Bosch [E18] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

Bosch use E18 for a drain fault: the pump ran, the water did not go, and the machine stopped rather than trying to spin a full drum. Neff word the same fault as "pump time exceeded", which describes the mechanism more precisely — it is a timeout rather than a detected breakage, and that is why a partial restriction produces the code just as reliably as a dead pump. Bosch are explicit that the code has several display forms: BSH’s Bosch-branded article is titled E18 / E00-18 / F18 / F00-18, Bosch’s international support pages add that F18 and d02 are identical faults, and their US index writes the newer form as E:00 alternating with -18. Which one you see depends on the machine rather than the problem.

Bosch UK’s own E18 page names two things — a blockage in the filter, and a blockage or kink in the drain hose — and prints a full procedure for each. Their instruction manual gives the same two rows for E:18. BSH’s fuller article adds three causes the UK page leaves out: the outlet hose connected too high, kinked, trapped or "extended impermissibly"; too much detergent; and Rinse stop being selected, which is not a fault at all but a programme option that holds the last rinse water in the drum until you continue it.

The thing Bosch stress that most guidance skips is the temperature. The instruction manual opens the pump procedure with "Risk of scalding! The washing water will get very hot when washing at high temperatures… Allow the washing water to cool down", and BSH’s article carries the same caution. That matters here more than on most machines, because a Bosch cycle interrupted at temperature can leave a drum of water at sixty degrees sitting behind a filter you are about to unscrew.

1. 1

   Turn off the tap so no more water can come in, switch the machine off and pull the mains plug out. This is the order in Bosch’s instruction manual, and it is not a formality — you are about to open a water-retaining component.

2. 2

   If the machine stopped on a hot wash, wait. Bosch warn specifically that the washing water gets very hot at high temperatures and that you may be scalded if you touch it — their instruction is to allow it to cool down. They give no time; an hour is our suggestion, not theirs.

   This is Bosch’s own warning rather than general caution. Do not open the filter on a machine that has just aborted a 60 degree cycle.
3. 3

   Open and remove the service flap at the bottom front. Put a shallow container underneath — a bucket will not fit, a roasting tin will — take the small drain hose out of its holder, pull off its sealing cap and let the water run out. Press the cap firmly back on and clip the hose back in its holder.

4. 4

   Carefully unscrew the pump cover — Bosch warn remaining water may leak out — and clean the inside, the cover thread and the pump housing so that the impeller can rotate. Screw the cover back in until the grip is vertical, then refit the flap.

5. 5

   Bosch’s leak test before you push the machine back: pour 1 litre of water into the detergent drawer and start the drain or pumping programme. If the cover was not seated, you find out now on a tiled floor rather than behind the machine.

6. 6

   Still not draining? Bosch’s second procedure: switch off and unplug, check the drain hose has no kinks, put a bucket under the siphon, loosen the hose clip, remove the hose and empty it, clean the hose and the siphon connecting piece, hold the hose in the bucket and select Drain, then reconnect and check it is watertight. If both procedures fail, Bosch UK say to book an engineer.