Dishwasher Problem

[DLRambo]

I've got a friend thats has had his dishwasher overflow 3 times in the past 6 months. The rest of the time he says it works just fine. He swears hes not over-filling it with soap.

Its a GE; its about 15 years old; the door seals look ok. The house itself is about 50 years old and uses cast iron waste lines and galvanized supply lines (some of which have been replaced with CPVC and copper).

Any clues as to what could be sporadically screwing up.

[crusty]

Is there an airgap and is water discharging from it? If it is there and the water is not discharging, the drain line may be clogged in front of the airgap. But the sporadic nature of the problem suggests a malfunctioning pump. At 15 years old I would replace it before I paid a service tech.

[chrisprickett]

The problem is it's 15 years old. Not to be a smart ass but whatever the problem, trying to fix it is throwing good money after bad.

[Chad Fabry]

See if the problem coincides with them washing their cat.