Maytag review: won't clean dishes! 359

This dishwasher has worked poorly from the start. I've learned to never put glasses in the four corners of the top rack (will not clean them) and to remove almost all soil before running a load. Rerunning glassware is common--we never put glasses away without inspecting them for residue. I've cleaned out the top arm and run the dishwasher empty with vinegar, hoping that I could improve its performance. No dice. Now, after 2 1/2 years, the control panel is malfunctioning. Fix it or forget it? The only thing I have decided so far is that this is my last Maytag appliance.

I agree with every one above on the Maytag Quiet Series 300 being a biece of junk. Maytag should have the decency to pull this garbage out of shops and recall it immediately. Do not buy this Series 300 or you will regret it for sure.

HI
my problem is with control panel. It failed after 6 months and has now failed again.
These are lemons and was wondering if the Lemon law applies to this item.
I refuse to have it repaired again.
this replaced the lease expensive GE dishwasher that lasted 25 years with out one repair.

Well, I googled the Maytag Quiet Series 300 to see if there was info to fix the problem - machine does not clean the dishes! I agree with everything that people have written above. I wonder if contacting Maytag will get them to address these problems. Any comments about this? I think I will give it a try.

I have this Maytag Quiet Series 300 for less than a year. it's a noisy piece of junk. The control board quit working a few adays ago. I took it apart and check the door switch and the voltage to the board, they are ok, but the LCD indication light on the fron panel wo'nt light up. When I put it back together the LCD lights come on and I can start it again, but cancel function does not work. It finished the wash cycle once and it does not work again. If the control board cost $100, I would rather to buy me a new non-Maytag product.

i also have the infamous maytag quiet series 300. ours is great at cleaning dishes...when you can turn it on. the control board has failed after 3 years, so some of the buttons don't work. recently, the "start" button failed. kinda needed that one to work.

about 2 years into owning the product, the racks started to rust and several of the tines broke off. having owned a whirlpool dishwasher at our previous home (that worked great), I will not be buying maytag again.

when i called maytag customer service at [protected], a recording came on that said "my call couldn't be completed from my calling area". so, i redialed the number with *67 in front to block my caller ID and then the call completed. what's up with that?!?!

to make matters worse, the service rep was rude and unsympathetic. just reading the call script and wanted me to pay for a service call. no thanks! the control board is about $100, plus labor. time for a new dishwasher.

I totally agree with everyone. I will never buy anothyer MAYTAG appliance of any kind again. We did buy the warranty for our new MAYTAG DISHWASHER, and after they fixed a few legitamate problems, they no longer would honer our warranty that we paid extra for. Buyers BEWARE. Maytag dishwashers are a piece of crap.

OK I have a solution that worked for me. Here's the scoop. I also have had many of the same problems described in these posts. Mine, specifically, dealt with the lack of clean dishes after a period of time: In my case, it took two years before I noticed dishes were not being cleaned well (about 40-50% were dirty). I was getting miffed because I paid $450 bucks for this thing and trusted the Maytag name. Anywho, I came across this forum and read through many of the posts; some of which are constructive. I suggest reading though them if you want to find a solution.

I took apart and cleaned everything. It's really not that difficult and took me under 2 hours. Many of the components "snap" together. You will need some tools though. Remove all the major components, and wash them under hose water, making sure all the holes and channels run smoothly. If you're intimidated by this (and worried that you may not get things back together correctly), take pictures after each step for reference. I removed everything down to the motor (black circular piece below the grinder) and washed them. I found a pistachio shell, plastic, and a few small pieces of glass in the washer drain too.

This has worked for me so far (going on a month). Plus, I also run hot water before each wash. So far, so good. However I will probably steer clear of Maytag in the future; just like I stay away from Nissan after a bad experience 10 years ago and have driven nothing but Ford cars since.

I am going to find the CEO of Maytag and well...lets say he will be fu ntioning like my 2 year old dishwasher...

