Daniel Mitchell Key Takeaways
- F24 is a drain fault — the control ran the pump and the water level did not fall in the expected time.
- The filter cylinder is the usual cause, and it must be turned until it locks when refitted.
- A newly fitted garbage disposal with its knockout plug still in place seals the drain line completely.
- Bail the standing water out before restarting, or the machine simply repeats the fault.
- F13 and F84 are the inlet and leak-protection side and mean something quite different.
The Bottom Line
Rinse the filter, check the hose loop and the disposal knockout, bail the water out, then power-cycle the machine. If F24 returns with all of that clear, the pump or the control is next and that needs a technician.
A Miele dishwasher F24 is the most looked-up fault on this site, and the reason is that it stops the machine cold with a tub full of water and no obvious cause. F24 is a drain fault: the control asked for the water to leave, watched, and concluded it did not. Almost always the blockage is somewhere you can reach.
| What you find | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Debris in the filter cylinder | The usual cause of F24 | Rinse it, refit and lock it |
| Drain hose kinked behind the unit | Water cannot leave | Straighten and re-secure it |
| New disposal fitted recently | Knockout plug still in place | Remove the plug |
| Non-return valve stuck | Water drains back in | Clear it under the sump |
| Filter clean, hose clear, still F24 | Drain pump or the control | Book a diagnostic |
What the Machine Actually Measured
Miele dishwashers do not guess at drainage. The control runs the drain pump and expects the water level to fall within a set time. If it does not, the machine raises F24 and stops rather than starting a wash in dirty standing water.
That is why F24 appears at the end of a cycle far more often than at the start, and why the tub is usually full when you open it. The fault is about water leaving, not about water arriving — codes in the F12 to F15 family cover the filling side and mean something quite different.
Start With the Filter, Because It Is Usually the Filter
Open the door, pull the lower basket out, and look at the floor of the tub. You will see a cylindrical filter with a grip on top, seated in a flat screen.
- Turn the cylinder counterclockwise — usually a quarter turn — and lift it straight out.
- Lift away the flat screen underneath it.
- Rinse both under a tap, using a soft brush on the mesh if it is greasy.
- Refit the screen first, then the cylinder, and turn it until it locks.
That last step matters more than people expect. A cylinder that is sitting in place but not locked lets debris straight through to the pump, which is the failure the filter exists to prevent.
Then Follow the Water Out
- The drain hose. It must rise to a high loop under the counter before running down. A kink behind the machine or a hose pushed too far into the standpipe both produce F24.
- The disposal knockout plug. If a garbage disposal was fitted recently and nobody removed the dishwasher knockout, the drain line is sealed. This is the classic after-installation cause.
- The non-return valve. Under the sump, it stops water coming back. Debris can hold it open or shut.
- The sump itself. Glass fragments and fruit stones settle here and are easy to miss.
Clearing F24 Once the Blockage Is Gone
Bail the standing water out with a cup and a sponge before doing anything else — running a cycle on top of it just repeats the fault. Then switch the machine off at the wall for a minute, restore power, and start a short programme.
If F24 returns immediately with a clear filter and a clear hose, the drain pump or the control is the next suspect, and that is technician work. See the Miele dishwasher error code archive for what the neighbouring codes mean — F13 and F84 in particular point at the water inlet and the leak protection rather than the drain.
Stopping It From Coming Back
Rinse the filter cylinder monthly. Scrape plates but do not pre-rinse them spotless — the detergent needs something to work on, and an over-rinsed load leaves the enzymes with nothing to do. Run a hot maintenance programme with a dishwasher cleaner every few months to clear grease from the sump and the hoses.
When to Call
A drain pump, a pressure sensor or a control board are not do-it-yourself repairs on a Miele: the machine has to come out of the cabinet and the control needs its service mode. Our Miele dishwasher repair service covers the whole drain path.
Diagnostic work starts from $89, with the final price confirmed after the on-site diagnosis and a written estimate before any work begins. Book a visit once the filter and the hose are genuinely ruled out — most F24 calls never need one.