Haha, I'd forgotten about this thread

Yeah, I never run the dishwasher without running the hot water first. I've always done that regardless of whether the heater is working.

I'm sorry I completely forgot to follow up on this thread, and now I'm slightly unclear on what fixed it and how good it eventually got, because we no longer have that dishwasher (or the condo in which it is located ).

From what I can remember, it was a combination of things. The vinegar helped, but didn't do all that much. I want to say we might have eventually called the manufacturer and they sent out a technician who found that the drain was a big clogged up. We tend to rinse our plates before putting them in the dishwasher, so I'm not sure how much more we could do (at what point is it easier to just hand wash the plates?).

There was one consumer product I've used that really helps clean the dishwasher. It's called Dishwasher Magic, and you just put it upside down in your silverware basket (with nothing else in the machine), and run your dishwasher at the most aggressive, hottest setting. Afterwards your dishwasher looks great, and I recall our dishes coming out cleaner.