This dishwasher is a piece of junk. Maytag should replace everyone! I think we should file a class action suite. I've never had an appliance that failed in every area. I will never buy another Maytag product and I will do everything I can to prevent other from making the same mistake.

This dishwasher is a total piece of junk. Various parts keep falling of or breaking off. Hate it and will NEVER buy another Maytag - not to mention that it DOESN'T CLEAN!

I agree totally. For years we have been arguing with this dumb dishwasher, poking the front panel and waiting to see if it decides to respond. I can't afford to replace the control board ($100) and control panel ($150); if I could I would put the money toward a Bosch or maybe GE. Often we convince it to accept the command to start (forget trying to get any extra functions to work), and instead of washing it does either a 9-min rinse cycle or 2-min drain cycle. Sometimes after the 2-min cycle, it will actually run a wash, but often we just have to wait & keep trying... sometimes 3 days. Completely ridiculous.

I agree with all the comments for the Maytag quiet series 300. does not clean the dishes- worthless dishwasher. does anyone have trouble with the rollers breaking off? I find pieces and pieces of it in my dishwasher and now the top rack won't roll correctly let alone clean the dishes? I am curious as if anyone else has the same problem with the top rollers.

I finally received my "Station D" parts that had been backordered from appliancepartspros.com (thanks again RobN for the tip). I wanted to report back that after years of dishes that were dirtier after washing, our dishes are actually clean! Everyone that has one of these terrible dishwashers must order at least two of these for the top and middle spray arms. Even if we have to replace these things every year, it will be worth it to have clean dishes. That is most likely the reason we are all having dirty dishes, especially on the top rack.

However, I did not find it a matter of simply twisting out the old parts and snaping in the new ones. I had to pry out the old Station D parts with a butter knife, and while the top part snapped right in, the other one took repeated attempts to get it to fit correctly. Since these are located on the back wall of the dishwasher, they are kind of awkward to reach. Still it's not neurosurgery and most everyone should be able to do this and avoid a service repair charge.

Like everyone else here, our dishwasher continues to self-destruct. It just becomes a matter of time before it's not worth fixing all the cheaply made broken parts. I'm certainly in for any class action lawsuit on this piece of junk...

I too have a Maytag QS 300 dishwasher. Bought it just over a year ago. I HATE IT! The cycles are long, and it is noisy. Worst of all the inside of the dishwasher stays damp even though the heat dry and sanitize features are on. It has totally ruined all of my aluminum cake pans and often silverware comes out with rust stains on it. So far baskets are ok and control panel is ok and dishes do come out clean. The cheap, bottom-of-the-line dishwasher that I had before which came with our home did a much better job. When it finally went out after about 14 years, I bought the Maytag because of its reputation. I will never buy another Maytag produce!

We have had our dishwasher for a little over a year. Recently, the dishes have stopped getting clean. I would have to re-do the cycle once or even twice before the dishes get clean. I even tried looking for maybe a filter i was missing. I cleaned out the bottom countless times, but things don't really seem to be working all too well. The latch is okay, and so are the racks -- for now -- I just wish my dishes were clean. We are wasting so much water! We do not have the money to get a new dishwasher, this one was suppose to clean really well. I am very disappointed with Maytag. The Quiet Series 300 is none to quiet either. I noticed recently while running a cycle and sitting on my sofa, there seem to be low growling noises emanating from it. It can be anywhere from low growling to a slightly disturbing grinding sound. I even opened it once just to make sure it was not gobbling up my dishes.

Any suggestions on how to clean it maybe... so it will make the dishes a little better?

Just had Maytag Neptune Dryer stop only to find the dryer has pieces of metal from the dryer inside the drum. Just called for service and of course the dryer isn't under warranty anymore and they are just over 2 years old. Customer Service and the manager were unhelpful and it is going to cost me a $100 just to get the dryer looked at and I am sure a lot more to get it fixed. Paid $650 for washer and dryer set and one is possibly junk already. I wouldn't recommend any Maytag products!

