Do-It-Yourself Story

Our new house had a 1994 Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher model fdb878gc. After 21 years of use, the plastic filter in the bottom of the unit had all but disintegrated. After determining that a new filter housing was available and deciding from studying the “06-motor” diagram on the APP website, I dissembled the unit thus: Remove the nylon Spray Arm Nut (#23) and lift off the Spray Arm (#24). Mine had some old cherry pits and broken glass rattling around inside because of the holey filter. I shook them out. The Filter Assembly Cover (#25) comes next. Tricky. The little detent tab at about 11:30 position on the parts photo needs to be lifted while rotating the cover counter-clockwise about 3/8 inches. There's no purchase on the smooth plastic and it's probably brittle with age. I said a little prayer and clamped a pair of channel-loks on it. It twisted loose and I lifted it off. A strap wrench probably would have avoided marring the plastic, but I didn't have one available. Fortunately, the Seal (#26) wasn't harmed so I set it aside for reuse. Remove the Upper Impeller Screw (#27) while holding the impeller with a huge box-end wrench (I think about 1”) but good luck trying to get the Upper Impeller (#28) off after 21 years. I destroyed mine (which was why I did the disassembly before ordering the parts ;)) Once the impeller is off, remove the three torx-head Filter Housing Screws (#29) and lift out the Filter Housing (#30) FINISHED! While I waited for the parts to arrive, I removed the Separator Plate and wire brushed the motor shaft to make the impeller reassembly smoother. (found some prune pits, broken glass and more cherry pits under it) In reassembly, I lubricated the Upper Impeller shaft and the surfaces between the Filter Assembly Cover and the Filter Housing with olive oil (food-grade lubricant!) and put it all back together in about 30 minutes.