Bosch Dishwasher SHV4313GB/17 Wont swi...

I had exactly the same problem as clarelou - pump wouldn't switch off - cycle wouldn't stop and machine couldn't be reset. There was an external flood that came into the kitchen so the base of dishwasher had externally filled with water. Took machine out, tipped it back and to the side - water drained out and it then immediately restarted. Bosch couldn't help on their phone-line and wanted to send out an engineer - reckon you've saved me £100+ thanks very much!

This model has a safety switch in the base of the appliance, this is there so that if the appliance leaks it is designed to fill it's base first before it leaks onto your floor. There has been a leak somewhere this has then lifted the safety switch and shut the appliance down. If you remmove it from the kitchen units and put some towels on the floor, then lean the appliance back and this will drain the base. The machine will now function as normal, if there is a leak it will gradually fill the base up and again activate the switch. Sometimes they can leak due to one of the spray arms being stopped by something in the wash load and it never happens again.

Introduction: This may work for your problem, but only if you're finding that you cannot get further water to flow into your machine. If your machine fills OK, then this ISN'T a solution to your problem. If your machine doesn't fill but your drain motor continues to hum for no apparent purpose, this may work.

I have a Bosch SHV. My sink drain backed up, and the water accumulating in the sink then migrated to the dishwasher, through the drain pipe, causing the dishwasher to fill up and, it turned out, overflow a little. When I turned on the dishwasher, the water drained, but no new, clean water came through the hot water pipe. The drain just kept running, but nothing else happened.

Here's what happened. Under the main chamber of the dishwasher, by three inches or more, is a white plastic tray. It sits almost at the floor, and it may not be obvious that it's a tray capable of holding water. The overflow water spilled into that tray, which in turn caused a float in the far left side of the tray to lift (the way a toilet float lifts when the water fills in a toilet tank) and shut off the water intake valve (like the toilet float shuts off the toilet water flow). So long as that valve is closed, your machine will not run.

STOP: disconnect power supply at this point for safety.

To see the white plastic tray and thereby fix the problem, you'll need to take off the BLACK TOE-KICK (attached on my unit by two star-head screws at its bottom) and, possibly , the OUTER PANEL OF THE DISHWASHER DOOR (in my case, a custom wood panel (attached by a few screws through the inner side of the door, two screws that are accessed by popping off little--smaller than a dime size--covers on the sides of the doors, and then the door panel lifts up and out). (I took the outer panel off, but I can't remember if I would have had to reach into the white tray without doing so.)

Once you do that, you can see the white plastic tray. It doesn't come out--at least not without removing the entire machine--so try this. You can take your fingers and feel over and into the tray. You'll probably feel the water--I did. Look at the far left of the tray with a flashlight. Back there you'll see a flat, round, 3-inch diameter piece of white plastic sitting at the bottom of the tray. To its center is a generally U-shaped lever looking device, which, at its far left end, is connected to a red stick pointing up into the machine. When water goes into the tray, the float rises, causing the U-shaped lever to rise, causing the red stick to raise, which (though I couldn't see it) causes an electrical signal to run to, and shut, the valve for your water intake.

I took paper towels, and then a narrowly cut sponge, to sop up the water in the tray. I then took my shop vac and, using it as a blower, blew what little water was left right out. You might be able to use a hair dryer, but first sop out what you can or it'll take forever. Once you've done that, put everything back together and plug your dishwasher back in. My buttons are at the top panel. To reset, hold down the two buttons marked for clear drain for three seconds and release. You should be able to start up then. It took 15 seconds before the water started to run, but it did and the machine works fine again.

Interesting note: The valve that stopped the water from flowing in automatically opened once I got the water out of the tray. You don't need to reset the valve.

Good luck.

Montpelier Man

A sump pump has a float switch that is supposed to turn it off when the water level drops below a certain point. See if the float is stuck in the 'up' position and give it a shake