Dishwasher Error Codes: What They Mean and How to Fix Them

Why Dishwashers Show Error Codes

Modern dishwashers monitor water level, temperature, door latching, and drain timing throughout every cycle. When any of those readings fall outside the expected range, the control board stops the cycle and displays a code rather than continuing blind — a genuinely useful design, since it means the machine is telling you roughly where to look before you’ve opened a single panel.

The exact codes and their formats vary by brand, but the underlying causes cluster into a small number of repeat offenders across nearly every manufacturer. Knowing which bucket your code falls into saves a lot of guesswork.

Common Dishwasher Error Codes by Brand

Below are the codes we get called about most often, each linked to a full walkthrough of what it means and how to fix it:

• Bosch E24 / E15 — drainage and leak faults. See our E24 guide and E15 guide.
• LG OE / AE — drainage and water-leak faults. See our OE guide and AE guide.
• Whirlpool F2E2 — control panel communication fault. See our full F2E2 guide.
• Bosch E22 — filter or pump blocked, covered below under “Dishwasher Not Draining”.
• Bosch E09/E10, GE HE / H1 — heating faults, covered below under “Dishwasher Won’t Heat the Water”.
• 1E / F6 — water inlet faults, covered below under “Dishwasher Won’t Fill With Water”.
• Samsung LC / LE, Ld — leak detected, same fault as Bosch E15 above, different label.
• Samsung 5C / 5E — drainage fault, same fault as “Dishwasher Not Draining” above, different label.
• Samsung 4C / 4E — water supply fault, same fault as “Dishwasher Won’t Fill With Water” above, different label.
• Samsung HE / HC — heating fault, same fault as “Dishwasher Won’t Heat the Water” above, different label.
• Samsung OE, Whirlpool F8 E1 — overfilling, covered below under “Dishwasher Overfilling With Water”.
• Samsung and GE models tend to show a plain-language fault (like “check drain hose”) rather than a letter code — the causes below still apply directly.

Dishwasher Not Draining

This is the single most common reason a dishwasher throws a code at all. The filter at the bottom of the tub — a cylindrical piece that twists out by hand on most machines — collects food debris over time, and once it’s restricted enough, water can’t clear within the cycle’s timed window. Clean it monthly and this cause drops out almost entirely.

If the filter is clear and drainage is still slow, check the drain hose for kinks behind the machine, and if the dishwasher runs through a garbage disposal, confirm the internal knockout plug was actually removed during installation — a surprisingly common oversight that blocks drainage completely from day one.

Dishwasher Won’t Fill With Water

If the cycle starts but nothing seems to happen, or you hear the dishwasher running with a hint of water noise but the wash never really gets going, check that the hot water shutoff valve behind or under the sink is fully open — a partially closed valve after any nearby plumbing work is the most common cause. If the valve is open, inspect the water inlet hose for kinks and clean the small mesh filter screen where the hose connects to the machine, which collects sediment over time. A dishwasher that fills painfully slowly, rather than not at all, usually points to the same restricted screen.

Dishwasher Won’t Heat the Water

Dishes coming out greasy or with detergent residue still stuck on, even though the cycle completed normally, is the usual sign the water never reached temperature. Run the kitchen tap until it goes hot before starting a cycle — a dishwasher started with lukewarm water on the supply line can struggle to catch up. If that is not the cause, the heating element or its temperature sensor is the next most likely culprit, and that is a component-level repair rather than something to troubleshoot further yourself.

Dishwasher Overfilling With Water

This is a stop-and-check issue, not a wait-and-see one — turn the dishwasher off if you see water rising past the normal fill line to avoid a leak or overflow onto the floor. The cause is almost always a stuck-open water inlet valve or a failed pressure sensor that is no longer telling the machine when to stop filling, and both are component replacements rather than something to reset your way out of.

Dishwasher Door Won’t Close or Lock

Check the upper and lower racks for anything — a tall utensil, a pot handle — sticking up and catching the door or latch area before it can close. Clean around the latch itself, since a buildup of detergent residue there is enough to keep it from engaging. If the door still will not click shut firmly with a clear latch area, the lock mechanism itself has likely failed and needs replacement.

Dishwasher Leaking

A worn door gasket, a loose hose clamp inside the unit, or — more often than people expect — using regular dish soap instead of dishwasher detergent are the leading causes. Dish soap oversuds dramatically in a dishwasher, and the escaping foam can trip the same leak sensor as an actual water leak. Check your detergent before assuming a mechanical fault.

Dishes Coming Out Dirty or Spotted

Usually not a fault at all — a clogged spray arm (check for food debris blocking the small holes), overloading that blocks water from reaching every dish, or hard water leaving mineral spots are the three most common explanations. A rinse-aid dispenser that’s run empty is worth checking too; it’s an easy thing to overlook since the dishwasher won’t warn you the way it does for a real fault.

When to Call a Technician

Clearing the filter, checking the detergent, and inspecting visible hoses are all safe, useful things to try yourself first — they resolve the majority of dishwasher complaints without a service call. If you’ve checked those and the code or symptom persists, that points to a component that needs testing — a drain pump, a door latch switch, or the control board itself — and that’s where a technician’s diagnostic equipment saves you from guessing at parts.

How to Prevent Most Dishwasher Codes From Happening Again

A handful of habits prevent the large majority of the codes and symptoms above. Scrape large food debris off plates before loading — modern dishwashers are designed to handle some residue, but not full scraps. Run the hot water tap at the sink for a few seconds before starting a cycle, so the dishwasher starts with genuinely hot water instead of lukewarm. And clean that filter on a real schedule rather than waiting for a code to remind you — it takes under two minutes and prevents the single most common service call we get.

What Our Technicians Check First

On nearly every dishwasher call, before touching a single part, our technicians check three things in order: the filter and any visible debris in the tub, the actual detergent being used (regular dish soap is a more common culprit than people expect), and whether the machine is level — a dishwasher that’s tilted even slightly can cause draining and cleaning complaints that look like a part failure but aren’t. Knowing this order is often enough to solve simpler issues yourself before booking a visit.

Frequently Asked Questions