Error code
Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher error code FA E5
Whirlpool wrote this code, not Kenmore. On a dishwasher wearing this badge, FA E5 means: A diverter leak. Which model prefixes can raise it, and what to do next.
- From $95 diagnostic, credited to the repair
- 59 cities and neighborhoods covered
- OEM parts available on order
- In writing the price, before anything is opened
What we can confirm
Code FA E5, from the manufacturer's own documentation
A code is only meaningful together with the machine showing it — the same digits mean different things on different equipment.
What it narrows down to
A diverter leak
Diagnostic
From $95, credited to the repair
On the same appliance
What else belongs to the dishwashers
On this make a code belongs to the appliance rather than to a product line. These are the other conditions this machine can display, and the models that can show this one — a display often has more than one thing to say, and the model number decides what any of it costs to put right.
Other codes this appliance can display
Whirlpool's own label is Long Drain: the dishwasher is not draining properly
A drain motor error
The fill valve is stuck open — the machine
Whirlpool's own wording: not detecting water
A fill valve electrical error
Whirlpool's own label: excessive suds
The water float switch
The heating system
The thermistor or the water quality sensor
A wash motor error
A diverter valve error
Whirlpool's own label: control module
The same digits mean different things on different equipment. Search the full code list
In more detail
About Whirlpool-built Kenmore dishwasher error code FA E5
Whose code this actually is
Kenmore did not write FA E5, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is Whirlpool's, and it appears on the dishwasher that Whirlpool built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool, Frigidaire and Bosch all built dishwashers for this badge, and their numbering overlaps enough to be convincing while meaning entirely different things.
What it means
A diverter leak.
Which Kenmore models can raise it
The Kenmore dishwasher whose model number begins 665 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are Whirlpool's, which is why Whirlpool's table is the one that applies to FA E5 and no other manufacturer's does.
The other ways it may be written
The same condition is published under more than one label, because it has been carried across generations of the appliance and because a segment display draws some characters oddly: F10 E5, 10 Pause 5 Pause. They are the same finding and they lead to the same place.
What happens next
- Check for water under the machine before running it again.
- Worth acting on quickly: a slow leak under a dishwasher damages a floor long before anybody sees it.
Where this usually goes
The job this most often becomes is dishwasher pump replacement, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore dishwasher on this water scales its heater and its spray arms faster than the manual assumes, so codes about temperature and wash performance are read here with the supply in mind first. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears FA E5, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.
Where this meaning came from
Whirlpool's own documentation: Dishwasher error codes and flashing lights — Whirlpool Product Help. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer's document instead.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards