Just spent the better part of 2 hours trouble shooting my 18 month old KA dishwasher.  Cycles kept stopping leaving water in the tub.  I'd hear the pump run for a few seconds and then it would stop.  Repeat.  Cleaned out the filter and the sump, no good, still won't drain.

Thought the drain line might be blocked, pulled it off the connection and it looked clear.  Tried blowing into it, but there is a back flow preventer so no go.  Ended up pulling the DW out a bit, with my installation it's a bit of a pain.  disconnected the drain from the pump, blew through the line , no issues.   Shined a flash light into the pump -- a toothpick and one of those fine tendon/bones from a turkey leg was jamming it up.  Needle nose pliers solved that issue.

Not sure how a toothpick manged to work it's way through the filters and into the pump.  That should not be able to happen.  Guess I'll be more careful and look at the underside of the plates when I load up the unit...

True that...  But in all honesty it wasn't at the dinner table.

A definite design flay in my book.  The pump just snaps off with a twist, debated about pulling the pump, but the issue was easily resolved with a pair of needle nose pliers.  Will be more observant in the future.