---
title: "Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher signal Sanitize light flashing"
description: "Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher signal Sanitize light flashing — sanitize light flashing is an indicator rather than an error."
url: "https://kenmoremiami.support/error-codes/whirlpool-dishwasher-sanitize-light-flashing/"
date_modified: "2026-09-01"
Appliance type: "Dishwashers"
---


# Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher signal Sanitize light flashing

### Whose code this actually is

Kenmore did not write Sanitize light flashing, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is Whirlpool’s, and it appears on the dishwasher that Whirlpool built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool, Frigidaire and Bosch all built dishwashers for this badge, and their numbering overlaps enough to be convincing while meaning entirely different things.

### What the appliance is telling you

Whirlpool's wording: the sanitize indicator flashes when the machine detects that the temperature needed for sanitizing was not reached.

This one is an indicator rather than an error. It is published in the same table as genuine problems, and treating it as one is how a working appliance gets a service call.

### Which Kenmore models can raise it

The Kenmore dishwasher whose model number begins 665 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are Whirlpool’s, which is why Whirlpool’s table is the one that applies to Sanitize light flashing and no other manufacturer’s does.

### What happens next

- Check the water arriving is hot enough — running the kitchen tap hot before starting the machine genuinely helps.
- If it never reaches temperature, the heater is the repair.

### Where this usually goes

The job this most often becomes is [dishwasher wash performance service](/services/dishwasher-wash-performance-service/), and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore dishwasher on this water scales its heater and its spray arms faster than the manual assumes, so codes about temperature and wash performance are read here with the supply in mind first. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears Sanitize light flashing, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.

### Where this meaning came from

Whirlpool’s own documentation: *Dishwasher error codes and flashing lights — Whirlpool Product Help*. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer’s document instead.

What the machine is telling you

Whose code this actually is

Kenmore did not write Sanitize light flashing, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is Whirlpool’s, and it appears on the dishwasher that Whirlpool built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool, Frigidaire and Bosch all built dishwashers for this badge, and their numbering overlaps enough to be convincing while meaning entirely different things.

What the appliance is telling you

Whirlpool's wording: the sanitize indicator flashes when the machine detects that the temperature needed for sanitizing was not reached.

This one is an indicator rather than an error. It is published in the same table as genuine problems, and treating it as one is how a working appliance gets a service call.

Which Kenmore models can raise it

The Kenmore dishwasher whose model number begins 665 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are Whirlpool’s, which is why Whirlpool’s table is the one that applies to Sanitize light flashing and no other manufacturer’s does.

What happens next

Check the water arriving is hot enough — running the kitchen tap hot before starting the machine genuinely helps.

If it never reaches temperature, the heater is the repair.

Where this usually goes

The job this most often becomes is dishwasher wash performance service, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore dishwasher on this water scales its heater and its spray arms faster than the manual assumes, so codes about temperature and wash performance are read here with the supply in mind first. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears Sanitize light flashing, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.

Where this meaning came from

Whirlpool’s own documentation: Dishwasher error codes and flashing lights — Whirlpool Product Help. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer’s document instead.

---

**[Read full article: Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher signal Sanitize light flashing](https://kenmoremiami.support/error-codes/whirlpool-dishwasher-sanitize-light-flashing/)**