My son-in-law just called me and said their dishwasher is acting up.
It is a GE "Quiet Power 3", about 3 years old. It will fill, go thru
the washing cycle without any noise from the pump, and then pump out
the water at the appropriate time. So it seems that the pump is ok,
just not getting electricity for the wash cycle. I believe there are
two schemes for dishwashers, in one the pump reverses direction to
internally circulate/wash or to pump out. In the other, the pump runs
the same direction, just a valve directs the water to circulate/wash
or to pump out. I will be going down to their house tonight, with a
voltmeter to check if the pump is getting power, but was hoping
someone here would know which type of circulate/drain the GE
dishwashers use, and if there is a most likely type of failure for
which GE dishwashers are known. I believe the "timer" is electronic
rather than mechanical. I prefer the mechanical, they are much easier
to trouble-shoot, so that means it is probably electronic.