Thank goodness, I thought I was doing something wrong when running the dishwasher. I have been complaining about this dishwasher for about 2 years. TOTAL JUNK. Although I hate it that all of you have the same problem at least I know it is the dishwasher. I had to replace my old Maytag dishwasher which was from the 1970's. I called an appliance store and he diagnosed the problem with the original dishwasher and said it needed to be replaced. I asked him to send whatever the newest model is of the same dishwasher because it worked so well. I called the repair man (also A&E) to come look at it because it was not cleaning correctly and leaving food residue on the dishwasher. He told me to scrape the dishes better. when I mentioned the disposal in the sink he yelled 'what disposal" . All in all, not good personable service. I called another time because it was making such a racket and they said some noise is OK. Finally after calling several times they sent a man out. He found a piece of broken plastic, the same color as the dishwasher, that was making all the noise. I also called SEARS to get a second opinion on the problem of the dishes not coming clean and the residue left inside the dishwasher. I also wanted to find out if there could be some problem with the way it was hooked up because we have a disposal in the sink. He said you can't hook it up wrong. He suggested running the dishwasher with no dishes in it with a cup of vinegar in the bottom (said the acid would get rid of the residue). I have done that numerous times, now that does not even work. I also took a wooden skewer and poked the holes in the part below the top rack, got a lot out. Sorry everyone is getting my grief but it seems there is a lot to go around. I would never buy another Maytag again.

After reading RobN's post I took a look at the "Station D" part and sure enough I am totally missing the gaskets on both the top and middle spray arms. I can see where water would just squirt out if those gaskets aren't in place, bypassing the spray arms, so it's no wonder the dishes look worse than when we put them in. It's amazing how someone could design a dishwasher with this horrid engineering. I do wish someone would have found gasket problem before as we have been living with this piece of junk for several years. I ordered 2 Station Ds (backordered of course), and a couple cheap plastic clips that have been broken so hopefully this thing will run a little better. No more Maytags for this family...

Thanks again RobN and we are keeping our fingers crossed this will help with the dirty dishes problem!

Ok I see i not only one of problem not cleaning and noise...anybody have a fix it?

For a long time, my QS300 wasn't cleaning the dishes. I read the forum threads, and found how many other people were having the same problems. You put the dishes in, they come out dirty, especially on the top rack. I was ready to give up and buy a new dishwasher, when I decided to take things apart and have a look at what was going on.

Sure enough, the problem was a deteriorated part, and from the stories, I'm betting a lot of other people are having the same problem. There's a junction at the back of the dishwasher that the top rack plugs into called "Station D." It has two gaskets on it, and over time they can wear out. I vaguely remembered the gaskets falling out at some point, but I hadn't thought much about it until I took the washer apart and starting thinking about how it worked and what those gaskets do. Without them, the water spills out of the holes and never gets up to the top jets.

So, $20 (including S&H) and a quick "snap in place" later, my QS300 is cleaning great again. Here's where I got my replacement. If you hunt around, you can find it cheaper, but I tend to be nervous of replacement parts that are too cheap. Sears also carries this at their online site if you like Sears.

http://www.appliancepartspros.com/part_details.aspx?part_id=4365228

Installation of this thing couldn't be much simpler. Just twist the old one out, and snap this one in place. It won't make the QS run any faster (it's definitely slow), but hooray for clean dishes.

This dishwasher is the pits! Detergent won't even dissolve, regardless of powder, liquid, or the little 'packets'! Detergent ends up drying on silverware causing staining and pitting. Even dishes pre-washed by hand come out dirty, and the machine is only 2 years old. Anyone have a clue about any possible legal recourse available? This is ridiculous!

