Charles for Model Number SHE43F16UC/61 The door has become hard to open. The dishwasher works fine. Suspect the Ball Bearing Door Latch mechanism. I pulled the door latch (#103 on the diagram). Close inspection seems to indicate a missing spring on the actual latch; there is a peg on the rotating latch that drops into a recessed trough -- looks like there should be a return spring there. But your pictures are not from an angle to see this, so I hesitate to order the part. I want to be confident I have identified the problem... Is there such a spring? THANKS.
Answer Charles, the latch 00438026 is going to operate by a tension spring causing the locking mechanism to remain in place, as well as push the switch activation arm) when the latch passes across and pushes the activation arm of the lock. The tension spring (located just underneath the locking mechanism in a perpendicular state to the locking mechanism) could be causing the locking mechanism to be difficult for the door to release. Usually, when a door latch like this is difficult to open, it is going to be caused by the latch seizing up rather than the strike being an issue. Read More... Answered by AppliancePartsPros.com | Tuesday, September 3, 2019