Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Low pressure in my dishwasher

Hello! My dishwasher is 3 years old but was never used.

It's a Frigidaire Ultra Quiet Plus model number FDB658RAC1 Serial number TH25251271.

I attempted to use it but discovered there is not enough pressure to wash the dishes.

It seemed to me that there was not enough water being loaded into the washer, so after doing some research I ended up replacing the intake valve.

Now it seems I have much more water than before, but my question now is about how the machine works to determine if my problem truly is solved.

I was watching it run with the cover off. During the wash cycle I can see water being pumped slowly up the tube to the top of the machine, but the pressure is not enough to spin the arms. It just trickles out.

Then in a later cycle, light wash I think, it actually gets a sudden burst of pressure that is more what I would have expected. It does this a few times... usually after a period of slow trickle, it gets the sudden burst of pressure.

Is this variation normal? Or do I have another problem to deal with? It only seems to happen in the later cycles... not the early ones where I would have thought high pressure would be more important.

Thanks for your help. I really would like this thing to work.

Pull off all the upper pump parts and remove the half round pump cover. Check for a blockage there at the pump entrance. If ok, pull the dishwasher out, pull the sidewinder motor and check for a broken impeller. If ok, apply 115 volts to the motor and see if is turning the right direction, if not, you need a new motor.

Thank you... I finally got the dishes clean after three attempts. I took everything I could out of the bottom and cleaned the parts and filter really well. I also used different soap.

I will try again tonight to see if it is still working. If not, I will look closer at the motor because everything else looks fine. I'm not finding any blockage, but I'm not sure if I tore it down as far as it could go.

I'm wary because even the filter didn't seem extremely dirty, but maybe there was a film on it from sitting for so long unused. But I have to admit, the last time I ran it, that's the cleanest I've ever seen anything come out of there. Even the broiler pan came mostly clean... and I put it in there pretty crusty just to test if the washer could even touch the mess. :D

If it acts up again, pull the half round pump cover off and sponge most of the wter out till you see the impeller. Now turn the water off to the dishwasher and run the dishwasher. Open the door periodically and check if the impeller is turning the right way to "scoop the water", if not, you have a "polled" motor that must be replaced.