Is my dishwasher safe?

[ksmeadowlark]

My dishwasher came with the house. It works ok, not great, but I am not willing to spend money to replace it while it is working. However, the plastic-coated metal pieces that stick up (like to hold your glasses and bowls in place) are starting to break off, leaving metal exposed. I remember this happening to my parents' dishwasher when I was a kid, and it left rusty spots on some of the dishes as a result. I am not seeing that, but just wonder if the metal that is exposed is food safe? Anyone know?

[stormborn]

Hmm. ours has a few metal parts exposed but it hasn't left rust spots. You can get stuff to fix that, it's like liquid plastic you paint on.

[ksmeadowlark]

When I was in college my dad was going to use some of that stuff on our dishwasher. I looked at the bottle and it was all kinds of nasty and talked him out of it. Maybe they make something that is food safe now?