Bosch Dishwasher won't drain and goes directly to "Clean" Light

Dishwasher Repair
1

I have a Bosch SHE4AM15UC Dishwasher that won’t drain and complete a cycle.

Short Story: If drain the water myself and start dry, the dishwasher appears fine and the impeller runs for 30 seconds continuously with no strange noises. If I start with water in the bottom, the impeller runs for 4-5 short bursts and then the dishwasher displays the clean light.

Long Story: When I start it, I hear the drain impeller try to run for 4-5 short bursts. After that the Dishwasher displays the clean light, like it has completed the cycle. The entire process takes less than a minute.

I opened the drain area and found some string and junk tied around the impeller. I cleaned that, closed it all up and ran another cycle. This time, I heard the drain motor run consistently for around 30 seconds, instead of short bursts (the was no standing water, so the impeller didn’t have any work to do). The dishwasher then successfully moved onto the next part of the cycle. I thought I fixed it.

I stopped it, to restart the cycle, this time with water in the bottom. Again, 4-5 short bursts from the impeller, and then the clean light. So it’s consistent, it works with no water in the bottom, but fails when there is water in the bottom.

2

I detached the drain hose and everything is clean, so I know it’s not a blockage problem.

3

I tried changing the drain pump and that didn’t work. Then I tried changing the computer board. That didn’t work either.

4

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I have the same dishwasher and am experiencing the exact same problem.

5

Nope. Tried 3 different parts recommendations from Appliancepartspros and none of them worked. I sent them all back, got a full refund, and junked the dishwasher and bought a new one. It was down for like 1.5 months with all the back and forth and waiting for parts. I couldn’t do it anymore so I gave up. The thing was around $500 new and I wasn’t going to pay someone $300 to fix it.

6

Thank you for your reply. This dishwasher was in our home when we bought it. The paperwork seems to indicate it was installed in 2009. Less than 10 years seems a short life for a dishwasher and Bosch is supposed to be a good brand but maybe this particular model is a lemon. We’re trying to decide whether or not to pay to have someone look at it so your post is very helpful!!

7

I got about 5 years out of mine before that happened. I replaced it with a Bosch 800 series, which I really like. I liked the 500 series to be honest…that problem that I had was the first problem I ever had with it. My new 800 has the third rack for utensils and I absolutely love that feature. Good luck with your decision.