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Repair information for Bosch dishwashers.

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Bosch Dishwasher runs with door open or not al all and behaves oddly

I have a Bosch SHX57C05UC dishwasher. While it was running today, it made a kind of hammering noise and then started overflowing. I was out, but my wife turned off the water and left it until I got home.

When I got home, I turned it on, and it automatically started draining. I assume the emergency drain was triggered. The odd thing is that it didn’t matter whether the door was open or not. On a hunch that it related to the door switch, I took the door apart and checked the switch. The switch reads fine.

I took the kick plate off, and there was indeed water in the tray, so that probably explains the draining. I used towels to clear the water out.

I turned the breaker back on so I could run the diagnostic tests (which I had just found), and I can’t tell if it’s giving me something useful or not. The diagnostics show lights B and C blinking, which points to the inlet water value. The reason I’m not convinced is that pressing any other buttons causes all kinds of odd effects. I’m not sure that I’m not ascribing meaning to a random combination of lights.

With the power back on, I tried turning the dishwasher on. It launched immediately into a wash cycle, even though the door was open. I played around with choosing cycles and opening and closing the door (which had no effect). During one cycle the washer started howling at me and continued for about a minute after I turned the washer back off. It seemed to be coming from the left side of the washer, where the water line comes in. I put my hand on the water line, and I could feel the vibration. After a few more cycles of turning it on and off, it switched from running regardless of whether the door was open to refusing to run, and that’s where I am now.

I’m looking for some confirmation that a bad intake valve would cause what I’m seeing before I pull the washer out of the wall to go any further.

Update (09/14/2019)

Aha! I just figured out how to used the diagnostic test correctly. I get E6, which is the water sensor. To use the diagnostics correctly, hold Power Scrub and Regular buttons and power it on. The display will show C1 and then P0. Press Regular again, and the display should change to P1. Press Quick to start the diagnostic test. DO NOT press Quick when the display shows P0 or P3. That’s bad. P1 is the only option that’s useful. Here’s my reference doc.

I should also add that when I try to run a dishwasher now, it acts like the door is open. The little red “active” light does not come on. I have a dishwasher full of water, and I’d like to drain it, but the drain function doesn’t no anything. Again, acting like the door is always open. Maybe I didn’t get the door switch put back in correctly?

I just took the door apart again to make sure I didn’t do something wrong with the switch. Nope. Switch is perfect. It’s doing everything a switch should do. The signal that the door is closed is definitely making it to the control board.

Update (09/14/2019)

One more detail. When I was testing that the door switch is working, I noticed something that might be odd. Testing voltage from N on the power switch to the closed post of the door switch, I get 120V, which is expected. Measuring to the open post of the door switch, I got 110V, which seems odd to me, but I guess could be normal? (Tripping the switch causes the posts to swap, as expected.)

Update (09/15/2019)

New behavior to report! I noticed that if I close the door hard, the washer begins draining, but it only lasts for about 1 second, then it shuts off again. Closing the door gently (less than hard) has no effect. I struggle to see how that can be anything other than a bad door switch. BUT, when I took the switch out, I could see with a meter that resistance across the closed posts was 0, across the open posts was infinite, and they swapped when I triggered the switch. Could it be that the switch is failing in some way that affects the current/voltage, but not the resistance?

I finally managed to get the washer to drain by manually triggering the emergency flood switch, which apparently works whether the door is closed or not.

Current state: I strongly suspect the door switch is bad. I also strongly suspect that one of the valves or sensors is bad. (Dishwashers don’t normally howl.) I am inclined to think that the control board is OK, but I would really love some external validation. If the control board is fried, cheaper to go buy a new washer than replace the control board, the bad value/sensor, and the switch.

Update (09/15/2019)

I pulled out the washer this afternoon, took it completely apart, cleaned everything out, and put it back together. I found a build-up of gunk on the filter inside the water inlet valve. It looked like enough to be blocking water flow. I also checked out the turbidity sensor, and it passed visual inspection.

