Troubleshooting Maytag dishwasher keyboard

Hi everyone! Thanks in advance for any help I receive! So, my problem is this...I have a Maytag MDB7749AWM1 stainless steel dishwasher. It was working perfectly the last time I used it...about 2 weeks ago. I loaded it up today and closed the door and the control panel push buttons are totally dead! No lights on at all when pushing any of the buttons. I checked the breaker box, nothing tripped. So after opening and closing it several times and blowing off some steam about another unexpected expense. I decided to go back to it after a couple of hours. Now, unexplainably the buttons are working...at least most of them are. Let me explain, the buttons on the left: The first four will activate and light up when switching between the various wash modes accept the final one, "Rinse Only"..it stays dead. Then the ones on the right are "options". The ONLY one that lights is the "heated dry" one, but I can't toggle it off and on, it just appears to be stuck on. I don't know if this is normal, I always use that setting, but I know I can't activate any of the other settings.

So, I'm at a loss. I'm pretty handy, have fixed my own more modern HE washer and dryer, replaced boards inside them in the past. So, I'm fairly confident if I could pinpoint the trouble, and part to replace, I could tackle it. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to further investigate or already know what I need to replace, please help me out.

Take care and thanks for reading!

 

Welcome to the forums.

An ongoing problem with Maytag/Whirlpool dishwashers. The ribbon cable that connects the keyboard to the control board goes bad. It either develops cracks or gets corroded causing the buttons and display lamps to not work or work incorrectly. I have almost the same exact washer with the same exact problem. I repaired the ribbon cable which is just about impossible. It went intermittent again. The sad part is that Whirlpool is aware of the problem and is doing nothing to compensate the owners.

At one time just the keypad membrane was available but now the entire keyboard assembly with the plastic housing gets replaced. A fairly easy job. Only 4-6 screws hold the assembly to the top of the door.

Your keypad assembly should be part # W10811151 . It comes in white, stainless and black. You need to verify the part number I gave you is the stainless model.

You can get the assembly many places. One place is amazon.
W10811151-Factory-Appliance-Panel-Control

The breakdown for your washer can be found in the link below. Click on "control panel and latch parts."
MAYTAG UNDERCOUNTER DISHWASHER | Model mdb7749awm1 | Sears Parts Direct

 

Thanks so much Pete! I was thinking it might be that item, had stumbled across a troubleshooting guide on repairclinic.com that listed that as the #1 cause for button unresponsiveness at least. Glad you confirmed my suspicion!

Seriously though, I really appreciate the thoughtful input/response! Very helpful!!

 

I wish I had better news. I feel that Whirlpool should offer a replacement membrane in light of these problems but it doesn't appear to be the case.