home Fix label Kitchen Appliances label_important Dishwashers category Kenmore

Kenmore ultra wash model 665.1601 Clean light flashes?

Clean light flashes 7 times, only function avaliable is to drain. Start flashes quickly when pressed.

Jeff, August 2005

home Fix label Kitchen Appliances label_important Dishwashers category Kenmoredone

WOW. Thank you. It works for me as well. You have made a lot of people happy.

Gary

Gary, May 2022

my whole panel was dead, nothing no lights,

hit :high Temp, then Heated dry 3 times, all lights came on hit cancel, now it works.

Dave, March 2014

Kenmore 665.1601 Ultrawash
Just did the sequence with the d/w closed;

HI TEMP
NORMAL WASH
HIGH TEMP
NORMAL WASH
All lights lit....waited
D/W started up,...I hit CANCEL
Works prefectly

Keith, September 2013

THANKS SO MUCH!!! After having to buy a new battery for my car only a few days ago, having a flat tire today, and then to suddenly discover my dishwasher was no longer functioning, it was a bad end to a bad week to say the least. Googled the problem (clean light repeatedly flashing), and found this site. Imagine my happiness to find that the "heat dry/normal/heat dry/normal" sequence, then "cancel" when all the lights lit up worked! YAY! I'm listening the the lovely sound of my dishwashwer washing dishes now. WOOT!

Holly, December 2011

i have found that the water temp thermistor has usually failed causing this problem to reoccur. replacing the thermistor should fix the problem

Jim, October 2011

Worked perfectly, you are a genius!

nick, August 2011

Thanks so much! Worked like a charm. What a great sight...

No service call. Yippie!

mthelibrarian, May 2011

My model is Kenmore Elite 665 13423K701 Ultra Wash HE.
The CLEAN light was blinking after I had lightning in my area.

I followed the below steps to reset and the Dishwasher is functioning normal again.
1. Heated Dry
2. Normal Wash
3. Heated Dry
4. Normal Wash
5. Heated Dry
6. Normal Wash
7. All lights lit now.
The dishwasher will function properly.

EdVid, April 2011

I had to hit high temp scrub and then energy save dry, twice through this sequence on my model to get the unit to reset. All lights lit up as described otherwise.

UnderPowered, January 2011

First time I had this problem, several years ago, Sears gave me the answer over the phone. It worked but occurred later and would not reset. Traced to a bad heater element. Easy to fix myself and diagnose. Sears response to the code the second time I called was, "That's why we offer the extended warranty!". My response was that should start taking pride in what they build and sell or they won't have to worry about warrenties as they won' be in business. Thanks for the Internet!!!

Lenny, August 2010

Our dishwasher was flashing seven times in a row, then stopped for two seconds and then started flashing again. We took the advice of hitting heated dry, then normal wash and then heated dry and then normal wash. All the lights lit up after this and I had to wait for the machine to start up and then I hit cancel. The machine reset only after I waited. Our dishwasher is four years old. Thanks to this advice from this site, I didn't have to pay any service call or even get my fingers dirty.

Tom, July 2010

Wow!!! WOW!!! Thank you to this Frank guy!!! The re-set sequence to fix my blinking clean light no doubt saved me loads of money and kept peace in the family.

Thank you!!! Thank you!!!

Rob C., April 2010

pushing the heat then normal then heat then normal then cancel after all the lights went on worked great. thank to everyone!!!!!! who should i send my check to (not sears). Thank again.

jeff, March 2010

Thank you so much for the help with the code sequence. Sears told us over the phone that there was no phone technicians to speak with about our flashing clean light problem. They made us schedule a $140 service call for someone to look at our dishwasher. This fix worked perfectly and saved us so much money. I am very upset with Sears for not sharing this easy fix over the phone with us. What a scam!

Amy, March 2010

Thank you all so much for this! This just saved me another$129 flat rate service call to sears. They are coming out on Jan 5 to look at my front loading washer...Sounds like a broken spider gear...basically have to replace the entire drum. Hopefully they'll see it's a mfr. warranty issue...only catch is bought dec. 2004, installed feb. 2005 and drum has 5yr. warranty. Wish us luck!