This dishwasher (maytag 300 quiet series) is a joke! This is the noisiest dishwasher I have ever had. I hate turning it on because of all of the noise. I have had a repairman come out and "fix" it for $170 and within 2 weeks the noise started again. I feel that these dishwashers should be recalled. Does anyone know how to go about getting this done? I am really mad that Maytag has scammed customers with this appliance.

I wish I had known about this complaint board before I purchased my Maytag 300. I thought they were the best, bought it locally from a reputable dealer. Mine is only 8 months old, I only run it once per week. I have never had problems with non-cleaned dishes. It seems to do a great job. However I noticed that all of my cycles register for 2 hours, no matter which options or how many I choose. Ditto on the broken control panel. Yesterday morning, I went into the kitchen and noticed that my dishwasher door was ajar and all the lights were on. I had not run the dishwasher since Sunday andI only put a couple of glasses in it in the past three days. I thought maybe I had hit some buttons accidentally when I opened or closed it. But when I closed the door and tried to cancel, nothing happened-lights still on. frustrated and already running late I left for work thinking maybe miraculously the lights would go off as mysteriously as they came on. Well, I came home this afternoon and the lights were all off so I thought I would take it for a rinse cycle and... it won't turn on at all! I called the repair people to come tomorrow as I hope it is still under warranty and I of course this is the weekend I have house guests coming for the weekend.

I have the same dishwasher that we purchased 5 months ago and I noticed a month ago that now my dishwasher isn't quiet anymore...so i did some research and one reason why some of you are having problems with ur dishwasher is some of you might not think to clean ur dishwasher...here are some ideas of cleaning wise...and I'm currently trying the vinegar and baking soda as i'm typing try this from this website

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45917.asp

When you think of a dishwasher, you think of a machine that gets your dishes clean. However, if you were to take a peek in kitchens of your neighbors and friends, you might be surprised to find something you wouldn’t suspect: a dirty dishwasher. That’s right, the appliance that gets things clean can also get dirty itself.

Think about it. The dishwasher is loaded with dirty dishes. Often the dirty dishes drip syrup and crumbs and all kinds of nasty stuff into the dishwasher tub until they’re ready to run and then all that goop sloshes around inside your dishwasher. Combine that with hot water (something that breeds mold), and you have the potential for creating a grimy dishwasher. This is especially true of dishwashers with plastic tubs versus the stainless steel varieties. Although these certainly do get dirty too, the white plastic tubs show it more.

Be temperature aware
Sometimes dishes aren’t cleaned as well and the dishwasher gets dirty faster because the cleaning temperature of the water in the dishwasher is too low. Some dishwashers pre-heat the water to the correct temperature, or have a setting to heat the water, and if yours does, then you’re assured the water is at the correct temperature. However, some don’t. Various manufacturers recommend effective cleaning must be at 120 degrees or higher. Still others say that for proper cleaning and disinfection, water must be at 140 degrees (this is my preference, too).

To find out what your water temperature is set at, run your dishwasher. When it’s in the washing cycle, stick a regular cooking thermometer into the water. If your water is less than 120 degrees, your dishes won’t be getting clean and that could be causing your dishwasher to get dirtier, too.

Personally, I like to keep my water heater thermostat set high because I want the washer and dishwasher to have really hot water. It’s more energy saving when it’s set at lower temperatures, but you get more hot water longer because it your water is at a higher temperature and you use less of it. Always run the sink water until it’s at maximum hotness before starting the dishwasher. This way you are assured that only hot water is going into the dishwaher.

Most of the time when dishwashers are dirty, these are the typical problems:
# Mold

# Scale

# Rust

# Discoloration

# Build-up from food

For cleaning your dishwasher, you’ll want to use the right approach for your particular problem. Try the following ideas and be aware that you may need to do more than one application. Please note that the dishwasher should be empty and not have any dishes when you run it and do not add any detergent. Run your dishwasher on its hottest setting for all the cleaning methods below.

Mold. Run the dishwasher empty and add in one cup of bleach. This will whiten and brighten the tub and kill any mold that is growing.

