"badgolferman" wrote in message
...
My dishwasher is a 15 year-old Whirlpool that has been okay up to now.
Last night I noticed the adjacent cabinet was wet inside so the
dishwasher was obviously leaking and the cabinet must have been wicking
up the moisture over time.

I pulled the dishwasher out about 6 inches before I realized the power
cord was keeping it from coming out any farther. Since it was after 10
PM I didn't want to mess with it any more but I did take a look
underneath to see what was there. The linoleum underneath was
discolored and a hole had been eaten through it from the water that had
been dripping. It looked like waterdrops were falling from the lowest
structure of the dishwasher. I assume it was the pump; it was in the
middle of the dishwasher. At the time there was no water running and
the unit was off.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what may be leaking and what to
check when I pull the dishwasher out? I realize its probably old
enough to replace, but I'm about to spend some money on other household
items and if I can fix this myself that would save several hundred
dollars.

15 years old? Replace it with a modern machine, and sleep well for another
15 years. Or fix a part now, fix another part in a month. Have the whole
thing go kaflooey when you are on vacation, and come home to a real
disaster.

Your turn to roll the dice, my friend.

A new one is a cinch to install. Funny thing, they don't give you a new
cord for it. Be sure to save the one from the old machine. You may even
have to use old plumbing connectors, as they are cheap about the extra parts
they provide, even on high dollar units. You said yours was limited
accessability. Fix that so on the new one, you can pull it out easily for
inspection. And, you don't have to wait until you see a leak. Check it
yearly.

We replaced ours last year. We were in shock at the price ranges. But, we
selected a quality unit that wasn't so high priced. It works twice as good
as the old one, and makes about a third the noise.

Spring for a new one and be done with it.

Do it once. Do it right.

Steve