LG Washer AE Error Code: Meaning, Causes & Fix
Two different LG faults share this code, by platform. On LG top-load washers AE is a rotation error: the gears responsible for rotating the drum cannot operate properly. On LG front-load washers (global/EU manuals) AE is a water leakage error: water leaks — call for service.
AE is the LG washer code where reading a single meaning off the internet does real damage, because LG itself publishes two. LG's current US and NZ top-load error-code lists define AE as a rotation error and explain it mechanically: if a coin or foreign object is trapped between the wash plate and the drum, it can interfere with the operation of the gear or motor, and the display shows one of three codes — AE, LE or LE1. LG's front-load owner's manuals (the current global manual family) define the same two letters completely differently, in a single troubleshooting row: AE — WATER LEAKAGE — 'Water leaks. Call for service.' Neither definition is a mistake, and neither can be stretched over the other platform: a top-loader showing AE is not reporting a leak, and a front-loader showing AE is not reporting its wash plate. Everything on this page is therefore split by the machine in front of you. What the previous version of this page described — a base float/AquaStop-style leak sensor as the universal AE mechanism — appears in no LG washer source and has been removed; LG's front-load manuals state the leak finding and the service instruction, and nothing more detailed than that. The fastest way to know which AE you have is to look at the machine, not the code: if it loads from the top and has a wash plate at the bottom of the drum, LG's top-load list governs your AE — a rotation error in the AE/LE/LE1 family. If it loads from the front, LG's front-load manual family governs it — a water leakage error whose only published remedy is service. Washer-dryer combination units follow their loader type: a front-load combo reads AE the front-load way, a top-load combo the top-load way. This split also explains why the two halves of the internet contradict each other so confidently about AE: each half is faithfully repeating a genuine LG definition, for the other platform. It also explains why the site's own short entry for AE (from LG's top-load list) described a rotation error while an earlier draft of this deep page described only a leak — both halves were real, and the correction was to separate them by platform rather than to pick a winner.
What causes the AE code on a LG washer?
TOP-LOAD: coin or foreign object trapped between the wash plate and drum
LG's stated mechanism for the rotation error: the trapped object interferes with the gear or motor, and the same event can display AE, LE or LE1.
TOP-LOAD: gear/motor rotation fault with nothing trapped
LG's definition covers the gears themselves: AE displays when the gears responsible for rotating the drum cannot operate properly — if no object is found but noise occurs and drum rotation is still affected, LG's instruction is to request service.
FRONT-LOAD: an actual water leak
The manual's whole definition: water leaks. LG gives no sub-causes in the owner's manual and directs the owner to call for service, so the leak's source is found during that service, not guessed here.
The object you cannot see on the first look (top-load)
LG's mechanism is a trapped object, but the wash plate's rim and the gap to the drum hide small items well: a coin standing on edge, a screw, or a bra strap underwire can lodge where a glance into the empty drum misses it. An AE that appears with scraping or clicking as the drum starts to turn is the trapped-object story announcing itself acoustically before it is visible — work the gap slowly, all the way around, rather than concluding the plate is clear after one look.
One event, three possible codes (top-load)
LG groups AE with LE and LE1 for a reason: the same trapped object interfering with the gear or motor can display any of the three. An owner who cleared a coin after an LE last month and meets AE today is not chasing two faults — it is the same check, run again. The grouping also means a machine that rotates codes between AE and LE across attempts is telling one consistent story about rotation resistance, not developing new faults.
A leak finding LG deliberately leaves unspecified (front-load)
LG's front-load manual gives AE no cause list at all — just 'Water leaks' — and groups it with the codes whose remedy is a service call. Read that silence correctly: it does not mean the leak is always large or always in one place; it means LG does not consider any version of this code an owner-diagnosis case. Water that escapes only under load, only on hot cycles, or only in small amounts still satisfies the manual's definition, and none of those versions changes the instruction.
Checks to run before you replace anything
- TOP-LOAD: look and feel around the wash plate's edge and the gap between wash plate and drum for a trapped coin, screw, underwire or similar object — LG's animated guidance shows exactly this search.
- TOP-LOAD: after clearing (or finding nothing), listen on a test run: continued noise with affected drum rotation is LG's stated threshold for requesting service.
- FRONT-LOAD: look for the leak itself — water under or behind the machine, a wet door-seal area — while remembering LG's manual treats AE as a service finding regardless of what you can see.
- BOTH: write the code down exactly. On segmented displays AE is easy to mis-transcribe, and the platform split means a wrong code sends you to the wrong half of this page.
- Confirm the platform before checking anything: top-load with a wash plate = rotation branch; front-load = leakage branch. Every check below belongs to exactly one branch.
- Top-load: with the machine empty and off, turn the drum slowly by hand and listen — scraping, clicking or a point of resistance localises the trapped object far better than sight alone.
- Top-load: check the pockets story — LG's object examples start with coins; an AE that follows washing workwear, uniforms or a load of loose change carriers deserves a second, slower pass around the wash plate even if the first pass found nothing.
- Front-load: check the floor and the wall behind the machine for water, and the door-seal area for wetness — not to fix anything, but to be able to tell the service visit whether water was visible and where.
- Both: photograph the display. AE misread or misremembered sends the whole diagnosis to the wrong platform's branch, and the photo is the cheapest insurance in this entire guide.
How to fix the AE error code
- TOP-LOAD: remove the trapped object with a pair of tweezers (LG's published fix, verbatim in method). Run the machine and confirm normal, quiet rotation.
- TOP-LOAD: if no object is found but noise occurs and rotation is still affected, request service — LG's instruction, and the end of the owner procedure for this branch.
- FRONT-LOAD: close the water taps, unplug the washer and call for service, as the manual directs. Do not keep cycling the machine to 'see if it leaks again' — the code has already answered that.
- Top-load, object found: remove it with tweezers exactly as LG describes, then run an empty cycle and confirm the drum rotates freely and quietly before returning to normal loads.
- Top-load, object suspected but unreachable: stop at the tweezers step. LG publishes no owner strip-down for the wash plate; an object you can hear but cannot reach is the service case its list describes (no object visible, noise present, rotation affected).
- Front-load: the manual's sequence is faucets closed, power unplugged, service requested — in that order, and without a trial cycle in between. If water is actively reaching the floor, that sequence is also your damage-control sequence.
The part that usually fails: None named by LG for owners
For the top-load branch the 'part' is usually a coin that was never part of the machine. For the front-load branch LG names no component in the owner's manual — leak location and part are a service determination.
How to reset lg washing machine error code ae?
LG publishes no AE reset procedure on either platform, and searches for one are really asking how the code clears: it clears when its cause is gone — the object removed and rotation normal (top-load), or the leak found and repaired in service (front-load). Power-cycling a machine whose AE cause is still present simply re-displays the code; on the front-load branch that cycle of resetting is exactly what the manual's 'call for service' replaces.
LG's standard reset is a power cycle: press Power off, unplug the washer for about 5 minutes, then — with the machine still unplugged — press and hold the Start/Pause button for 5 seconds to drain residual charge from the board. Plug back in and run a test cycle. There is no hidden reset button on LG washers; any code that reappears after this procedure is an active fault the control is still detecting, not a glitch that needs a deeper reset.
Why does the AE code keep coming back?
Top-load AE returning after a thorough wash-plate search means the rotation fault is in the gear/motor path, LG's service case. Front-load AE returning after a service visit means water is still escaping somewhere — report it as a repeat leak rather than a new fault. AE that returns on a top-loader after a confirmed-clear wash plate has left the trapped-object branch: LG's list anticipates it exactly ('if you see no trapped object but noise occurs and drum rotation is still affected, request service'), and the gear/motor path is then the story. AE that returns on a front-loader after service means water is still getting out somewhere the first visit did not find or fully seal — report it as a recurring leak with the dates of both displays, because intermittency is diagnostic information the second visit needs. In both branches, a returning AE is not a reset problem and never becomes one, however many times the power is cycled.
How to stop AE coming back
- TOP-LOAD: coin or foreign object trapped between the wash plate and drum: LG's stated mechanism for the rotation error: the trapped object interferes with the gear or motor, and the same event can display AE, LE or LE1.
- TOP-LOAD: gear/motor rotation fault with nothing trapped: LG's definition covers the gears themselves: AE displays when the gears responsible for rotating the drum cannot operate properly — if no object is found but noise occurs and drum rotation is still affected, LG's instruction is to request service.
- FRONT-LOAD: an actual water leak: The manual's whole definition: water leaks. LG gives no sub-causes in the owner's manual and directs the owner to call for service, so the leak's source is found during that service, not guessed here.
Retrieving stored fault codes on LG washers
LG front-loaders have a test mode used by technicians: with the machine off, a specific three-button combination (commonly Soil Level + Spin Speed + Power held in sequence on many models, and a button-pair hold on others) steps the machine through fill, wash, drain, spin and heater tests while the display shows stored error history. The exact combination differs by model year, so technicians read it from the service manual for the model; if you enter a mode where the tub starts filling or the motor jogs, that is the test mode working — press Power twice to exit.
