First I cleared the food chopper area. There were things there, bits of plastic for instance, but it wasn't the reason for the dishes not getting sprayed off. The dishwasher continued to only partially fill and not circulate the water. I started the dishwasher, let the pump start and then opened the door and filled up the dishwasher manually. It sprayed water as it should, cleaning the top rack quite well. I figured the issue was not the float switch, since some water was coming in. So I deduced that the inlet valve was not opening all the way, preventing the dishwasher from filling up to the normal level. I used the video on this web site to plan out the repair, it was excellent. I ordered the part from AppliancePartsPros.com and it came promptly as promised. I was able to replace the inlet valve without pulling the dishwasher out of the compartment, although it was tough to reach under there. I put fresh Teflon tape on the threads before I reinstalled the copper water feed line and the 90 degree elbow. I had no leaks and the dishwasher fills up properly and cleans the dishes as if it were new instead of 18 years old. It's a KitchenAid, and it has served us well. Parts are readily available too. Of course, the water shutoff valve was frozen open. Had to really put some torque on it to close it. When I reopened it of course it leaked a little. It's one of those 30 year old valves with packing around the stem. I watched some videos and their suggestion of just tightening the packing nut a little, solved the leak. To get someone to come fix this dishwasher probably would have been $200-300. It's great to have companies with helpful sites such as this one to help us do things ourselves. The hardest part was getting the rubber inlet hose off the old valve without damaging it.