It did thie same thing for me. It would start the prewash cycle and then start flashing the first two lights - meaning that there was a problem draining the water.
Fixed the problem with Drain cleaner (Sodium Hydroxide) even though the instructions said not to use it in a dishwasher. (Propably due to it being used to wash dishes that you usually use to eat stuff from.)
After unclogging the drain (The stuff took 30 minutes to take effect) the machine drained normally when I activated the rinse setting. Since Sodium Hydroxide is highly corrosive and toxic, I ran two full 2-hour cycles with an empty machine just to get all of the drain cleaner out of the system.
I figured that if the machine is broken anyway and Ariston appliances would propably charge as much for repairs as a new dishwasher would cost, I took the risk and it actually paid off.
Johan Kustonen, June 2012
