How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP5956100 / W10712394 Adjuster Kit

Found a tutorial on line. Apparently this is a fairly common problem with these machines. 

I have ordered from Appliance part pros before for several repairs. I had the dishwasher model number and I opened the web site and looked up part on schematic of the dishwasher.The part was delivered in several days. The proper part was delivered and installed by me. works great. 

I used Part #AP5956100 which is the same as Whirlpool/Kitchenaid W10712394. The nice thing about this kit is that it comes with two adjuster arm sets so that you can repair both sides. (If the wheels on the other side haven't broken off yet, they soon will). Also, the piece that connects the wheel to the arm is now metal and should last longer than the previous plastic. The kit comes with an instruction sheet which is fairly easy to follow. The only problem with it is that it doesn't tell you how to remove the old adjuster arms. You can see how to do that part by watching YouTube Videos by Handymom808 and/or Mike Senn. (Search for KitchenAid Upper Rack Repair.) Note that in these videos they are only replacing the bottom adjuster arm with the wheels (W10350376). The new kit comes with the Housing Assembly (top part) as well. It can be easily removed by poking out the upper tabs with a small flathead screwdriver like Handymom808 uses. That opens up the upper part of the housing like a clam shell and then you can pull the housing apart. Just follow the instruction sheet to install the new adjuster arms and housings. I should add that the part kit from AppliancePartsPros arrived very quickly, in about 2 days! 

I pulled out the owners manual & started searching for the part. Found that the particular part I needed was not available any more. That was one site. I did some more searching, knowing that most of the dishwashers were made by Whirlpool. When I got on Appliance Pros web site, I found the part. By the way, this slide & adjustment for the rack is metal & not plastic. Once I had the simple tools ready it took but minutes to replace. It is now functioning beautifully. Tools needed for the installation was a flat head screwdriver to remove the old part & a Phillips head to install. 

The roller "tabs" have broken off time and time again ... The originals are a very poor design and the "tabs" (Tabs hold the roller on the roller shaft and keep the roller in place) of the roller break off and the top rack of this dish washer will fall down. I have had to replace either the left or right bracket every two years or so .... it is time consuming and costly.... HOWEVER .... this kit has "steel" side bracket and the rollers are attached very strongly... using a steel screw ... not "weak plastic tabs" that are not designed to last very long. It took me about an hour to replace the 1st side (it was a little bit different than original equipment) ... but ... after I know what I was doing ... it took about 3 minutes to change the other side bracket. Knowing what I know now ... could have done the entire job in less than 10 minutes ... I feel that this kit will last 10 years or more ... 

I purchased the Adjuster Kit. The cool thing was that I found a video on the AppliancePartsPros.com website that showed me step by step how to remove the old hardware and install the new. Great information. 

Took off old sliders and replaced with new ones. Old ones came off easily with a screwdriver and pliers. New ones went on just as easily using the same tools. Directions were easy to follow. New parts are much better than the original parts. 

Using the model number on the inner door of the dishwasher I looked up parts on the internet and found many vendors selling replacement parts. When I ran across the ApplicancePartsPros.com site I saw stories of what others did. Leveraging pictures on the site and descriptions within the stories I ordered The Adjuster Kit Part Number: AP5956100. This kit does not look like the plastic parts that I was replacing, however it works great in that it replaces all the parts that came with the rack that adjust the rack height and hold the wheels in place, etc. You remove all the older parts using pliers and flat head screw driver. You only need a Philips screw driver for the new parts. The kit comes with everything you need and some instructions with pictures. The pictures are terrible but the descriptions are very good, so take your time. It took me about 10 minutes to do the first side and about 1 minute to do the second side. In other words, once you see it in place it goes real quick. Just hold the pieces up and try them in place - they fit great and are made better than the original wheel/adjuster assembly. Many of the other stories are talking about wheel replacements - this kit replaces the whole adjuster and wheels on both side of the rack at a cost of about $32 plus shipping. I paid $25 for the next day air and got my part real fast. 

Simple parts, clear directions. AppliancePartsPros parts were delivered the NEXT day! The parts are far more robust than the OEM garbage. Very satisfied, and would highly recommend this supplier. NOTE: you will need a TORX screwdriver to properly complete this fix. 

This dishwasher was still under warranty; however the part is covered, not the labor and transportation. So I ordered the part for less than $30(including shipping) and my daughter installed it in about 10 minutes. Situation solved with no one having to wait around for a repairman to show up. All she did is take the broken piece off, clip in the new part, flip some guides back into place and she was done.