The short answer
Water at Aviva ADBI is diagnosed by where it appears and when. Water at the door during a cycle is the seal; water under the centre is the sump; water that only arrives during the drain is the connection under the sink. A built-in machine was plumbed once at installation and has not been moved since, so the installation is as likely a suspect as the appliance.
What you observe on these models
- Water at the front, below the door, during the cycle — The door seal or a door that no longer pulls up square.
- Water only during the drain step — The drain connection under the sink.
- Foam on the floor rather than water — Hand dish soap in the machine.
- Damp at the floor in front of the plinth with nothing visible above — The sump or the pump seal, under the machine.
- NEAR MISS — water inside the tub at the end of a cycle — That is drainage, not a leak, and it belongs on the drainage page.
Causes, most likely first on ADBI
- The door seal — Water at the front of the machine during a cycle is the door seal until proven otherwise, and the seal is replaceable without opening the machine. Ranked first on Aviva ADBI because a narrow cabinet packs the tub, the pump and the hose run close together, so a restriction in that path shows up in almost every other symptom as well.
- The drain connection under the sink — A leak that only appears during the drain step is on the drain line, and that line is almost always reachable without moving the machine.
- Detergent and oversudsing — Hand dish soap in a dishwasher produces foam that leaves through the door in volume. It is the one leak that is entirely self-inflicted.
- The fill valve and the supply connection — A steady clean drip that continues when the machine is idle is on the supply side, and it is under the sink rather than in the machine.
- Levelling and the door catch — A machine that is not level lets water gather at one front corner, and a door that no longer pulls up square presents exactly as a failed seal. Last on this list, and the item that every cause above it can imitate exactly.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Dry the floor and lay paper towel across the plinth line — Run one cycle and watch. Position plus stage eliminates most of the list without removing anything.
- Run a finger round the whole door seal — Look for a tear, a flattened section or trapped debris at the bottom corners, and check that the door closes with even pressure.
- Look under the sink during the drain step — The drain connection is the second most common leak and it is visible while it happens.
- Check the machine is level and the door closes square — A machine that has settled leans its water to one front corner and presents exactly like a failed seal.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch off the machine at its breaker before removing the kick panel, and close the supply tap under the sink. Water and mains wiring share that bay, so nothing is touched with the circuit live. Water that has reached the floor under a built-in machine can also have reached its junction box, so switch the circuit off before pulling the machine out, not after.
Models this page covers — the ADBI family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ADBI245SS | aviva:dishwasher:adbi |
When to call a technician
Call when the leak is not the door seal, not the drain connection and not detergent, or whenever damp appears at the plinth with nothing visible above it. Call immediately if water has reached an outlet or the machine trips protection. On Aviva ADBI a leak matters more than it would on a freestanding appliance, because the water goes into the cabinetry and the floor before anyone sees it. A note on scope: this page is written for the ADBI built-in dishwasher and for the one model number the variant table names. A sibling family from the same brand will have a different order.
Other problems covered for the ADBI family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
