Dishwasher not emptying

[Bernard Peek]

The dishwasher (Siemens Extraklasse) has developed two faults at the same time, which sounds an improbable coincidence to me. Can anyone suggest a remedy?

One fault is that it's not emptying. The dirty water collects in the bottom of the machine and the wash cycle stops early.

The other is that the machine won't start when it is switched on. It will sit there until we push the door closed, it's as if the interlock isn't working.

Does anyone know whether these faults are linked, and whether there might be a simple solution?

[Franko]

Not a great help maybe but we had the problem with the cycle halting and not emptying with a Bosch, I worked out that if I opened the door and poured a jug of clean water into the machine, it would then carry on and complete the wash once the door was closed again.

[Roger Mills]

Let's deal with the second one first. I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean. It's not *supposed* to start unless the door is closed - there is a microswitch which is operated by the door catch. Or do you mean that it doesn't start even when the door *is* closed, unless you also lean on it? If this is the case, it sounds as if the microswitch needs to be adjusted.

Now to the first one. Does it *ever* empty? If not, the emptying pump isn't working for some reason. The possible causes, starting with the *least* likely are:

• Programmer not telling pump to run

• Pump motor failed

• Pump impellor stripped

• Food scraps - small bones etc. - stuck in pump, preventing it from rotating

I would start by removing the lower tray and all the filters - and making sure that there's no solid debris in the well at the bottom.

[Bernard Peek]

In message , Roger Mills writes

The door needs to be pushed quite hard to get the machine to start. This is a new problem that started at the same time as it stopped emptying, so I wondered whether the two problems might be connected.

There was no visible debris when I last checked. If something is jammed then its probably something inside the works.

[Part timer]

Been there done that! Is the water supply fed directly from the incoming main or via a tank. Ours tended to stop if the loo was flushed (that was fed directly from the main), depriving the dishwasher of its fill. Unlike a washing machine that just waits for water supply to recommence, the dishwasher would carry on with little or no water and would require a manual top-up.

[Bernard Peek]

Mine's fed from the mains. We've checked and there's no problem with water pressure.

[Bob Martin]

Does the drain hose join the sink drain through a small plastic valve? Every time ours refused to drain I found that this valve was jammed open with bits of debris. Clear and rinse fixed it.

[Bernard Peek]

The drain hose is poked into the top of a stand-pipe, there is no valve.

[F]

Have a look/ask the question over on

helpful and usually spot-on.

[Bernard Peek]

Thanks for that. I've picked up some ideas for where to search for the problem.