How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP6334140 / W11246682 Food Chopper Assembly

I didn't know what was wrong at first. All I knew was that it was not cleaning well at all (especially top rack) and leaving food particles on everything. I was washing on power scrub with high heat and still poor cleaning. I suspected a clog so I pulled the dishwasher and removed the plumbing to check it out. I kept pulling apart, not finding any hint of a clog, until I got to the "chopper". I didn't know what it was supposed to look like but I knew that was not it. I ordered the part (got it in three days one of those being Labor Day). Once I had the part in hand making the repair was pretty easy. Just twisted out the inside part that was holding the copper in place, removed what was left and replaced it with the new one. Put everything back together. Ran a rinse cycle to make sure ther were no leaks. Then just slide the unit back in place and finished by putting the trim pieces back on. It's always scary working on expensive appliances but I have done refrigerators, washing machines, dryers and now a dishwasher. Getting over the fear is half the effort and most of the rest is figuring out exactly what went wrong. Nice when something is physically broken so it is very obvious what needs to be fixed. In my case dishwasher is working like new again. 

Chopper on this model is inside the pump housing, so the most difficult part of the job is getting the dishwasher out from under the counter. Remove the motor/pump assembly as if you are replacing the motor to pump seal. Undo the three Allen screws holding the pump housing to the motor and separate the pump housing. Clean the pump housing and motor enclosure. Lay the motor enclosure back on top of the motor, lay the new chopper on top of the motor enclosure, turning the blade to engage the dogs on the impeller shaft, then assemble the pump housing to the motor using the three Allen screws. The rubber elbow is originally held by non-reusable hose clamps, so you will need a narrow worm drive hose clamp about 40mm in diameter to reassemble. 

I found the noise coming from the recirculating pump. Once that was removed, it was obvious as to what was causing the noise. The chopper blade was completely chewed up. Appliance Parts Pros website had the right model, exploded parts views and more importantly, the correct part in stock. It arrived on time and installation was a breeze. 

Removed motor assembly from the pump, Placed Allen wrench in the motor shaft and unscrewed impeller, Replaced motor seal kit and replaced impeller. lined up a slot on volute with motor housing, set new chopper in place and slid back into the pump housing, and replaced screws. 

Replaced food chopper, filter wasn't sure of the problem. That's why I purchased both parts. Changing of the food chopper was the most difficult. Because it's underneath the dishwasher by the motor! After pulling out from cabinet area, replacing was fairly simple. 

Didn’t know if I’d be able to identify the problem but when I opened the pump cover it was easy to see that the chopper assembly was completely disintegrated. Replaced it with a new one which resolved the problem. 

We replaced the chopper with a new one. 

I was able to remove the pump from the dishwasher without having to remove the rubber pipes. 4 screws! This granted me access to the back of the chopper housing. From there I was able to remove the old chopper blade. Replaced the new one and reinstalled the pump to the chopper housing. The swap took less than 10 minutes. Reinstalling the dishwasher took longer than fixing the problem. To ensure this problem never happens again, be sure to thoroughly recover all glass shards if a glass breaks. And to NEVER allow jars with labels run through the dishwasher. 

Ordered the chopper and clamp (you need the clamp if you remove the chopper housing from the pump). Clamp is special because it's narrower than a standard worm clamp, but considering the cost, you might try to get it at the auto parts or hardware store. I didn't want to mess around with it so I just purchased it. The chopper blade had broken off on an excess of junk my kids put into the dishwasher. Then the screen clogged with junk causing the weak spray pressure. Installing the replacement was no problem at all - no leaks, works great. 

Taking apart the inside of the dishwasher to find the part did not help in my case because the problem was that a piece of the food chopper blade came off and was getting knocked around by the chopper blade. I found this by pulling the dishwasher out and carefully tipping it on it back. I would recommend cutting the power to the dishwasher first and then removing the electrical cable/box at the base. Then I carefully disconnected the electrical cable from the housing of the chopper blade. This was on the bottom of the dishwasher (on the outside). I unscrewed the housing of the chopper blade and found that a fin of the chopper blade had broken off. A new chopper blade was all I needed to fix this issue. Dishwasher has been working great ever since. I would say that this was not a super easy fix, but anyone could do it with a little research.