Bosch Dishwasher code E09, water stone cold

[ahardy42]

I have a Bosch SMS63M42GB/B3 dishwasher which is about 8 years old and it's not heating up the water at all, and ends with the error code E09 in the display.

I've had a look at the youtube videos and it seems it could be either the printed circuit board which controls the heater, where the engineer said that after 8 to 10 years, the heat relay just burns out after years of running hot.

The heater relay:

Then there's the probability it's the water heater in the water pump:

The heater & water pump:

So I don't know which it could be, although there's the advice from espares.co.uk which looks useful but is for all makes, not just Bosch, so I'm wondering if it's worth following:

How to Diagnose Dishwasher Leaking and Heating Problems | eSpares

Leaking or heating problems with your dishwasher can have a number of causes. In this article, we're going to run you through identifying the potential reasons, as well as guiding you on the steps to take to fix them.

www.espares.co.uk

espares.co.uk want £85 for a new pump: https://www.espares.co.uk/product/es1773867/dishwasher-heat-pump-and-motor-assembly

I can get Bosch to come and try to fix it, but it will definitely cost £120 call-out minimum plus spare parts, and they've got no appointments for another 20 days!

Obviously in the meantime I'm seriously thinking about doing this myself but I don't want to spend the time and money to find out I diagnosed it wrong.

And I'll try to avoid washing up by hand by emptying a kettle full of boiling water into the machine while it's running.

 

[foxhole]

What area of London are you?

 

[ahardy42]

Finsbury Park N4.

 

[assuhors]

Nine times out of ten ,it will be the heat pump.

 

[ahardy42]

If I pull the dishwasher out and get my multimeter, do you think that resistance test on the heater is dependable?

 

[assuhors]

You can test the heat pump in situ.Remove the six lower door panel torx 20 screws, then pull the panel away.Unclip the lower plastic kick strip.
Then two more t20 screws on the lower panel. The heat pump is to the right, the connector with an earth connection and two red wires is the one to disconnect. The two terminals vacated by the two red wires is the element. A good element is approx. 19 ohms.

 

[ahardy42]

OK, I got the multimeter on to those terminals - no reading at all, like I hadn't touched anything. Not on any of the resistance measures. Is that because the heating element is dead or is it the multimeter? It read some resistance for a metal pan - fluctuates and won't settle down. Not sure what a good resistance test would be. I don't have any resistors handy.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

OK, I got the multimeter on to those terminals - no reading at all, like I hadn't touched anything. Not on any of the resistance measures. Is that because the heating element is dead or is it the multimeter? It read some resistance for a metal pan - fluctuates and won't settle down. Not sure what a good resistance test would be. I don't have any resistors handy.

Short/link the two probe tips together, and the meter should show near zero resistance - something below/less than 1.0 Ohm. That means your meter is working, as it should. If you then connect across the two terminals of the element, it should read something close to 19 Ohms (according to post #6.

 

[ahardy42]

That's what the meter did - shorting them together, I mean. So no reading from the element means it's dead does it?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

That's what the meter did - shorting them together, I mean. So no reading from the element means it's dead does it?

If you are testing across the two, ends of element terminals - YES!

 

[ahardy42]

Right then, I've ordered a new part. I guess I should turn the machine over to replace it, my hands are too big to get into that space - or is it impossible to get the big plastic frame off the bottom to access it? It was tricky enough just trying to work out how to get the front panel.

 

[assuhors]

I lay them over on the left hand side to replace the heat pumps.
Can give you further tips when you fit it.

 

[ahardy42]

job done.

thanks for the help. saved me £100 at least