Your switch details aren't clear, and seems unusual for a dishwasher ... an On/Off switch that flips up/down to actuate. A photo of said switch would be helpful. Also the model number needs to be cited when asking for assistance with appliance problems.

Regards to a soapy taste to the dishwasher, could be a few causes. Excess rinse aid due to the dispenser leaking it continuously into the tub. Insufficient water fill, poor rinsing. Pump problem, incomplete drain.

I have a whirlpool dishwasher, and I can see nothing that needs to be switched on or off. Mine is 9 yrs old now, and still works really well. I am wondering if you have ever cleaned the filter, (both upper and lower), and no, the upper one is not at the top of the dishwasher, its just what whirlpool calls it. It is the round thing, in the middle of the screen at the bottom. You turn it counter clockwise to remove. It could be hard to unscrew it, if you have never cleaned it. The lower filter is the screen thing itself, which just lifts off, after you have the upper filter removed.

What you describe resembles what happened when the circulation pump on our Kitchenaid dishwasher went bad -- cycles took longer and the dishes didn't get clean.

cat_ky - yes Did this few times.

Attached the switch image to my post. I have to flip it on to start working on my dishwasher. Inside the switch was all crumbling and I replaced it. After this, there was a "click" sound which I didnt hear all of this week. Before I would hear this sound when I turned on the dishwasher which was normal and it would also clean fine. I will have to just keep an eye on the DW this week and see if the replacement of the switch actually worked. I have cleaned the internals 3 months back, removed the circular mes/screen twice this year.

Dishwasher with the regular wall switch I was talking about -

Interesting…I’ve never seen a dishwasher that needed a wall switch to make it function. Even the dishwasher I grew up with…installed in 1960, when the house was a new build for my family, didn’t have a switch. Curious…why was the dw installed like that? Was that the norm in certain parts of the country?

Ahh, the switch is as I suspected but needed your clarification. It's part of your household wiring, not a component of the dishwasher directly. Common in apartments, unusual (in my experience) to have in a home but perhaps depends on local building/wiring codes.

Should been a simple switch to change, like any other light switch. Check the wiring and connections and circuit breaker if it's continuing to be erratic. Presumably it controls an outlet under the sink to which the dishwasher's power cord is connected.

The dishwasher's model/serial tag is affixed to the edge of the tub (whichever side) visible when the door is open.

Those chopper screens rarely need cleaning under normal circumstances which is why some disassembly is required to reach it ... unless the plastic coupler that mates it to the motor shaft is broken, in which case the chopper assembly needs to be replaced.

Is there a garbage disposal? If not, I suspect the wall switch was meant for one and someone plugged the DW into it mistakenly.

Thank you all for the responses. Yes the DW is back to normal (55-60 minutes/cycle) and dishes are clean. The switch was already there when I moved into this house, so no idea why it was there. Yes there are 2 other switches next to it, 1 for the garbage disposal and a light right above the sink. The chopper/screen has been clogged in the past and had to be cleaned. Once the spring was rusted, that I just replaced the screen. Typically this cleaning is a once/6 month exercise. I don't know if buying the original mesh from Whirlpool will last longer.