KitchenAid Dishwasher Repair in Toronto — Not cleaning / dishes still dirty

• Grinding noise for weeks, then film and food bits redeposited on dishes - the classic KitchenAid chopper failure on the older tall-tubs (pre-~2013 KUDS/KDTE). The food chopper minces soil so the pump can drain it; when the blade wears and the chopper screen clogs with unchopped food, the spray arms starve and dirt washes back onto the load. Real part is the chopper assembly W10083957 (current OEM W10083957V, supersedes 8268383). It's a cheap part (roughly $25-50) but fiddly access - one visit. We always pair it with a sump/filter clean-out, because a worn chopper leaves a debris bed that defeats a fresh blade.
• Top rack clean, bottom dirty (or the reverse) - the diverter is stuck. On the modern KitchenAid platform a diverter disc steers water between the upper and lower spray arms; when the diverter MOTOR fails, the disc parks in one position and only one tier ever gets pressure. This fault is its own diverter-position code family - 9-1 (control can't detect disc position), 9-2 (diverter stuck on), or 9-3 (disc missing/loose) - read through the clean-light blinks, NOT a 6-x fill code. Real part is the diverter motor W10537869 (supersedes/equivalent W10849439), supplied in a service kit with the W10195677 seal grommet. We bench-test the motor's rotation before condemning it, and we rule out a tripped float (which throws its own 6-4 code and can mimic poor spray) so we don't swap a good diverter.
• Cloudy, gritty, or chalky dishes with a 6-6 in the blink log - incoming water never reaches wash temperature, so detergent doesn't dissolve and enzymes don't activate. KitchenAid's 6-6 means 'water not hot'; if the supply at the tap is genuinely 120F, the fault is the in-tub thermistor/OWI circuit on the control. We verify supply temperature first, then test the thermistor/optical-water-indicator sensor in the sump before touching the model-coded control board - the board is the last suspect, not the first.
• Cycle ends fast and dishes still dirty - the optical soil sensor (OWI / turbidity sensor) in the sump is fouled. KitchenAid units read wash-water cloudiness through an LED-and-photodetector pair; when the lens films over with hard-water scale or grease, the control reads 'clean' early and short-cycles the load. Frequently a zero-part fix: we wipe the sensor lens and clear the harness pins (which corrode in the humid sump) before quoting a sensor swap. This is the most over-replaced 'not cleaning' cause on the platform.
• Weak spray and persistent food residue with no error code - clogged or cracked lower wash arm. On KDTM/KDTE tall-tubs the lower arm (WPW10406822) takes hard-water scale and pumped grit in the jets; flow drops and the load comes out dirty even though the pump runs normally. We pull and flush the arm and the feed tube, descale the jets, and check the upper-arm water-supply tube before ordering - a cracked arm is replaced, a scaled one is often cleaned.
• Water under the unit plus declining wash performance - diverter shaft seal leak bleeding pressure off the wash circuit. The diverter shaft seal kit W10195677 is the known KitchenAid/Whirlpool leak point at the motor area; a weeping seal both puddles the floor and robs the spray arms of pressure, so dishes come out dirty as the leak worsens. We replace the seal kit and verify the sump/wash-motor assembly (WPW10605057) isn't the actual pressure loss before closing the call.

KitchenAid not cleaning / dishes still dirty in Toronto — the local specifics

• The recurring KitchenAid 'dishes-dirty' pattern in Toronto splits two ways: older tall-tubs come in after a months-long grinding noise (worn chopper redepositing food), while newer KDTM/FreeFlex units arrive with a fast cycle and gritty dishes that trace to a hard-water-fouled soil sensor or scaled spray arm rather than a failed part. We routinely find a clean diagnosis where the customer expected a board.
• We roll to these calls with a chopper assembly (W10083957V), a diverter motor + seal kit (W10537869 / W10195677), and a lower wash arm (WPW10406822) on the truck, plus descaling supplies for the spray jets and the optical soil-sensor lens - so most KitchenAid not-cleaning calls close on the first visit.

For the full KitchenAid dishwasher module — every fault, part number and code — see KitchenAid dishwasher repair in Toronto, and for the same fault across all brands the dishwasher not cleaning / dishes still dirty guide.