Erin, January 2010

i had the blinking green light i called sears and the book said something to do with heater circuit.did what i read her heated dry ,normal wash,heated dry normal wash and it reset the dishwasher.thank you .it shows me that when people share their knowledge out of love not fear great things happen. love and light paul.

paul, December 2009

Well... this did not work for my Kenmore piece of crap. I have tried this fix and nothing. So I replaced the heating element. Still flashing 7 times. I have tried the fix again. Still blinking 7 times. Please HELP!!!

Michele, November 2009

Very nice!!!!Worked for me also

paul, November 2009

Worked like a charm!! If you are getting this error just follow these directions:

To clear the flashing light code, hit 'heated dry' then 'normal wash', then 'heated dry' and 'normal wash' and then all lights will light up. Hit 'cancel' and it should be ready to rock.

"I was told the water temp. going into the machine was too cold and that you should run the water at the sink before starting the machine." Not sure this is true we have had ours 4.5 years and never had this problem before today. Ditto to all the Sears Sucks Sentiment (how's that for alliteration??"

Nick, November 2009

I have similar problem, but follow the tip of "Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Cancel" and it worked great. Thanks for the tip. Sears does suck. I will never buy anything from made of Sears.

AG, October 2009

I hate Sears, hate Sears, hate Sears. Of course blinking light started 1 month after warranty was up. Called them and charging 149 to come out and tell us what is wrong but for 259 they can come out tell us what's wrong and fix it "for free". This is the second sears dishwasher that have been screwed on, will never by from sears again- fortunately pressing normal wash and heated dry button worked for us. Sears customer service sucks- after they fixed first dishwasher (3 years old) costing us 378.00 and it broke 45 days later (30 day warrantly) we made the mistake of buying another sears dishwasher. I wrote them a letter telling them what happened and got the run around for over a month, promised phone calls telling us we would be reimbursed the 378 and finally someone from upper management calling us to tell us we should have never been told that and we were not going to get anything. Nice business Sears!

tz, August 2009

Unfortunately I'm not having the successes as all these other lucky folks. My blinking light continues to blink.... I refuse to call service people in! Any other suggestions. My model is 587.15248700

Marty, July 2009

Wow- what an easy solution- THANK YOU for sharing!!!! and saving us a ton of trouble, money and time!!

melissa, May 2009

that was a great solution.. what a joke this thing tells u to call a service professional for this... atleast the manual should tell u to try this first.

sammydee, October 2008

Hey, thanks this worked great. Saved us money for sure.

FRED, August 2008

Have tried the "Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Cancel" trick to reset the dishwasher and it worked great. Thanks!!!! Sears does suck and are very unhelpful

Ed, June 2008

Have had our Kenmore Ultra Wash 2 1/2 years and tried the "Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Hi Temp Wash, Heated Dry, Cancel" trick to reset the dishwasher and it worked great. Thanks. You should hear my horror story about my Kenmore front load washer. I will never buy Kenmore again and do major research on my future major appliance purchases.

Fred, February 2008

Just want to add another fix from the heated-normal-heated-normal-cancel trick. Frank, HowToMendIt.com, and Google, I love you. Sears, you suck.

Matt, February 2008

WOW That work like a charm!! Thank you Frank and Sears should be ashamed they don't provide this type of information and fixes.

Vincent, January 2008

And yet another one, you de man Frank.

Hamid, January 2008

Your Fix worked!!

Thank you Frank

KJ, January 2008

We just had the same problem and ended up on this forum through a google search and now we too THANK FRANK immensely!!!! We don't know who you are Frank, but we are so grateful that you took the time to answer this question and help all of us on this forum fix this problem quickly and inexpensively! Thank you!

dave, December 2007

Thanks for the tip. Hitting "heat dry/normal/heat dry/normal" in sequence, and then hitting "cancel" when all the lights lit up worked! This happened to us once before, last winter. We were told that we needed to run hot water in the sink to pre-heat the water so that the dishwasher did not think that the heating element had failed. This tip saved us an expensive visit by a Sears Technician. Sears would not give us this info over the phone. So much for customer service.

