantees. Customer reviews show we get it right.

Give us a call when your JennAir needs expert attention. No reason for a premium dishwasher to sit broken when we've probably fixed that exact problem dozens of times before. You invested in quality - make sure the repairs match.