So, a last week our garbage disposal stopped working. It was humming but not working. I tried pressing the reset button but it didn't work. Then 2 days ago I was doing a load of dishes and I went back into the kitchen and there was soap and water coming out of the dishwasher, so I turned it off. I haven't used it. Now the dishwasher is full of water on the bottom and it leaks out everytime I use the faucet? Any ideas on how I can fix this myself. I tried to use an allen wrench on the bottom of the disposal to fix it, I can't get it to turn but I have used the broom stick trick inside the disposal and there is nothing clogging it, just some small pieces of food inside but it still just hums. Thanks in advance!!

You seem to be describing two separate problems: a jammed disposal and a kitchen sink drain that is stopped up.

Get a 5 gallon bucket. Disconnect the dishwasher drain hose from the dispoall, direct it into the bucket and advance the timer on the dishwasher to rinse/drain or stop, and see if it pumps all the water out. If it does, eliminate that appliance from the equation, and focus on the main issue which is one or more obstructions in the drain path from the disposal on downstream. Disconnect the drain from the disposal, baffle, p-trap, and slip-joint fittings, drop in the bucket and take them outside and blast clean with a garden hose. Turn power off to disposal, and try to get it to spin with the allen wrench underneath. Check for anything lodged in the drain outlet. If you can turn the disposal with a the allen wrench, proceed. If not, stop and replace or remove it. Finally, it you have a manual snake, use it on the sink drainpipe before re-assembling everything.
Good luck.

because i am wondering if the disposal has something to do with the dishwasher.

& thank you so much, i will try that out!



Edited 2 times.

You don't have a high loop or air gap on the DW drain hose and the sink drain is plugged up. That's why the DW leaks out water whenever the faucet is turned on. Have the sink drain piping cleaned (don't use Draino or other chemical "cleaner" and have the drain hose for the DW high looped or air gapped. The disposal should be remove/cleaned/replaced when this work is being done.

If you have an ISE disposal you should have the allen key to rotate the plate inside and unjam it. After the disposal can spin, it should remove the obstruction in the drain line. If you can't unjam it, it will have to be pulled out and turned upside down and use the allen wrench again. Aquarium gravel and broken shot glasses were common occurrences in rentals with college kids in one town I worked, and they had to be removed and flipped over to get all the junk out.

quote; The disposal should be remove/cleaned/replaced when this work is being done.

That may be the case, but the real problem is that the disposer's outlet is blocked and has to be cleared. A technician may be able to unjam the disposer without replacing it.