E25 on a Bosch dishwasher means the drain pump is blocked, or its cover is loose. The machine stops mid-cycle, often with water still in the tub.
E25 appears on 14 jobs in our dishwasher records, spanning 2022 to 2025, out of 369 Bosch jobs — Bosch is the dishwasher brand we service most.
How customers describe it:
"We are getting the E25 error on our Bosch dishwasher and tried to clean the filter but it is not working."
"It no longer runs and shows error E25. When I look it up, shows that drain pump is blocked."
Why the filter clean doesn't fix it
Look E25 up anywhere and you will read "drain pump blocked." That is correct, and it is also why so many people get stuck: they read "blocked", clean the thing they can reach, and the code comes straight back.
Our customers' own words make the point better than we can:
- "tried to clean the filter but it is not working"
- "bosch DW / error E25 cleaned the filter"
- "I followed the directions online to clean the drain and after that it is giving a code of E25"
The filter basket and the drain pump are not the same place. The filter catches what it can at the bottom of the tub. Anything small or sharp enough to get through it — a seed, a shard of glass, a chip of crockery, grease that has set — carries on into the pump housing and jams the impeller. You cannot see it or reach it from inside the tub.
That is also why E25 is the more specific sibling of E24. E24 says the water isn't leaving. E25 says the machine has narrowed it down to the pump.
What we found on these jobs
- The pump blocked or seized — the most common outcome, and what the code is designed to report.
- The drain line, on one job: the tech's note is simply "Drain line cleaning", on a machine that was "not starting, only beeping 3 times and getting error E25." Three beeps and a code, and the fault was downstream of the machine entirely.
- Something hard in the pump. One customer's suspicion — "wondering if a piece of glass stuck in there but she is not 100% sure" — is exactly the right instinct. Glass is the classic one.
One job is worth reading as a caution. The customer described the machine going quiet instead of making its usual sound of flowing water, then showing E:25. After the repair it came back, and the note reads: "Recall — still showing E24 error code after the new parts installed." The pump was replaced and the drain path still wasn't clear. E24 and E25 are the same family, and clearing one can reveal the other.
Thermador owners: this page is yours too
Two of our 14 E25 jobs were Thermador dishwashers, including a DWHD640JFP whose tech note reads "Pump issue."
Thermador dishwashers are built by Bosch on the same platform, with the same control logic and the same error codes. If your Thermador shows E25, read everything above as written. The same is true of Gaggenau.
The models we've seen it on
SHE3AR75UC, SGE68U55UC, SHX5AV55UC, SHEM63W52N, SHPM78W55N, SHPM98W75N and the Thermador DWHD640JFP — across the 300, 500, 800 and Benchmark lines, including the "Silence Plus 44 dBA" models.
What you can safely check
Do the filter anyway — it is free, and on some machines it is enough.
- Scoop out the standing water with a cup and a sponge.
- Unscrew the filter cylinder in the floor of the tub and rinse it under a hot tap. Clear the flat mesh screen underneath it too.
- Lift out the pump cover. On most Bosch models this is a small plastic cap beside the filter opening, released by a quarter turn. Under it is the impeller. Feel for glass with a cloth, not a finger — and check the cover clicks fully home when you refit it, because a loose cover alone throws E25.
- Check the drain hose and the air gap, and if your dishwasher drains into a disposal that was recently replaced, make sure the knockout plug was removed.
- Run a rinse cycle and watch whether the tub empties.
Call a tech when E25 survives all of that, when the pump makes no sound during the drain, or when you can feel the impeller is stuck and won't free up.
Book Bosch dishwasher repair
We repair Bosch and Thermador dishwashers across the SF Bay Area and Peninsula, and we stock the common Bosch drain parts.
Call (888) 993-5699 or book online.
Related pages
- Bosch Dishwasher E24 Error — the drain code we see most of all
- Bosch Dishwasher E23 Error — the third code in the drain-pump family
- Bosch Dishwasher E15 Error — when water reaches the anti-flood tray
- Dishwasher Not Draining, Standing Water — by symptom instead of code
- Bosch Appliance Repair — every Bosch appliance we service
Frequently asked questions
What does E25 mean on a Bosch dishwasher? E25 means the drain pump is blocked or the pump cover is not seated. The control board detects that the pump cannot move water and stops the cycle, usually leaving water in the tub.
I cleaned the filter and E25 is still there — why? Because the filter and the pump are two different places. The filter catches debris at the floor of the tub; anything small or sharp enough to pass through it goes on into the pump housing and jams the impeller, where you cannot see or reach it from inside. Three separate customers on our jobs cleaned the filter first and still had the code.
What's the difference between E24 and E25 on a Bosch? E24 means the water is not draining — the cause could be the filter, the hose, the air gap or the pump. E25 is narrower: the machine has identified the pump itself as blocked. They are the same family, and on one of our jobs clearing E25 revealed an E24 underneath it.
My Thermador dishwasher shows E25 — is it the same fault? Yes. Thermador dishwashers are built by Bosch on the same platform and use the same codes, and two of our E25 jobs were Thermador. The same applies to Gaggenau.
Can a loose pump cover really cause E25? Yes. The cover sits over the impeller and directs flow; if it is not clicked fully home the pump cannot build pressure and the control reads that as a blockage. It is worth double-checking after any filter clean.
Can I run the dishwasher with an E25 error? It will not complete a cycle, and forcing it is a bad idea — the pump motor can be running against a jam, which is how a blocked pump becomes a burnt-out one.