--- title: "Dishwasher will not drain" description: "KitchenAid dishwasher will not drain: a cycle that finishes — or stops — with water standing in the bottom of the tub." url: "https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-draining/" date_modified: "2026-08-23" Appliance type: "Dishwashers" --- # KitchenAid dishwasher will not drain ### The fastest diagnosis is the code Lift out the tub filter first — a quarter turn on the cylinder under the lower rack, then the flat screen underneath — and rinse it under a tap. Then, if your dishwasher was installed at the same time as a garbage disposal, check the disposal knock-out plug was actually removed. A machine that has never drained since the day it went in is very often that, and it is not the appliance. ### Most of this list is not the appliance The filter, the air gap, the disposal plug and the drain hose are all outside the pump and all reachable without tools or with a screwdriver at most. That is why we ask you to look before you book: a fair share of these calls end at the sink, and we would rather tell you that on the phone than on your invoice. ### What is left is a real repair When the path is clear and the water still stays, it is the drain pump or the control that drives it. A pump that hums without moving water and a control that never asks the pump to run look identical from the front of the machine and are two different repairs. That distinction is what the diagnostic settles, and the exact cost is confirmed on site before any work starts. The filter in the floor of the tub Loaded with the residue of a few hundred cycles, it slows the drain until the machine gives up on it. It lifts out by hand and rinses under a tap. The air gap on the counter The little chrome cylinder beside the faucet, if you have one. It blocks with the same debris the sink sees and it stops the dishwasher rather than the sink. The disposal knock-out plug On a new installation. The commonest reason a machine has never drained properly from the first day, and the only cure is removing the plug. The drain hose and its high loop Kinked behind the machine, or run without the loop under the counter that stops sink water flowing back in. The drain pump or the control A pump that hums and moves nothing, or a control that never commands it at all. This is where it stops being a ten-minute check. Scoop the water out first A cup and a towel. It makes everything below possible and it stops the tub smelling by tomorrow. Take the filter out and rinse it Under the lower rack, in the floor of the tub. A quarter turn on the cylinder, then the flat screen lifts out. Look at what comes off it — that is what has been slowing the drain. Check the air gap and the disposal Pop the cap off the air gap on the counter and clear it. If a disposal was fitted after the dishwasher, check its knock-out plug came out. Then book the visit Tell us whether you can hear the pump running, whether the Clean light is blinking a count, and whether the machine is new or has always done this. Water still in the tub What it usually means Standing water at the end of every cycle You can hear the pump trying It drains if you run it again The fastest diagnosis is the code Lift out the tub filter first — a quarter turn on the cylinder under the lower rack, then the flat screen underneath — and rinse it under a tap. Then, if your dishwasher was installed at the same time as a garbage disposal, check the disposal knock-out plug was actually removed. A machine that has never drained since the day it went in is very often that, and it is not the appliance. Most of this list is not the appliance The filter, the air gap, the disposal plug and the drain hose are all outside the pump and all reachable without tools or with a screwdriver at most. That is why we ask you to look before you book: a fair share of these calls end at the sink, and we would rather tell you that on the phone than on your invoice. What is left is a real repair When the path is clear and the water still stays, it is the drain pump or the control that drives it. A pump that hums without moving water and a control that never asks the pump to run look identical from the front of the machine and are two different repairs. That distinction is what the diagnostic settles, and the exact cost is confirmed on site before any work starts. ### How often does the filter really need cleaning? Every month or two in this water, and more if you rinse very little off the plates. It is the single piece of maintenance a KitchenAid dishwasher genuinely asks of its owner, and it prevents both this complaint and the gritty-dishes one. ### The water drains away if I run the cycle again. That points at a restriction rather than a dead pump — the machine can manage it on a second attempt but not a first. The filter, the air gap and the hose are where to look, and it is worth acting on before it stops working altogether. ### Is standing water in the bottom always a problem? A small amount of water in the sump area is normal on many machines and keeps the seals from drying out. Enough to cover the tub floor and reach the lower rack is not. --- **[Read full article: Dishwasher will not drain](https://kitchenaidmiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-draining/)**