What is wrong with the washing machine?

[Paddingtonthebear]

Half way through a cycle it stopped and produced an E21 error message which I believe it related to draining water.

The machine had already rinsed and drained so the washing inside was very wet but could be removed easily. Unplugged, checked the filter, plugged back in, switched on and started a new cycle and it made a whirring noise (no error message) but didn’t start the cycle (no water running in to the drum nor did the drum turn).

Unplugged again, checked filter again, left for a few hours then tried again. Successfully ran a full wash cycle with no issue. Tried to use again the next day and mid way through the cycle another error message appeared, either E20 or E21 but can’t remember which. Got the washing out ok as water had already drained, went back through the process of checking the filter and leaving up unplugged for a while. Tried to start again and put on normal wash cycle and the lights are on and it kicks in to start but just as a sort of whirring noise, the drum doesn’t turn and no water enters the drum. It just whirs on without doing anything. Tried spin only cycle, still the same. Have felt along the pipe for a blockage but seems to be draining the water away since there is none left in the drum each time.

Left it unplugged overnight to try again this morning and it just makes the whirring noise. Weirdly it is now attempting to start a cycle even when the door is open which it shouldn’t do. So I suspect multiple issues at play here? Any ideas before I contact our landlord?

You're cleaning the filter at the bottom? It may be that you need to remove the filter and clean the pipes etc. We found a useful youtube video, DH removed it all, cleaned it all out (including removing some limescale) and now it works again. It did take him most of an afternoon.

Or you can call a repairman to come do it for you and pay the call out charge.

Oh, and to be clear, removing it all involved taking the machine out, removing the panels, getting into the machine's insides etc.

Yes just the filter at the front and from doing that also checked the little impeller is still spinning.

it’s about 4 years old. Perhaps it’s on its way out. It’s weird that there were error messages mid cycle and now it won’t run at all. Hopefully landlord will be want to fix it

Sounds like ours. As you're renting, I'd say the landlord should send someone out to take it apart and sort it out. Not your problem. We were willing to risk it as it's our machine and if DH screwed it up or we couldn't fix it, we'd be responsible for a new one anyway.

Thank you for your help!