After I put everything back together, I powered it up (outside with no water attached), and noted no difference in behavior. The washer doesn't seem to recognize that the door is closed. While I had it lying on its back I noticed again that if I closed the door hard enough, the drain pump would run for about a second and shut off again. After I stood it upright again, it went back to completely ignoring the door, regardless of how hard I closed it.

Update (09/22/2019)

I finally got some time to dig a little deeper. First I built shunt to replace the switch, so that the washer always thinks the door is closed. With the shunt in place, it still acts like the door is open. The switch is officially exonerated.

I also tried connecting it back up to the water supply to see what happens. Being connected to the water (with the shunt in place) did not change whether the washer is willing to run. It still won’t run. What does happen, though, is that the washer fills with water without me doing anything. I didn’t give it the chance, but I’m will to bet it merrily would have overflowed.

As before, I was able to manually trigger the float switch to get the washer to drain the water. That is the only way to make the washer drain. Activating the drain function from the controls has no impact.

To debug the intake valve, I turned on the water and unplugged the dishwasher. It still filled with water. Bad sign. I then plugged in the dishwasher and manually triggered the float switch. With the sensor triggered, the washer still filled. According to what I read, the float switch is in series with the intake valve, so triggering the switch should shut the valve. It didn’t. Bad sign. I took out the intake valve and pulled the solenoid off the valve. No matter what I do with the solenoid, I can’t get it to retract the plunger. My guess is that there’s a short somewhere inside it. Looks like a new intake valve is $15 on Amazon, so it might be worth a shot.

Update (09/24/2019)

OK, bought and installed a new intake valve. The washer no longer fills when it shouldn’t, but otherwise nothing has changed. The washer simply refuses to start, with or without the door sensor shunted closed. It still reports error E6, the turbidity sensor. Would that really keep the washer from running? I’d really love some suggestions that aren’t expensive. :)

Update (09/30/2019)

I found a $10 turbidity sensor on eBay, so I bought it and installed it. After putting the washer back together, the diagnostic still says the turbidity sensor is bad. I’m inclined to take that as a sign that it’s the control board that’s bad, which means it’s time to get a new washer. I’d love to hear a dissenting opinion.

Update (10/05/2019)

I opened the dishwasher up again tested the voltage across the water intake valve solenoid while it’s plugged in. With the power on, there’s 120VAC across the solenoid, regardless of whether the washer is trying to start a cycle or in cancel/drain mode. There’s also 120VAC across the solenoid regardless of whether the door is open or not. (Again, I’ve thoroughly tested the door switch, and it’s behaving as expected.) The voltage for the solenoid is being driven directly by the control board, which doesn’t bode well.

The other odd thing is that even with 120VAC across the solenoid, the water intake valve is not opening; it refuses to let water through. I’m also unable to hear or feel the solenoid actuate when applying power.

It’s looking to me like the control board really has failed. In addition, the new water intake valve seems bad or maybe misinstalled. At this point, I’ve run out of rope with my wife, so we’re off to buy a new washer.

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New dishwasher is installed and working great. Still no clarity on what the issue with the old one is.

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Did you buy another Bosch?

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You have appliance gremlins.

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The flood switch is tripped. This is located under the unit. Unplug or flip the breaker to the dishwasher, take off the black kick plate under the door, 2 screws, and you will see the white plastic "pan". The flood switch is located where you can't really see it but it is on the left hand side wall and is made of styrofoam. The best thing to do is to put some rags in the pan, this is not easy because there is little room to put them, and soak-up the water that has filled the pan. Eventually you will get enough water out that the float will deactivate the switch. What you hear "running" when you turn it on is actually the drain pump, it get activated when the flood switch is tripped.



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That was indeed one of the issues, but the pan is now dry, and it's still not happy. The pump no longer runs when I turn on the washer. In fact, nothing happens. The lights come on, but that's all.

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first try unplugging it for 5 minutes to allow it to reset. Make sure the water valve is turned on, try to start and see if you get any error codes.