Other LG washer error codes
| Code | Meaning | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1E | Inlet error — the washer is not filling (1E is the segmented-display rendering of IE). | Restore full flow; replace the valve if a solenoid meters open. |
| CE | Current error; the motor control component is damaged. | LG states this cannot be fixed by basic troubleshooting; request service. |
| CL | Child Lock is ON — not an error. The control panel is locked on purpose. | Deactivate: hold the Child Lock button (or the two buttons marked with the lock icon — often Temp + Spin or the dedicated button) for about 3 seconds until CL disappears. The exact pairing is printed on your panel. |
| DE | Door error — the washer door was unable to lock (LG US wording). The door is open, not fully closed, or the lock has not engaged/reported. | If a dE-family code is showing, LG's remedy is to pull the door open with the handle and close it again firmly; once the door is properly closed, the code clears and the washer resumes. |
| E1 | Drainage error in LG's group listing; the washer is struggling to drain water properly. | Clean the drain pump filter and confirm the drain hose is not blocked. |
| E3 | Drain motor error; there is an issue with the operation of the drain motor. | Unplug, reconnect and retry; thaw the tub and drain hose if frozen. |
| E6 | Motor and drum rotation error in LG's group listing; drum or motor faces resistance. | Remove tangled or heavy items, spread the load evenly, restart the cycle. |
| E7 | Stacking switch error on SideKick pedestal washers; switch not working or unit misinstalled. | Align the SideKick correctly and verify the stacking switch sits properly. |
| FE | Overflow error — the water level is too high (LG's manuals: 'Water level is too high due to a faulty water valve'; LG's top-load list: the washer has detected an overfilled tub). | Faulty-valve story (level too high, water clear, dosing correct): follow the manual exactly — close the water faucets, unplug the washer, and call for service. A passing valve is replaced, not adjusted. |
| FF | Freeze failure; prolonged cold weather has frozen the inlet or drain hose. | Thaw the tub, drain hose, inlet hoses and taps with warm water. |
| HE | Heating error — the washer's heater circuit is not performing (on LG washers with a built-in heater). | Replace an open element; descale-recoverable elements are the minority — burnt is burnt. |
| IE | Inlet error — the washer is not filling with water properly (Water Inlet Error). | Restore flow (taps/hoses/screens). |
| LC | Door or lid lock error in LG's group listing; door is not closing or locking. | Clear the seal, close until it clicks; replace lock assembly if it persists. |
| LE | Locked motor error — the washer's direct-drive motor cannot rotate (or the control can't confirm it is rotating). | Reduce load size; wash bulky items one at a time with a couple of towels for balance. |
See the full list on the LG Washer error codes hub.
Codes AE gets confused with
tE — Temperature sensor error — LG's front-load manuals head this code 'Temperature Sensor Error' and give its cause, in one word pair, as a control error; LG's top-load list describes a problem with the temperature sensor inside the tub. tE is the code LG's documentation treats most tersely, and this page follows LG rather than the internet's expanded version of it.
vS (shown as u5 / uS) — Vibration sensor error — LG's code is vS; on the display it appears as u5 or uS. LG: the error may occur if there is a contact issue with the vibration sensor or if the sensor malfunctions. Start with the letters themselves, because they explain most confused searches: LG names this code vS, and its own guides warn that the vS error may appear as u5 or uS on the display — the seven-segment rendering of vS is what owners transcribe as 'U5'.
dE1 — Door error (variant 1) — the door is not closed properly (LG's own wording). The washer cannot confirm the door is fully shut, so it will not start or it pauses. LG splits its front-load door family by which step failed, and dE1 is the first step: the door is not closed properly.
DE — Door error — the washer door was unable to lock (LG US wording). The door is open, not fully closed, or the lock has not engaged/reported. dE means LG's control cannot confirm the door is closed and locked, so the washer won't start or it pauses.
Frequently asked questions
Can AE be a false alarm?
LG documents no false-alarm branch for AE on either platform: on a top-loader it reports a real rotation problem (usually a trapped object you can find and remove), and on a front-loader it reports leaking water. Treat it as a true report until the platform-specific check above proves otherwise.
How do I reset an LG washing machine AE error code?
There is no LG reset procedure for AE on either platform. The code clears when its cause is removed: on a top-loader, take the trapped object out with tweezers and confirm quiet rotation; on a front-loader, the leak is found and repaired in the service visit LG's manual prescribes. Power-cycling alone just re-displays it.
What does AE mean on an LG top load washing machine?
A rotation error: LG's top-load list defines AE as the gears responsible for rotating the drum being unable to operate properly, most concretely when a coin or foreign object is trapped between the wash plate and the drum. It is not a leak code on this platform.
My LG front loader shows AE but I cannot find any water — is it still a leak?
By LG's manual, yes: the front-load definition of AE is simply 'water leaks', with a call for service as the remedy, and it does not offer a no-water-found exception. Small or intermittent leaks may not leave visible water where you can reach — that is part of why LG routes this code to a technician.
Is AE on an LG washer the same as AE on an LG dishwasher?
Only in the letters. LG's dishwasher documentation defines AE (also shown as E1) as a leak inside the dishwasher activating the float switch. The washer code splits by platform instead: rotation error on top-loaders, water leakage on front-loaders.
Can a coin really cause an AE error on an LG washer?
On a top-loader, it is LG's own stated example: a coin or foreign object trapped between the wash plate and drum interferes with the gear or motor, and the display can show AE, LE or LE1 for the same event. The fix LG publishes is removal with tweezers.
How to reset lg washing machine error code ae?
LG publishes no AE reset procedure on either platform, and searches for one are really asking how the code clears: it clears when its cause is gone — the object removed and rotation normal (top-load), or the leak found and repaired in service (front-load). Power-cycling a machine whose AE cause is still present simply re-displays the code; on the front-load branch that cycle of resetting is exactly what the manual's 'call for service' replaces.
Related guides
Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: www.lg.com · www.lg.com · lg.com · www.lg.com