Scale. Over time water in the dishwasher will create discolorations and deposits. To clean these, add one half container of Tang Orange Drink Mix. Tang is high in citric acid and will loosen hard water deposits and loosen scale. It’s a good all-purpose dishwasher cleaner. You may need to wipe the inside of the dishwasher with a sponge to remove the rest of the scale. Cleaners will often loosen the debris, but because scale is so stubborn it may need to be physically wiped off.

Rust. Like scale, rust is often found in the water in many homes. Rust will discolor the inside of the dishwasher. To remove rust stains, run one half container of Tang Orange Drink Mix. If deposits are removed and there is still a stain remaining, add a cup of bleach and run the dishwasher empty.

Discoloration, Buildup, and for General Cleaning. Run one cup of vinegar and one cup of baking soda

Add me to the list. I replaced a 1975 dishwasher with the Maytag Quiet series 300 and what a huge mistake.
My list of problems are as follows:
1) Door latch broken twice 2)broken plastic tab on inside of door (water leaked everywear) 3)Replaced electronic panel 4)leaves dirt and grit on dishes 5) very noisy 6) makes grinding noise while washing 7) rust on the top rack after a few weeks of using it and lastly 9) takes forever to wash.
My dishwasher is only 2 1/2 years old. It was the worst investment. My 1975 dishwasher may have been ugly avacado green and noisey but it washed dishes wonderfully. I will be replacing it with in the year and I will be sure it will NOT be a Maytag.

As with any of the postings, I too bought the Maytag due to the company's reputation and felt the extended warranty was not needed. MISTAKE! So far in the past three years of having the pleasure of this great appliance, I have replaced the upper rack, watched the lower rack start to rust, am enjoying the broken door latch, and need ear plugs to carry on a conversation in the kitchen. What I've found is that if I add a coffee pot of water to the dishwasher during each cycle, it quiets down. My guess is that the sensor that regulates the water temp is bad and probalby requires a HUGE, UNNECESSARY REPAIR BILL! The Dishwasher this replaced was originally installed in another home in the mid 80's, then moved to my home to replace a DW that went bad, then replaced by the Maytag because I wanted a "new and more efficient" dishwasher. I'm a DIY person and have had the entire thing apart, but have not found anything obvious that would cause the amount of repairs needed to this device. I too will probably support the economy of some european country over ours due to the product quality issues.

We have a Maytag Series 300 Dishwaher which is about 3.5 years old. Other than: (1) The latch to open, broke apart in m wifes hand. (2) The Racks are rusted through and are falling apart (3) Does a terrible job cleaning dishes (4) Makes a lot of noise wen running it has been a good dish washer. Our Maytag Neptune purchased several years ago has been a bigger nightmare. I traded my Ford in on a Nissan 15 years ago and never looked back. Bye Bye Maytag.

Maytag is a total junk. dealing with the circuit board on mine. I never imagined! only 2 years old. plus I only use it a couple times a week. I think this is how companies like Maytag make more money. make crappy products so customers have to buy them again every 2 or 3 years. who thought disposable dishwashers were the new rage. welcome to the "consumer society"...

cheers,
very frustrated

ABSOLUTE JUNK!

Why would you think that..Whirlpool quality is next to nothing compared to what Maytag's was. Whirlpool uses even cheaper made items..

