I have Maytag MDB7100AWQ dishwasher s/n 27283997AC purchased in 2002. Until this year, it has worked fine. Now it doesn't seem to be cleaning our corelle plates, and any food residue is distributed and dried on all the dishes & glasses in the washer. We're using Cascade 2in1 detergent. No problem draining. Could food be getting trapped somewhere and can it be fixed ourselves?

Janice Endler, March 2008

Take the lower spinner off and remove the screws holding the assembly to the base. I seems like there are 6 of them. Remove and clean the wrap around screen. Also clean any junk from the top and bottom spinners. I have to do this about once a year. Try not to wash anything with labels on them.

Mark, October 2008

Hi, I found the same problem with an older dishwasher and it was leaving the dishes with a sort of sandy residue over everything. I unscrewed everything inside and at the bottom of the dishwasher and it's now working much better. I think mine just needed a complete clear out of the pump etc. I hope this helps.

Larissa, May 2008