Fixing Your Dishwasher Door

The broken cord still attached to the dishwasher door.

We have a kitchen aid dishwasher, last week while opening the dishwasher we heard a pop and the door lowered like a brick.  The door lowers slowly normally due to the action of two springs.  A simple nylon cord attaches the door to a spring via a plastic pulley. 
This is an easy fix for most homeowners, parts were 35 dollars at my local home appliance parts store.  Attaching the spring to the cord does requires some upper arm strength.  Detach the two screws at the top of your dishwasher, in order to slide the dishwasher about 8" out from under the counter.  Remove the old white pulley.  Install the new pulley, the top of the pulley needs to rest inside the top visible hole. 

The new pulley attached with the cord correctly run through the pulleys

Detach the broken cord, attach the new cord and run through the pulleys as shown.  Then attach the cord to the spring at the outside base of the dishwasher.  My spring had detached, and had slid all the way to the back of the dishwasher.  I unwound a coat hanger, bent the end into a hook, and fairly easily retrieved the spring.  It's easy to see where the spring attaches to the base of the dishwasher, if your unsure, look on the side that still functions.  After the spring is attached to the base of the dishwasher comes the hardest part.  Attach the cord from the door to the spring.

Cord attachment to spring detail

I inserted a small screwdriver into the hook, in order to have some leverage, pulled the spring back, and had my oldest son slip the cord over the hook on the spring (thanks Brett).  Initially, tried pulling the spring back with a pair of needle nose pliers, the spring slipped and received a nasty cut from the rebound.  Some of the surfaces under the dishwasher are sharp.  After everything is attached, open and close the door a few times to make sure everything is working correctly.  The kit contains two complete pulleys and cords, we just replaced the broken side as the other side looked great.  Gently slide the dishwasher back, reattach the two screws at the top of your dishwasher and your finished.