Groaning Noise Reason and FIX-Maytag Quiet Series 300 - -Bought mine at Lowes-Best price- Dish Washer is 4 years old, had 3 year extended warranty; had the repairman fix dishwasher 3 times for that groaning noise it makes, on the repairman's third visit, {I asked the repairman if these Maytag products were tested in their labs and he said "they are tested in the field" which means tested in our homes} ...I happened to be home (Auto Mechanic by trade) and watched everything he did; so basically took out bottom rack, remove wash spray wand- 1 inverted TorX, removed 3 TorX screws from cover plate, also removed 6 TorX screws from cover below, removed 1 inverted TorX from this Black colored wheel, and below all that is a blade which is suppose to grind up food particles and you probably will find debris-hard things which do not grind, for instance-the things I have found -broken pieces of a plastic strainer, piece of platic food wrapper, glass, broken dishes, ect...thats why it groans is because of all that stuff below. Since the repairman has left, I have taken this dishwasher apart 4 more times for same problem, (believe you me, have more important things to do) last time was that broken piece of a plastic strainer which will not be going back in the dishwasher so basically any little tiny piece of debris will make this Quiet Series 300 Maytag groan. Note: the repairman did replace the motor on the first visit and some steel shaft which helps the supposedly makes the grinder part work better..yeah right. So about 2 months ago- now the soap dispenser will not open so basically just put soap on inside door-leave inner door open and shut the main dishwasher door to clean, believe there is an electronic or mechanical mechanism that is suppose to open the door during the wash cycle. The reason coming to this site was: now the dishes and glasses don't seem to be as clean...so what do ya do after taking this thing apart so many times...in the market for a new dishwasher but this time gonna do some serious reviewing of the products available before next purchase. Good Luck

I agree with all of these complaints. This dishwasher doesnt clean right and I cna't get the panel to clear either. Oh yeah it also takes forever to go thru the cycles..

We have a 300 series. It worked well for about six months. However, the latch did brake as others have reported on this site. Then it progressively stopped cleaning the dishes as well. Now, the glasses come out a mess. We have used gels, liquids and powder along with Jet Dry with no improvement.

If this is what Maytag offers, it is garbage and disappointing. Unless convienced otherwise, I would never by a Maytag.

I have had the Magtag ICE 20 for two years. The ice maker and the lights on the door flash and the ice door continuously flaps.
The ice make and the water despenser do not work.
I did not buy mine from Home Depot but from a reputable appliance dealer where I live.
They are coming this week to repair.
From what I have read I am afraid this is not the end of the problem.

Our experience: There is a screen in the water inlet valve that plugs with sand and grit. This restricts water flowing into the machine and the impeller ends up trying to pump half water, half air. Noisy, and potentially damaging to the motor due to the vibration. The valve is in front on the left behind the kick plate, but it must be completely removed to clean out. Otherwise our dishes come out clean, but it is a long cycle.

Our (loud and Long Cycle Maytag)series 300 is junk. We bought it 2 Years ago after the one that came with our house finally gave up the Ghost. Two weeks after we bought it the rack froze up to the point that you needed a truck winch to open it. It was covered under warranty, However it took almost 60 Days to get the parts then the handle broke a month later. It was never very good at washing dishes, Now my Wife is Says that she is just going to start throwing away the dishes so she does't have to wash them by Hand.

NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY ANYTHING FROM MAYTAG. I THINK I WILL SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY AND BUY EUROPEAN BRANDS LIKE BOSCH. (GREAT WASHING MACHINES)

I have had the same problems as everyone else, Broken door latch, loud and motor, and of course the dishes come out dirtier than when I put them in. I had a tech com out on two occasions to fix the handle and once for the loud motor they were able to fix both ( the loud motor was a slipped belt, so I'm told). The last time I had a repairman out was for the dirty dishes. All he did is talk out both sides of hes mouth. after 4 months of dirty dishes I jumped in and tried to figure it out. In my case the seals around the docking station for each rack had disintegrated so water pressure was at a minimum. $24.00 later I have clean dishes.

I have replaced the handle two times, the basket broke after a few months of use, the front panel went out and now the water won't drain out, so I have to call a repairman out again. Please don't by Maytag anything! I have a Maytag refrigerator and it is just as bad.
By now I could have bought another new dishwasher.

How has Maytag remained in business?

agree agree what can i say. just bought a home with the quiet series 300 .we have been here 4 months and the dishwasher is noisey and takes forever. the motor makes weird noises every once in awhile. maytag should refund everyone their money!