Dishwasher Troubleshooting

Hello. Recently started having a problem with a blinking light on the Normal button of the keypad. After much research, it appeared to be a faulty keypad. Ordered a new one and installed it. Turned the machine on and it started fine. 15 minutes into the cycle, it shut off with the unit full of water. Now there are no lights on the keypad, tried turning off the power, unplugging and resetting the ribbon cable…nothing. I checked the thermal fuse and it is blown. Any ideas? Shorted heating element maybe? I need a methodical approach to troubleshooting this otherwise, I will end up with a load of new parts that I don’t need. Thanks in advance!