Dishwashers · Bellevue
Grinding Noise When the Viking Dishwasher Drains
Every dishwasher hums as it pumps out; a Viking that grinds, crunches or rattles as it drains is making a different sound. In a Bellevue kitchen, what we usually find behind it is a hard scrap that slipped past the strainer and is now in with the pump: a bone, a fruit stone, a piece of glass. Stop using it, check the filter area, and call Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636.
What we usually find
- Most often
A hard piece in the drain pump or its housing: a chicken bone, an olive stone, a sliver of a broken glass. It knocks and grinds against the impeller every time the pump spins up.
- Sometimes
Debris resting just under the strainer or in the cup below it, rattling each time the water rushes out. This one often goes quiet once the filter area is cleaned.
- Rarely
A pump that is simply worn. The noise stays the same from load to load, with nothing to find in the sump and no change after the filters are cleaned.
Hum, gurgle or grind
A steady hum while the tub empties is the pump at work, and a gurgle at the end is air following the last of the water down the drain. Grinding is harsher and uneven, sometimes with a crunch or a click, and it tends to come and go as the piece moves around.
When the noise started is worth remembering. A grind that began straight after a glass broke in the machine, or after a load of bones and stone fruit, tells the technician what to look for before the panels come off.
Why it is worth stopping for
Whatever is grinding is also being worn down, and the pieces do not stay put. Fragments can be carried on into the drain hose, and a larger one can stop the pump turning at all, at which point the grind becomes water left in the tub.
Getting at the pump means going below the filter housing, and Viking’s manual keeps owners to the filters and spray arms; on 5 Series machines it also says not to try removing the IntenseWash arm beneath the lower spray arm. Below the filters is where the visit starts, with the power isolated and the right tools, rather than a job for a hand feeling around in the dark.
Safe checks before you call
-
Power off first
Turn the machine off and disconnect it, at the plug or the breaker, before your hands go anywhere near the floor of the tub.
-
Lift the filters out, with gloves on
Take out the lower rack, then lift out the filters. Wear gloves: there may be glass, and the main filter has a sharp rim underneath that Viking's manual flags.
-
Look with a torch, not your fingers
Shine a light into the opening under the filters. Pick out anything loose you can see and reach easily, such as a seed, a label or a bone. Do not reach past the opening or lift any cover below it.
-
Listen on the next drain
Refit every filter, since the machine must never run without them, restore power and run a rinse or short programme. If the grinding has gone, that was it; if it has not, switch the machine off and leave it.
-
Stop and hand it over
If none of that changes what the Viking is doing, leave it there and ring Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636. Tell us what you already tried; it narrows the visit before we set out.
Asked about this
Is it safe to keep running the dishwasher while it grinds?
Better not. Whatever is grinding is being broken into smaller pieces that can travel on into the hose or jam the pump outright, and glass fragments have no business near a load of dishes. Clear what you can see at the filter; if the noise comes back, stop using it and call Viking Repair Bellevue on (425) 696-2636.