Gate Pratt, December 2007

Wow, the code resetting advice worked like a charm and saved me major $$$. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?? Al Gore, thank you for creating it:)

Billy B in Florida, December 2007

We too had the same problem and the first time it happend Sears actually gave us the "code sequence". It just happened again about a year later and they would not let us speak to a technician but wanted one to come out. I neglected to write down the "code" so decided to Google the problem. Thank you FRANK for sharing!!! Worked like a charm and all is back on track again. Must be cold time of year and the water temp in the pipes are down. Bless you!

Bob, December 2007

I had the same problem with the clean light flashing and the washer would do nothing but drain. Your quick fix of Hit Heated Dry, Normal Wash, Heated Dry, Normal Wash (one at a time, within six seconds) worked like a charm. Thanks

Mark S., October 2007

Thanks Frank! The same thing just happened to my 1 year-old Kenmore ultrawash. My wife called for service scheduled for tomorrow and they mande no mention over the phone about trying the normal wash & heated dry, normal wash & heated, cancel sequence. I did it and it worked perfectly. My dishes are washing as I am writing this email and I cancelled the service appointment. That's $70 saved.

I am, however, disappointed in Sears for not mentioning this fix over the phone. I have had good experiences with Sears service in the past, but now I have my suspicions.

Jamey, September 2007

wow Frank, you are a lifesaver! Tahnks

Art, August 2007

I had this same problem after owning this ultra wash for only 1 and a half years. I called Sears assuming they would help me, considering this dishwasher is virtually brand new. Can you believe that those JACK*SSES would not tell me how to perform this simple task over the phone?!? They wanted me to arrange a service call, have somebody come to my house to do what? - run the water in the sink and press 5 buttons!?! Mor*n on the other end of the phone told me liability issues were the reason they couldn't give me any guidance. What a crock!!

This is a SCAM of the highest order. Magic how everybody's dishwasher is crapping out shortly after the warranty expiration. Sears and Kenmore should twist in the wind for this kind of service (lack of). I'm going to tell everybody I know this story and I will never buy a Kenmore product again.

Wayne, August 2007

Frank, you're incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have had our Kenmore Ultra Wash for a year and a half when the clean light started flashing. What an easy fix.

Mark, July 2007

I just tried Franks fix, and the machine seems to be working fine.

Brian, July 2007

I had the same exact problem and Frank's advice worked perfectly! Frank, whoever you are, my wife and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You saved us a lot of money and aggravation from a service call. How did you ever figure that out? Thanks again.

Lance, March 2007

I just applied Franks fix and the light went off and the washer is working. How in the world did he know to do this?

Jerry, February 2007

When I do this, the error is cleared and I can run the d/w. But the error recurs. Of course, I am now pre-heating the water by running the sink, but this has not been done on a regular basis. The d/w is about 1 yr old.

Tom, June 2006

Frank's a genius. Thanks!

CFB, April 2006

I had this exact problem and Frank's answer fixed the washer. Thanks Frank

Richard, April 2006

I was told the water temp. going into the machine was too cold and that you should run the water at the sink before starting the machine.
To clear the flashing light code, hit 'heated dry' then 'normal wash', then 'heated dry' and 'normal wash' and then all lights will light up. Hit 'cancel' and it should be ready to rock.
frank

frank, February 2006

Hi,
Our new Kenmore ultra wash dishwasher was installed yesterday and the first time we used it the clean light started flashing. We called Sears and were told how to clear the code to stop the flashing and then told to raise our water termperature. We did that but it is still flashing. Did you guys get an answer to this problem? Thanks.

Lisa, October 2005

Jeff:
Mine is doing the same thing! And after only one use in a brand new house! Please post it here if you find a solution and I will do the same. Thanks!

Carrie, September 2005

Per the owner's manual, this means the dishwasher has malfunctioned and to call for service to check heater circuit

Bill, August 2005

link Click here to see other fixes for Kenmore.