hi there
Today we had this exact same issue. Previously had problems with the filter becoming blocked and thus causing water to spew violently from the soap dispenser tray or from the back. Today started off with a leak which meant I removed the filter and sure enough there was a blockage - namely one of those colour catcher clothes. I reassembled and tried again - this time the aforementioned problem of the three lights happened and the machine failed to do anything much at all. Technical support from Ariston/Hotpoint is non existant and there are no readily available guides to help troubleshoot other than pages like these. However - the solution was to remove the small pump located next to the filter and dismantle - the impellor blades were being impeded by a girls hair clip.
To remove the pump, do the following:-
[1] disconnect from the mains and turn off water.
[2] Fetch a bucket and put the drain hose into bucket to drain off any water in system. You may well need more than one go at this as there is often a lot of water.
[3] When the bucket is full - raise the drain hose to stop flow of water and empty bucket. Repeat [2] & [3] until no more water comes out.
[4] Get some bricks or stout blocks of wood and preferably with the aid of someone else lift the machine onto the blocks so that you can get a basin underneath to catch residual water (and there will be some) and also to get access to the pump retaining clips.
[5] Remove plastic cover on the back to gain access.
[6] Undo the grip clips (white nylon on my machine) to free the hoses - and, using the basin, catch excess residual water from the pump.
[7] The pump is attached by nylon lugs which slot into grooves in the machine framework underneath. You will need to lift the pump slightly at the front in order to slide lugs along grooves to free them.
[8] Disconnect black wiring plug from pump - it uses a plastic connector which can only fit one way.
[8] Drain off sludgy water in to the basin before dismantling the pump - for which you will need a star drive / spline drive tool (like an allen key but star shaped not hex)
[9] the plastic housing will now come apart and inside you will find an impellor - and probably all sorts of other crap - I did!
[10] clean up and remove gunk. The impellor itself will come out from the body of the pump - thus allowing you
to clean properly.
[11] When all is nice and clean and free from debris - reassemble.
[12] Pray when it's all back together again that you remember to put it all back together again in the right order,
[13] Probably best to take it off the blocks before testing - I didn't but got away with it!
[14] reconnect water and plug back into the mains - switch on and try a spin cycle.
Our machine would initiate the spin but would konk out halfway through and the lights mentioned would begin flashing. After cleaning out debris from the pump it now works fine and I didn't have to pay the £160 Hotpoint were asking.
Andy Powell, August 2010