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I have done a reset, and the current state of things is that:

a) The washer never acknowledges that the door is closed. I have checked with a meter that the door switch is operating correctly; the signal that the door is closed is definitely getting to the control board.

b) The diagnostic tests show E6, which is the aqua sensor according to the docs.

Aside from those two things (the first one is a big one), it's behaving "normally."

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Bosch dishwasher e6 error code. An E6 error code of the Bosch dishwasher means that there are problems with the sensor that controls the water turbidity. ... In the dishwasher, this sensor detects the turbidity of the water due to the presence of small particles of dirt, food residues and other things inside it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsCyoTKh...

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Yeppers. But would that cause the washer to behave like the door is always open? That's the part I'm hung up on. No point in replacing the aqua sensor if there are issues with the control board.

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When a Bosch is in error, it doesn’t matter if the door is open or closed. Before doing any voltage readings, check the voltage at the junction box where it connects to the dishwasher. Check the voltage and polarity. It could be a floating neutral/ground issue.

If the polarity is incorrect, voltage readings at switch’s will be incorrect. Checking ohms verses voltage on a door switch would both have the same results. The switch is either open or closed no matter how you test it. The E6 error, as mayer said, relates to water issue. The noise you described on the left side is also where the fill valve is located. There is a water sensor in the housing on the left side of dishwasher. I have found the housing to have a build up of sediment in it and this will create the same issues you have mentioned. Replacing it solved the problem.

To be continued

Attached is a link on eBay.

The water inlet parts #00499500 water lever sensor and #oo263833 water inlet, this is where I’d start troubleshooting if I was in front of the dishwasher. Turn power off to d/w. Pull unit out to gain access to the left side. Check ohms of each switch. Remove the wires from the switch before checking ohms to get accurate reading. Switch is either open or close depending how it’s used in the circuit. I hope something here helps you locate the issue.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=...

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@ladytech Thank You ;-)

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Thanks! That's helpful.

The junction box is all normal, so that's not the source of the issue with the door.

I pulled out the washer this afternoon, took it completely apart, cleaned everything out, and put it back together. I found, just like you described, a build-up of gunk on the filter inside the water inlet valve. It looked like enough to be blocking water flow. I also checked out the turbidity sensor, and it passed visual inspection.

After I put everything together, I powered it up (outside with no water attached), and noted no difference in behavior. The washer doesn't seem to recognize that the door is closed. While I had it lying on its back I noticed again that if I closed the door hard enough, the drain pump would run for about a second and shut off again. After I stood it upright again, it went back to completely ignoring the door, regardless of how hard I closed it.

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I can believe that the crud I cleaned off the valve filter was the cause of the howling. It doesn't explain the original overflowing, though. Nor does it explain the washer acting like the door is always open.

I think my next step is to replace the door switch and see what happens.

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I just reread your post, and I don't think the first line sank in the first time. So, you're saying that if the washer thinks the turbidity sensor is bad, then it won't turn on regardless of what the door switch is or isn't doing? Shouldn't the washer give some more obvious signal than just refusing to start? Aside from the part where it won't start, the UI is behaving perfectly normally, which seems very misleading. Why give me the option to select a cycle or cancel-drain if the washer has no intention of running it?

When I'm running it now, it's running with no water connected (because it's in my back yard). Would that cause it to think its sensors are failing?

I'm full of questions (or something) because parts for this model are stupid expensive, and I'm trying to avoid dumping hundreds of dollars into parts just to find out there's a control board failure. I also like the switch as a scape goat because it's the cheapest thing I can replace. :). Thanks for bearing with me.

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Bosch designed it to continue drawing when it thinks it’s overfilling. This is to protect your floors. And Maybe to get your attention. The running noise is actually a drain. You might want to check the overfill switch located underneath the dishwasher. This will put the dishwasher in constant drain even with the door open. Wipe up any water. Make sure the switch is in place and secure. The switch ch has a little lever that might stick. Make sure it isn’t hanging up on something.

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