--- title: "Dishwasher will not drain" description: "Whirlpool dishwasher not draining — whirlpool dishwasher will not drain: whirlpool's own label for this is Long Drain, and the machine reports it as F9 E1" url: "https://whirlpoolmiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-draining/" date_modified: "2026-09-06" Appliance type: "Dishwashers" --- # Whirlpool dishwasher will not drain ### Look under the sink before you look in the dishwasher Most Whirlpool dishwashers in this area drain into a garbage disposer or through an air gap on the sink deck. A disposer installed without its drain plug knocked out is a classic new kitchen problem — the dishwasher pumps against a solid wall of plastic and gives up. An air gap packed with food debris does the same thing and is cleaned in two minutes with the cap off. Then pull the filter in the base of the tub, rinse it, and check the small holes in the spray arms while it is out. A large part of these calls never needs a part. ### What it usually means, by the kind of machine Whirlpool sells one appliance in several forms — a top-loader with an agitator and one without, a front-loader, a stacked pair, a laundry tower and an all-in-one; a vented dryer, a ventless one and a heat pump — and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A top-load washer has no drain pump filter to open and a front-loader does, which is the whole first hour of the same complaint on two machines. - **With a display** — Shows F9 E1 outright. Write the pair down before you cut the power at the breaker, because the display clears and the condition does not. - **No display** — Reports through the Clean light in two bursts with a pause between them. Nine flashes, pause, one flash is F9 E1. Whirlpool documents the reading; most advice online stops at count the blinks, which is the half that loses the diagnosis. - **Portable** — Drains through a hose to the sink faucet connection, so the drain path includes the coupling and the sink itself. Check there before opening the machine. ### The blinking Clean light is a message, not a symptom Most Whirlpool dishwashers sold in this state have no numeric display at all. The control still knows exactly what happened, and it says so through the only indicator it has: the Clean light, flashing in two groups separated by a pause. Nine flashes, a pause, one flash is F9 E1 — Long Drain. Whirlpool publishes both the code table and the reading method, and the second half is what most pages leave out. Once you can read it, a dishwasher with three lights on the front is as informative as one with a screen. ### Why the sink comes first A dishwasher drains uphill into a path it does not own. The hose loops up under the counter, through an air gap or into a disposer, and then into the same drain the sink uses. Everything in that path can block, and none of it is the dishwasher’s failure. We check it first because it is quick and because replacing a drain pump that was pumping perfectly well into a plugged disposer is the kind of repair nobody should pay for. The air gap or disposer connection Outside the machine, cheap to clear, and the cause we find most often on a kitchen that has had work done recently. The filter and sump Whirlpool expects the filter to be cleaned. Glass, labels and seeds collect there and eventually stop the flow. The drain pump F9 E2 is Whirlpool's drain motor error. The pump either does not run or runs obstructed. A check valve or a kinked hose Water that drains and then comes back has a valve problem. A hose flattened behind the machine after an install has a different one. Too much foam F6 E3 is Whirlpool's excessive suds report. Dish soap in a dishwasher does this instantly, and so does a rinse aid dispenser that is overfilled. Count the blinks properly Two groups with a pause between them, and the pattern repeats. The first group is the F number and the second is the E number. Take the cap off the air gap The small chrome cylinder on the sink deck. What is inside it is often the whole answer. Check the disposer plug If the dishwasher has never drained since it was installed, this is the first thing to rule out and it takes seconds. Lift the filter and look at the sump Standing water with debris in it points inside the machine. Clean water sitting still points at the drain path beyond it. Water standing in the bottom when the cycle ends What it usually means F9 E1 and nine-pause-one are the same report on two generations of the same machine Water in the filter recess at the end of a cycle is normal; water covering the floor of the tub is not The air gap or the disposer connection is outside the dishwasher and causes this constantly Look under the sink before you look in the dishwasher Most Whirlpool dishwashers in this area drain into a garbage disposer or through an air gap on the sink deck. A disposer installed without its drain plug knocked out is a classic new kitchen problem — the dishwasher pumps against a solid wall of plastic and gives up. An air gap packed with food debris does the same thing and is cleaned in two minutes with the cap off. Then pull the filter in the base of the tub, rinse it, and check the small holes in the spray arms while it is out. A large part of these calls never needs a part. What it usually means, by the kind of machine Whirlpool sells one appliance in several forms — a top-loader with an agitator and one without, a front-loader, a stacked pair, a laundry tower and an all-in-one; a vented dryer, a ventless one and a heat pump — and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A top-load washer has no drain pump filter to open and a front-loader does, which is the whole first hour of the same complaint on two machines. With a display — Shows F9 E1 outright. Write the pair down before you cut the power at the breaker, because the display clears and the condition does not. No display — Reports through the Clean light in two bursts with a pause between them. Nine flashes, pause, one flash is F9 E1. Whirlpool documents the reading; most advice online stops at count the blinks, which is the half that loses the diagnosis. Portable — Drains through a hose to the sink faucet connection, so the drain path includes the coupling and the sink itself. Check there before opening the machine. The blinking Clean light is a message, not a symptom Most Whirlpool dishwashers sold in this state have no numeric display at all. The control still knows exactly what happened, and it says so through the only indicator it has: the Clean light, flashing in two groups separated by a pause. Nine flashes, a pause, one flash is F9 E1 — Long Drain. Whirlpool publishes both the code table and the reading method, and the second half is what most pages leave out. Once you can read it, a dishwasher with three lights on the front is as informative as one with a screen. Why the sink comes first A dishwasher drains uphill into a path it does not own. The hose loops up under the counter, through an air gap or into a disposer, and then into the same drain the sink uses. Everything in that path can block, and none of it is the dishwasher’s failure. We check it first because it is quick and because replacing a drain pump that was pumping perfectly well into a plugged disposer is the kind of repair nobody should pay for. ### There is always a little water in the bottom. A small amount in the filter recess is normal and by design — it keeps the seal from drying out. Water covering the floor of the tub, or water you can see above the filter, is not. ### It drained fine until the kitchen was remodeled. Then the drain path is the first suspect and the machine is probably innocent. A new disposer with its plug still in place is the single most common version of this, and it is a two-minute fix. --- **[Read full article: Dishwasher will not drain](https://whirlpoolmiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-draining/)**