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Common Problems

Water in the Bottom of the Dishwasher: Four Places to Look

Scoop the standing water out with a cup first so you can see the bottom of the tub, then work through four places in order. One: the filter cylinder in the middle of the tub floor, which twists out by hand along with the flat mesh plate under it — everything the machine washes off the plates that does not leave through the drain ends up there, and a filter nobody has removed in two years will stop a perfectly healthy pump. Two: the drain hose behind the machine, checked for a kink or a crush where it was pushed back into its opening. Three: the connection at the sink, meaning the high loop or air gap and whether the kitchen waste itself drains freely. Four: the disposal knockout plug, which ships blanked off in a new disposal and stops a dishwasher draining from the day it is installed if nobody removed it. Only after all four is it the pump, and the pump tells you which — humming with no flow means blocked, silence means failed.

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The full guide

Common Problems By Appliance Content Team Last checked 3 minute read

How drain LG dishwasher: four places, in order

Scoop the standing water out with a cup or a jug first. You cannot diagnose a sump you cannot see, and there is rarely more than a couple of liters.

Then work through four places, in this order. The order is not arbitrary — it runs from free to expensive, and most machines are fixed before the second one.

The path water takes out of a dishwasher, and where it stops Water leaves the sump through the filter, then the drain pump, then the hose, then the high loop or air gap, and finally the standpipe or disposer. The first three are owner-serviceable: the filter unscrews by hand and the pump cover lifts out. The last two are installation, and a pump that is running but moving nothing is the point at which to stop and call. FIVE PLACES IT CAN STOP. THREE OF THEM ARE YOURS. SUMP THE FILTER unscrews by hand the usual answer THE PUMP cover lifts out glass, seeds, foil THE HOSE kinked behind behind the machine LOOP, AIR GAP, STANDPIPE installation, not the machine YOURS — twenty minutes, no tools worth the name OURS, or a plumber's Stop and call when the pump is clearly running and nothing moves — that is the pump itself, not a blockage.
Bail the standing water out first. Everything below the filter is designed to be opened by the person who owns it, and that is where the answer usually is.

One: the filter

Take the lower rack out. In the middle of the tub floor there is a cylindrical filter that twists out counter-clockwise by hand, and under it a flat mesh plate that lifts out with it. No tools.

Everything the machine washes off the plates that does not leave through the drain ends up there. In a household that scrapes rather than rinses — which is the right way to load a dishwasher — that is a meaningful amount of material, and it accumulates. A filter that has not been out in two years will stop a completely healthy pump.

A quarter turn on the cylinder, then the flat screen underneath The filter sits in the floor of the tub, under the lower rack, toward the back and near the center. There are two parts and both come out by hand with no tools. The raised cylinder turns about a quarter turn counterclockwise and lifts straight up; arrows or a small lock symbol are molded into its top. If it will not move, the usual reason is somebody pulling upward instead of twisting. With the cylinder gone, the flat screen underneath lifts out by hand, and the sump recess below it is where glass chips, olive pits and jar labels collect. Going back, the flat screen seats first, lying flat with nothing proud, then the cylinder drops into the center and turns clockwise until it stops and will not lift when tugged. A cylinder left unlocked or crooked lets soil bypass the filter completely. In water this hard, every four to six weeks for a household running the machine daily. TWO PARTS. NO TOOLS. IN THE FLOOR OF THE TUB, UNDER THE LOWER RACK. 1 A quarter turn counterclockwise On the raised cylinder, then lift straight up. Arrows or a lock symbol are molded in the top. 2 The flat screen underneath With the cylinder gone it lifts out by hand. Look at how it sits — it seats one way only. 3 Wipe the sump recess Glass chips, olive pits and jar labels all collect at exactly this point. 4 Screen first, then lock it Cylinder clockwise until it stops, then tug: it must not lift. Left unlocked, it does nothing Soil bypasses the filter entirely, and it can rattle against the lower spray arm loudly. How often, in this water Every four to six weeks running it daily, or every couple of months on lighter use.
If it will not turn, the reason is almost always somebody pulling up instead of twisting. And if the machine started behaving oddly right after a filter clean, take it out and put it back deliberately.

Rinse both parts under a hot tap with a brush. Then feel carefully in the sump underneath — carefully, because a shard from a broken glass gets in there as easily as an olive stone. Put it back, turn it home, and run a rinse cycle.

For a large share of these calls, that is the entire repair.

Two: the hose behind the machine

If the filter was clean, pull the machine forward and look at the corrugated drain hose. Two things go wrong with it and both are physical.

It gets kinked or crushed when the machine is pushed back into its opening — a hose flattened against the rear wall of the cabinet is a common and invisible cause. And it can be pushed too far down the standpipe or fitted without the high loop it needs, which lets the sink drain siphon back into the machine.

Three: the connection at the sink

Follow the hose to where it joins the plumbing. There should be either a high loop — the hose rising to the underside of the worktop before it drops — or an air gap on the sink deck. Both exist to stop waste water flowing back into the dishwasher, and both can block.

While you are there, test the sink itself. Pour a jug of water down it with the dishwasher off. A kitchen waste that backs up or gurgles is a plumbing problem, and it will present exactly as an appliance that will not drain.

Four: the plug nobody removed

This one has a signature: the machine has never drained properly since the day it was installed.

A new garbage disposal ships with its dishwasher spigot blanked off by a moulded knockout plug. It has to be punched out and removed before the dishwasher hose is connected, and if the installer missed it — or connected the hose without checking — the machine has been pumping into a closed pipe ever since.

It is a two-minute job with a screwdriver and a hammer, and the plug has to be fished out of the disposal afterwards rather than left in there.

Then, and only then, the pump

Run a rinse cycle and listen at the machine.

A hum with no flow means the pump is running and something is stopping the water — go back through the four places above, because something was missed.

Silence where there should be a hum means the pump is not running: it has failed, or it is not being told to. That is a visit, the machine comes out and goes onto its back, and the part is a stocked item on this make rather than an order.

What the code says

LG publishes this condition as OE. If you searched for a different string and found nothing, that is worth knowing about this site: the maker prints several spellings for the same condition and every page here carries all of them, so whichever one your panel shows, you land in the right place.

If it turns out to be a repair

Every job on this site is priced the same way: an on-site diagnostic first, the figure agreed in writing before anybody starts.

  • Dishwasher not draining

    The most common dishwasher call there is, and the cheapest cause is also the most likely. Everything the machine washes off the plates that does not leave through the drain stays in the sump, and the filter there is what catches it. A filter nobody has taken out in two years will stop a perfectly healthy pump.

    • The filter in the sump floor is the answer more often than the pump
    • OE is the code, and LG's own order goes from free to expensive
    • A pump that hums is blocked; a pump that is silent has failed
    What it usually means

  • Dishwasher error code OE

    LG dishwasher error code OE: The single most common dishwasher call there is, and the good news is that the cheapest cause is also the most likely. Every spelling LG publishes for it, which machines can raise it, and what to do next.

    What this one means

  • Dishwasher drain repair

    The most common dishwasher call there is, and most of it is labor rather than part. LG codes it OE, and the causes run from a filter that has never been taken out to a disposal knockout plug that was never removed when the machine was installed.

    • Filter, hose, air gap and disposal spigot before the pump
    • A pump that hums is blocked; a pump that is silent has failed
    • A machine that has never drained since installation is usually the knockout plug
    What this involves

Questions people ask about this

There is always a little water in the bottom.

A small amount in the sump is normal and deliberate — it keeps the seals wet. What is not normal is water standing above the filter, water you can see without moving anything, or water that has gone cloudy and started to smell. Those are drainage.

It drains but very slowly.

Same list, earlier in its progress. A partly loaded filter or a partly kinked hose gives exactly this, and it is far easier to deal with now than after it stops entirely — which it will, usually on the evening you needed it.

Do I need to run the disposal first?

It is a good habit where the dishwasher drains through one. A disposal with food sitting in the grind chamber gives the dishwasher a partly blocked exit, and running it for a few seconds before a wash costs nothing.

How do I know if the sink drain is the problem?

Pour a jug of water down the sink with the dishwasher off and watch. If it backs up, drains slowly or gurgles, the plumbing is the problem and no work on the appliance will change it. That is worth establishing before a service call rather than during one.

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Tell us the model number and what it is doing.

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This article is based on:

  • Official manufacturer documentation
  • Internal repair procedures
  • Technician repair history
  • Company quality standards
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