Bosch Dishwasher E25 Error Code: Meaning, Causes & Fix

Drain pump error — the drain pump is blocked, jammed, or its cover is not fitted (Bosch).

E25 is E24's closer relative: where E24 indicts drainage generally, E25 points at the pump itself — the impeller is jammed by debris, the pump cover is missing/loose (Bosch's manual calls this out explicitly for E25), or the pump motor has failed. The sump is the whole stage: cover off, impeller cleared and finger-spun, cover clicked back. E25 rewards reading Bosch's fault table the way an engineer wrote it: as a two-clause sentence, not a one-word verdict. 'Pump blocked' is the clause everyone hears; 'or cover not locked in position' is the clause that explains the baffling cases — the code with the clean sump, the code that began the day the filters were washed, the code that a new pump did not cure because the old cover went back on unclicked. The cover is not a lid in the decorative sense; it completes the pump's chamber, and a pump running against an open chamber churns instead of pushing. Once that is understood, E25's whole diagnostic order falls out naturally: cover, impeller, motor — the three things Bosch's sentence actually names, in the order a pair of hands meets them in the sump.

What causes the E25 code on a Bosch dishwasher?

Pump cover loose or not clicked in

Bosch's documented E25 cause — check it before all else.

Debris in the impeller

Glass, seeds, label fragments.

Pump motor failure

Open winding after years of service or a long jam.

The pump cover clicked out of place during filter cleaning — the no-blockage E25

This is the case behind the search 'Bosch dishwasher E25 error code no blockage', and Bosch documents it in its own instruction manual's fault table for E25: the waste water pump is blocked OR the cover on the waste water pump is not locked in position. The cover is disturbed by the most innocent event in dishwasher ownership — removing the filters to clean them — because it sits directly beneath them in the sump, where a knuckle or a sponge can unseat it. The impeller beneath is perfectly clean and perfectly free; the pump simply cannot move water properly against a cover that is not part of its chamber any more. Bosch's remedy in the same table is not a part: clean the pump and lock the cover correctly.

A pump motor that has failed with a spotless impeller

The second no-blockage case: everything in the sump is clean, the cover is locked, the impeller spins freely by finger — and the pump motor itself is open, weak or dead. Years of heat and the occasional long jam take the winding out, and the control's drain attempt then produces silence, or a hum with no rotation, followed by E25. Finger-freedom proves the impeller is not jammed; it cannot prove the motor can turn it under load, which is why a clean, covered, free-spinning sump that still codes E25 has moved past cleaning and into pump replacement or a technician's meter.

Impeller damage left behind by an earlier jam

Glass is the usual story: a shard jammed the pump in an earlier incident (often an E24 that cleared), the shard was removed, but the impeller it was grinding against came away chipped, cracked or loose on its shaft. The pump now turns — sometimes audibly — but moves too little water, so E25 arrives with a sump that offers up no blockage to find. Inspect the impeller itself, not just the space around it: missing or chewed vanes and a wheel that wobbles on its shaft are findings, and the cure is the pump, because the impeller is part of it.

Debris hiding under the cover, not in it

Owners check the impeller from above, find it clear, and reasonably conclude there is no blockage — but the cover's removal is the actual inspection Bosch prescribes: prise the cover off (a teaspoon at its lug, per Bosch's own pump guide), scoop the sump water out first, and look beneath and behind the impeller, where seeds, label fragments and glass settle out of sight. A pump can look unblocked from above and be packed underneath, which is why 'no blockage found' should always mean 'cover off, impeller checked from below, spun by hand, cover clicked back' before the no-blockage branch is believed.

Checks to run before you replace anything

1. Remove the filters, take off the pump cover, and inspect: cover condition, impeller freedom, debris.
2. Finger-spin the impeller — it should turn with slight magnetic steps, not grind or seize.
3. Do Bosch's own pump procedure in full rather than a glance: power off, lower basket out, filters removed, water scooped from the sump, then — wearing gloves, because Bosch warns the debris in there includes broken glass — prise the pump cover off with a teaspoon, gripping its lug and pulling up and forward as Bosch describes. Check the impeller for foreign objects, spin it by finger, then refit the cover and press it down until it engages with a click; that click is a checklist item, not a courtesy sound.
4. Rate the impeller's spin honestly: a healthy Bosch drain impeller turns with slight magnetic stepping, free in both directions, with no grinding, catching or wobble. A catch at one point of the rotation is something still in the pump; grinding is damage; a wheel that spins but flops on its shaft is a failed pump wearing a free-spinning disguise.
5. Listen to the drain attempt on a reset programme with the sump reassembled: a strong pump sound with water leaving is a cured machine; humming with no water movement is a motor straining against a jam or its own failure; complete silence with E25 returning is a motor or its power supply. Bosch's reset route is the Abort programme function (the panel Reset) described in the manual — run it and listen, because sound is evidence.
6. If the sump side is proven — cover locked, impeller clean, undamaged and free — check the two cheap downstream facts before buying a pump: the drain hose has not been kinked by the machine being pushed back, and the sink-side connection (including a new disposer's knockout plug) is open. Bosch files those under E24 rather than E25, which is precisely why they get forgotten on an E25 page; a pump can only push water into a path that exists.

