I knew the thermal fuse was tripped so the heating element was not working but over time the dishwasher failed to start even after shutting power and cycle on. I decided that the motherboard (control unit) was likely the culprit. It probably went bad allowing the thermal fuse to trip. In the end I decided to change out both the thermal fuse (comes as part of the harness) along with the control board and it works perfectly now! For the record, if your thermal fuse is off, try resetting the fuse (it has a button between the wire leads) and changing out the control board located below the unit. That may be your issue if your unit appears to give you a hard time starting. Good luck. By the way the heater element itself and all other parts were fine and not replaced.