Frigidaire Dishwasher Won’t Start | Here is How To Fix it

Your Frigidaire Dishwasher won’t start and you don’t know where to find a solution? In this article, we will show you several of the most common issues which may happen with different models of Frigidaire dishwashers – along with probable solutions.

If your Frigidaire dishwasher won’t start by pressing the START button (and perhaps there are no lights operating on the display), the most common reasons are either a corroded touchpad ribbon cable, a bad power connection in the junction box, or a blown thermal fuse on the control board. But, as always, check the circuit breaker/fuse first!

Let’s start with basic troubleshooting

Please check the dishwasher breaker to make sure it not tripped. If it tripped, in order to reset the breaker, turn it into OFF position and then back ON.

If the control panel has lights on, but does not respond, find a button on the panel with a lock pictogram. Press and hold for 3 seconds to unlock.

Some models use the Heat Dry pad as a lock and other models have a Control Lock. If the lock symbol is adjacent to the Heat Dry pad, then your dishwasher’s lock feature is activated utilizing the Heat Dry pad.

The pads will not respond while lock is enabled. To disable this lock, hold the heat dry pad for three seconds and you will hear a beep and the light will go off.

Frigidaire Dishwasher Lights on, But It Won’t Start

Is your Frigidaire dishwasher not responding to the Start button, even though all of the lights work?

Or maybe HEAT DRY or HIGH TEMP (or other buttons) are flashing, but not responding.

The problem can be with a touchpad or ribbon cable which is attached to the touchpad. Through the control board housing seal, moisture may have gotten inside and corroded the ribbon cable contacts,

You can disassemble the front panel to get inside and most likely you will be able to fix it yourself by cleaning ribbon cable contacts.

But, if cleaning ribbon cable contacts doesn’t solve the problem, you might need to get a new touchpad panel. Here is the procedure on how to do it.

Frigidaire Dishwasher Not Working, No lights on the panel

If your Frigidaire Dishwasher has no lights and is not responding to any buttons on the panel, the first thing that you need to check is a junction box connection underneath the dishwasher on the front right side.

The power cable wires should be securely connected to the dishwasher leads in the small junction box, via wire connectors (wire nuts). If it was not connected properly at installation, there could be a loose connection. Over time, with vibration, improperly installed wire nuts can back off slightly and the wires inside can lose their electrical connection, sometimes causing arcing and burnt connectors.

You need to TURN OFF THE CIRCUIT BREAKER before doing any repair. First of all, strip any burnt wire insulation and trim off the excess length of exposed copper (leave about 1/2″ of copper showing at the end). Then reconnect with the new wire connector. If done right, you should not be able to see any copper without looking inside the connector.

Another reason your Frigidaire Dishwasher isn’t getting power might be because the THERMAL FUSE is blown on the control board.

A thermal fuse is a safety device located behind control panel which prevents the control board from overheating. It may have been overloaded and/or shorted out, and therefore needs to be replaced.

In order to change a thermal fuse, please follow this procedure:

• TURN BREAKER OFF
• Open the door and take apart the front panel
• Carefully remove the control panel housing and disconnect the thermal fuse from the control board
• Change the thermal fuse with a new one OF EQUAL SIZE, SHAPE, AND VALUE.
• DO NOT DISCONNECT the 2 wires which come with a new Thermal Fuse. You’ll need to connect them directly to the control board.