Dishwashers are pretty simple, in concept. If there's enough water in there; if its hot water; if the lines are unobstructed; if the arms are going around; if the detergent is dispensed.....your dishes will get cleaned. Wish I was there to noodle it with you. However, surprised that paid repair-guy couldn't diagnose and remedy. There's not all that much to look for.

Are there any more details you can provide? I have little doubt the problem is minor.

Water gets hot, arms are going around, he looked at the lines and the detergent is being used. He spent two hours looking at the darned thing and could only think it was the button. He also cleared a very small piece of label out of one of the sprayer holes, but it is now clear. He was stumped and I have dirty dishes. Would really appreciate any thoughts.

This is nuts. Guy essentially said everything's working OK....except the almost-new machine still doesn't do its job. Hopefully, you didn't pay him. Was he a dealer-tech?

Reiterate that DW's are relatively simple machines. Bosch builds good ones. Something is very obviously being missed.

In particular, if you say it did OK for a few months and now it now longer is, there's another clue. Something changed.

Hire somebody else. I continue to believe the solution will be a simple one.

Have you called their "help" number and discussed this?

Can you confirm that the lower arm is rotating? Water may be getting to it, but that won't help with cleaning if the arm can't spin. If you spin it, does it spin freely or does it locking? One thing to do may be to remove the upper basket and do a Tall-items wash - whatever that is called, I forget. It'd be better yet if you could block the upper spout - IOW not even use the shower head thing for the upper unit but block the upper arm flow altogether, but it may not matter and you could just try using the showerhead contraption. This way you can confirm that the lower arm really doesn't indeed clean your dishes.

I agree with asolo - your tech was an idiot. Call and talk to Bosch and tell 'em to send one of THEIR techs, if possible.

The lower arm is rotating when it washes and is spinning freely. It definitely did work better before but never as well as the other dishwashers I have had in the past. Always the need to really pre-rinse heavily. Just assumed it was a characteristic of the brand, but maybe it has been faulty from the beginning. Had mid-level Whirlpools, GEs and a SMEG (overseas) in the past that all outperformed my new machine. Now it's just quit completely on the bottom. Mindstorm, I will try your suggestion tonight and then definitely call Bosch if I don't get anywhere. Will let you all know. Thanks for the suggestions.

You know that TV ad where that woman throws her old washing machine off a cliff.... I am having dishwasher visions.

I called the Bosch customer service line for advice and the rep's answer was to refer me back to the service agent.

At this point my he-man partner decided I had given the traditional methods enough time. Think he was more sick of me bringing individual pots and dishes in to show him and saying "honey look at the stuff left on that one."

He looked at the dishwasher and wondered if there could be some constrictions in the line that resulted in the bottom sprayer getting lower water pressure. He pulled the lower arm off and stopped and started the machine several times with the arm off. He then replaced the arm and started it up regularly. The machine was a lot louder than it had been in the past. It was almost inaudible before. It appears to be cleaning now, but we'll see what happens.

We have the same model. We've used it regularly and heavily for 2 years & have not seen any degradation in cleaning - and I don't pre-rinse dishes unless they are heavily caked with something.

We have noticed ours is louder now. We attribute that to the spontaneous & totally unannounced/unexpected/unneeded change of the water meter last week, while our unit was running. Dirt was running through our faucets and toilets for a few hours - I doubt that was good for the dishwasher.

What kind of detergent are you using? Essentially all machines today specify an enzyme-based detergent.

How hard is your water?

In most situations, you need less than a full amount of DW detergent. Have you varied the amount of detergent?

Consider trying a double-dose (2 bottles) of DW cleaner like DW Magic to ensure all the hidden parts are not junked up with, well ... whatever. Don't bother with Tang or vinegar as some may suggest-they have less than 1/10 the 'cleaning power' of DW Magic. I have no connection to DW Magic, BTW. Many grocery stores sell DW cleaners, along with Sears and K-Mart. Be sure to follow the instruction on the bottle, and run it on the hottest cycle.

Pugger, good to hear that your machine cleans well. I had really lost faith in my model.

Thanks cpovey. Will try the DW Magic and see if that gets us over the final hurdle to 100%, speck-free clean. Am using the enzyme detergent in the correct right amounts and addressed water type, loading, from the beginning. Clearing the line seems to have helped a lot. Now also have on tap an appliance repairman acquaintance who has owned his own business for 20 years. Am putting faith in his experience if it's still acting up.

Do you have good water pressure to your house? Maybe the good cleaning before was of course when it was new then after a while some debris could be in the fill valve screen slowing your water pressure resulting in less water in the machine now. If so maybe this affects the bottom rack more so than the top rack spray?? After it fills open the door and add you a quart or so of hot water and see if this results in a better cleaning cycle. Would also use the DMagic to clean out the machine..