On Thursday, January 30, 2014 1:54:30 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

Honestly, unless you're real handy and are willing to disassemble the DW, media blast it, and have it powdercoated, it's replacement time. That rust ain't gonna fix itself. It may or may not be leaking now, but it *will*.

Just don't cheap out on the new one. You'll have it for a decade or so, so get one that doesn't **** you off. The new phosphate-free detergents make the DW work less well than they did decades ago, so having multiple spray arms (I like ones with three; one top, one bottom, and one underneath the top rack) and good quality glides for the top rack (the ones GE has been using on their less expensive models are particularly awful - I've "inherited" three of them and they all stick in an irritating manner) will make your life much better.

good luck

nate