Error code
Thermador dishwasher error code E04
Thermador error code E04: the machine failed its own heater test at start-up. What the code covers, what to check first, and what it does not tell you — on dishwashers.
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What we can confirm
Code E04, from the manufacturer's own documentation
A code is only meaningful together with the generation showing it — the same two digits mean different things across generations.
What it narrows down to
Heater electronics
What you are probably seeing
Diagnostic
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What it looks like from the kitchen
The symptom this code usually arrives with
A code names the subsystem; the symptom is what sent you to look at the display in the first place. That page says what it usually turns out to be, cheapest cause first.
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Usually not a repair Dishwasher not drying
Plastics coming out wet is how these machines are designed to behave. Glassware coming out wet is a different matter, and on this make the drying is a mineral chamber rather than a heating element.
- Plastics wet, glass and steel dry
- Everything wet, including glass
- Drying noticeably worse than it used to be
In more detail
About Thermador dishwasher error code E04
What this one means
The machine failed its own heater test at start-up. It is a code the manufacturer publishes for this appliance, not one we have worked out — and it is decoded here rather than left as three characters on a display.
The other ways your machine may say it
The same condition is published under more than one label, because it has been carried across generations of this appliance:
- E04, E0105 — the same condition, on machines of different ages
What the code covers
A published cause names a circuit rather than a component, which is the single most useful thing to know before ordering a part. This one covers:
- The heating circuit on the control board
- The heat pump's own heater
- The sensor that reports the temperature back
Worth doing before you call
- Cut power at the breaker for thirty seconds and try one cycle
Then what
A self-test failure is a board decision, not a setting.
This code is published for dishwashers. The full list of codes has the rest of them, searchable, including the labels older and newer machines use for the same conditions.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards