Miele Dishwasher F13 Troubleshooting (Water Intake Fault)

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What This Error Means

F13 on a Miele dishwasher = Water Intake Fault (machine isn’t getting enough water).

The control board opens the inlet valve but doesn’t see proper water flow or level in time, so it aborts the fill and throws F13.

Official Fix

  • Kill the power first.
    Unplug the dishwasher or switch it off at the breaker. Then close the water shutoff valve feeding the machine.
  • Make sure the water tap is actually open.
    Under-sink valve or wall tap to the dishwasher must be fully open. Half-shut tap = weak flow = F13.
  • Check your household water pressure.
    Open a nearby sink tap. It should be a strong, steady stream, not a dribble.
    If the whole house has low pressure, that’s a plumbing issue, not a dishwasher issue.
  • Inspect the inlet hose for kinks or crushing.
    Pull the dishwasher out just enough to see the hose path.
    • Hose should not be folded, pinched, or crushed behind cabinetry.
    • Straighten any sharp bends and make sure nothing heavy is sitting on it.
  • Clean the inlet filters at the water tap.
    This is the big one the manual always mentions.
    • Close the water tap to the dishwasher.
    • Unscrew the inlet hose from the tap (have a towel or tray ready).
    • Look in the hose end and in the tap outlet for small mesh screens.
    • Use needle-nose pliers or a small screwdriver to pull the screens out gently.
    • Rinse under running water and scrub limescale or grit with an old toothbrush.
    • Push them back in, screw the hose back onto the tap, and tighten firmly by hand, then a small tweak with pliers.
  • Check the hose connection at the dishwasher side (if accessible).
    Some models have another small filter where the hose enters the machine.
    • With power still off and water tap closed, remove the lower front/kick panel if your model has one.
    • Inspect the machine-side hose connection for a small screen and clean it the same way.
  • Turn water back on and leak-check.
    Open the tap slowly while watching all hose connections. Any drip = fix that before running the machine.
  • Do a hard reset and test.
    • Plug the dishwasher back in / turn breaker on.
    • Close the door.
    • On most Miele units: press and hold the Start/Stop button for a few seconds to clear the fault (or just power cycle).
    • Run the shortest program or a Rinse cycle and see if it fills without throwing F13.
  • If F13 comes back after all of that:
    The manual’s next step is: call Miele service. Likely internal issues:
    • Weak or failed water inlet valve (including the Waterproof/AquaStop hose assembly).
    • Stuck or failed flow meter (water intake sensor).
    • In rare cases, a control board problem misreading the flow.

The Technician’s Trick

When the basics check out and you still get F13, here’s how a field tech usually chases it down.

  • Listen to what it does during fill.
    Start a program and pay attention right after it drains.
    • Humming but no water sound = inlet valve/Waterproof hose not opening or badly restricted.
    • Short burst then stops with F13 = flow meter seeing little or no rotation / bad signal.
  • Free a sticky Waterproof (AquaStop) valve.
    If you hear a faint hum at the tap end but no water:
    • While it’s trying to fill, tap the big plastic block on the hose at the tap with the handle of a screwdriver.
    • Sometimes the internal plunger sticks; a few sharp taps will free it and the unit will start filling normally.
  • Pulse-fill to wake up a lazy flow meter.
    This sounds dumb, but it works more often than you’d think:
    • Start a cycle and let it begin to fill for 2–3 seconds.
    • Switch the machine off with the power button.
    • Wait a few seconds, turn it back on, start again.
    • Do this on/off fill pulse 5–6 times.
    • The rapid water surges can flush grit off the little turbine wheel in the flow meter and get it spinning again.
  • For the handy: pull and clean the flow meter.
    Only if you’re comfortable taking panels off. Always unplug first.
    • Unplug dishwasher and close the water tap.
    • Pull the machine out and remove the left side panel (usually a few screws at the back/top).
    • Follow the inlet hose path inside; the flow meter is a small round plastic body in the water path with two hoses on it.
    • Mark hose positions, remove the clamps, pull it out.
    • Flush it under a tap and gently spin the internal wheel with a toothpick; get any grit or scale out.
    • Refit, tighten clamps, reassemble, reopen tap, and test.
    If that sounds like too much, stop here and get a pro. No shame in that.

Is It Worth Fixing? (The Financial Verdict)

  • ✅ Fix: Machine under ~10–12 years old, no other issues, and the problem is clearly filters, hose routing, or a single inlet valve/flow meter replacement.
  • ⚠️ Debatable: 10–15 years old, needs a Waterproof hose + flow meter + labor, or there are signs of intermittent control-board weirdness along with F13.
  • ❌ Replace: Over ~15 years old, racks rusting, multiple recurring error codes, or the quote (parts + labor) is more than ~50% of a decent new dishwasher.

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