How to fix bosch dishwasher error code e25?

1. Clear debris; refit the cover until it clicks positively.
2. Replace the drain pump if the impeller is damaged or the motor meters open.
3. Reseat the cover as the fix, not the afterthought: place it in its original position exactly as Bosch's pump guide directs and press down until it clicks into engagement, then refit the filters fully locked (arrows aligned) and run a reset/short programme to a complete drain. A large share of no-blockage E25s end at that click — test before you conclude the machine still has the fault.
4. Replace a damaged pump cover rather than refitting it hopefully: a cover whose lug or locking edge was cracked during an earlier removal cannot lock in position, and Bosch's own fault table makes 'cover not locked' an E25 cause in its own right. The cover is a functional part of the pumping chamber, and a machine that codes E25 after every filter clean is often just re-unseating the same broken cover.
5. Replace the drain pump when the sump is proven clean, the cover proven locked, the impeller found damaged or the motor found silent/humming without moving water. On most Bosch models the pump is reached from below with the machine tilted or removed — comfortable DIY for some owners, a technician's job for many — and the new pump should be proven on a reset drain before the machine goes back into its housing.

The part that usually fails: Drain pump (and its cover)

The cover is a functional part of the pumping chamber — treat a damaged cover as a part to replace, not a detail.

Bosch dishwasher error code e25 reset

Cycle reset after clearing; E25 clears on a successful drain.

On Bosch dishwashers, most error codes clear when the cycle is cancelled: hold the Start button for about 3 seconds until the display shows 0:01, let the machine pump out for a minute, then switch off. For many codes a control reset is the next step — switch the machine off, and on models with a physical power switch also cut power at the breaker for a few minutes. A code that returns straight after a reset is an active fault; Bosch controls re-detect it at the next self-check, typically within the first minutes of a new cycle.

Why does the E25 code keep coming back?

E25 recurring with a clean, covered pump = motor dying under load — replace the pump. E25 that returns has a short list of honest explanations, and the timing sorts them. Returning on the very next cycle after a sump clean, with the cover found loose again on re-inspection, is a cover that cannot lock — damaged lug, distorted edge — being unseated by the pump's own vibration: replace the cover. Returning after weeks of good service is usually new debris reaching the pump, which points back at the filters (torn mesh, not fully locked, arrows misaligned) letting material through that should never have arrived. And returning with an increasingly feeble drain sound is the motor declining under load — the pump replacement that was postponed, arriving on schedule.

How to stop E25 coming back

• Pump cover loose or not clicked in: Bosch's documented E25 cause — check it before all else.
• Debris in the impeller: Glass, seeds, label fragments.
• Pump motor failure: Open winding after years of service or a long jam.

Retrieving stored fault codes on Bosch dishwashers

Bosch dishwashers store the last errors in a fault memory that can be read in the customer-service/test program (entered with a two-button hold that varies by series — e.g. holding two program buttons while switching on). The test program also steps through fill, heat, wash and drain so a technician can see which stage re-triggers the code. The exact button pair for your series is in the service documentation; the fault memory survives a normal reset, which is why a Bosch technician can still see a code you cleared from the display.

Other Bosch dishwasher error codes

See the full list on the Bosch Dishwasher error codes hub.

Codes E25 gets confused with

E15 — Water in the base / leak protection active — the AquaStop safety system has detected water in the base tray and shut the water supply off. E15 is Bosch's leak-protection code: a float/ sensor in the base detected water, so the machine stopped and (on AquaStop models) the inlet safety valve closed.

E24 — Drain error — the dishwasher is not draining properly (Bosch's most common code). E24 means the control ran the drain pump and the water didn't leave as expected — or the pump's cover/filters are restricting flow so badly the machine reads it as a drain failure.

E92 — Not one fault but a two-member family in Bosch's current suffixed display format: E:92-10 — spray-arm rotation of the lower spray arm is blocked (or the lower spray arm is not correctly fitted); E:92-40 — filters are soiled or blocked. Bosch publishes no standalone 'E92' definition without its suffix. Current Bosch manuals print fault codes as E:XX-XX, and the number after the dash is not decoration — each suffixed code gets its own row, its own cause and its own remedy in Bosch's troubleshooting table.

E01 — Heating/circulation fault family header on Bosch dishwashers (E01–E05 range covers the heat pump and circulation drive area on many models). Bosch's E0x block groups the heat/circulation system: on many models E01 specifically involves the circulation/heat-pump drive or its electronics (with E02/E03/E05 splitting relay/sensor branches by model).

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: www.bosch-home.ca · www.bosch-home.com · www.bosch-home.com · washingcodes.com · manuals.plus · mans.io