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Why is My Dishwasher Making a Noise

Have you gone to put your dirty dishes in your dishwasher, only to realise that it’s making a great deal of noise when you then switch it on?

Well, it could be one of the two below components that are likely to be causing all the commotion.

Using our easy diagnosis advice, we are going to talk you through on how to fix your dishwasher so that you can be back to enjoying meal times, knowing that you won’t be left with either a noisy dishwasher or the additional chore of cleaning the dishes by hand.

Drain Pump

The drain pump in your dishwasher is a key component of the cleaning process, as it removes the dirty water from the machine at the start and end of the wash cycle. 

When the dishwasher is switched on, the first thing it does is pump out dirty water gathered at the bottom from liquid from drinks spilt during loading before the machine fills with fresh clean water for the new cycle.

If you discover your dishwasher is making funny noises when you start a wash cycle, the problem is likely to be due to one of the following reasons:

Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.

  • Debris like glass shards, crockery chips or other strange objects may have ended up in the pump chamber - then hitting the pump impeller.
  • Carefully remove any gunk from the pump which will help quieten the machine when emptying water. 

If the pump does squeal or rattles when running, and there is no debris, it could mean that it is faulty and needs replacing with a new pump

Fortunately, we have a guide showing you how to use a multimeter to test a dishwasher drain pump to determine whether or not it's the part that's faulty. We also have a guide showing you how to replace a drain pump entirely, if it is indeed faulty, which you can find by hitting the button below.

How To >

Recirculation Pump

If your dishwasher is noisy during the wash cycle, then you may have a problem with the recirculation pump or wash motor.

The function of the recirculation pump is to send the water gathered at the bottom of the appliance, back through the spray arms during the wash cycle.

So what could be causing a noisy recirculation pump?

Safety First! Before starting any repair, please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains.

  • Signs of damage to your glassware will indicate there’s a possibility of broken glass shards circulating around in the pump.
  • Look for unwanted substances and other debris like crockery chips hitting the pump impeller in the pump chamber.
  • Clean out any debris and retry, if the pump squeaks or rattles when running and there is no debris then you will need to replace the pump.

If it is bad news and you need to replace the pump, there is no need to panic!

The good news is that you can get a replacement recirculation pump from eSpares.

Hopefully, these 3 easy diagnosis steps above have helped you identify what's causing the noise, and we hope that you can now resolve to get your dishwasher back up and running again - without all the noise disruption.