W2104 Check Drain. New pumps and still not fixed.

[Jellybean]

Purchased a used Miele washing machine several months ago and till recently it's been awesome. Recently got the Check Drain, which I did. Nothing whatsoever in the drain area, quite clean. Didn't solve the problem so I repeated the procedure a few times. Ordered a good used as well as brand new pump. Replaced pump twice, did not help, pumps do not spin. Tried leaning machine at 45 degrees to get rid of moisture from repeatedly opening drain. Still same issue.

 

I did see a suggestion somewhere that an inlet valve may set this warning, but I don't understand how, since the machine fills up fine and it's the pump motor not spinning. Sometimes since this started there's an unusual "clicking" near the detergent drawer just after a cycle is commenced.

 

After buying multiple spare pumps I'm still keen to fix this machine...

Edited January 8, 2022 by Jellybean
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[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. Check drain means the washing machine thinks the water isn’t being pumped out. But when it obviously is pumping out ok it’s nothing to do with a faulty pump or blocked filter. Chances are it’s a fault on the pressure system that tells the programme when the is and isn’t water inside. 
 

Try this article faults on pressure system

[Jellybean]

10 minutes ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Hi. Check drain means the washing machine thinks the water isn’t being pumped out. But when it obviously is pumping out ok it’s nothing to do with a faulty pump or blocked filter. Chances are it’s a fault on the pressure system that tells the programme when the is and isn’t water inside. 
 

Try this article faults on pressure system

Unfortunately it's not just an error, it stops full of water at the point where it attempts to pump out. My post may have been a little confusing in that I described several "cycles"... These are cycles of me manually removing ALL water through the drain filter point attempting to either clean the areas and/or check pump operation (or replace pump twice). Is the inlet valve or some form of moisture sensor underneath a possible cause of this? Otherwise, I'm assuming I may have a Circuit board issue.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

That’s unusual. Does it cut out straight away after previously washing or rinsing or does it go quiet for a minute or so before cutting out?

Trying to work out if it is trying to pump out but failing and then stopping, which is what normally happens. Having said that if it times out on empty it should produce an error code unless it’s really really old. 

[Jellybean]

1 minute ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

That’s unusual. Does it cut out straight away after previously washing or rinsing or does it go quiet for a minute or so before cutting out?

Trying to work out if it is trying to pump out but failing and then stopping, which is what normally happens. Having said that if it times out on empty it should produce an error code unless it’s really really old. 

It seems to throw the error / check drain light whilst still operating and I assume unsuccessfully attempting to pump the water out during the end of a particular wash/ rinse. So as best I can tell it's trying to pump out but detecting that water remains in the drain/ the pump isn't engaging. I could try a third spare pump that I have obtained, but it's highly unlikely that the original plus two replacements are all buggered.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

The first thing to establish is whether the pump is running or not? When it is attempting to pump out the water - say on a spin only cycle - is the pump running?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I have an article about troubleshooting washing machine not pumping water out and there are several other related articles linked to in that page too. 

[Jellybean]

Nope. I've tried leaving the drain filter out and watching the pump. Doesn't even try to operate during the phases of operation where it should be spinning.... Water just pours out the drain filter location for me to catch in buckets.

 

Is there any logic to either the inlet valve possibly being involved (makes no sense to me), or some sort of moisture sensor at the base of the machine? (It's in a garage and we have a leaky roof, so the concrete floor has moisture each time we get a storm. It's a long shot, but this is driving me crazy).

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Some washing machines don’t energise the pump at all if there is no water detected. Leaving filter off would stop pressure switch activation so washer would think there’s no water inside. 
 

Everything to check is in the link I put up and links within. Everything I could possibly think of is in those articles.