In one paragraph
A leaking washer is a locate-first problem. Water travels along the base and emerges wherever the floor slopes, so the puddle rarely marks the source — the cycle step at which it appears is much more reliable. On a Aviva washer the order below is what makes this page worth reading — the causes are ranked for this kind of machine, not listed alphabetically.
Recognising it
- Water at the front, under the door — Door seal or detergent drawer. Both are front-of-machine and both are owner-checkable.
- Water at the back or from under the middle — Hoses, hose clamps or the pump. Pull the machine out and the source is usually visible.
- A leak only during fill — That is the inlet side — hose connections, the valve, or the drawer overflowing.
- A leak only during drain or spin — Pressure in the drain path and the tub seal. Different components entirely from the fill-time case.
- NEAR MISS — damp behind the machine but no puddle — Condensation on a cold water pipe is often mistaken for an appliance leak. Check whether it is cold and clean rather than soapy.
Causes in order of likelihood
- Detergent drawer overflowing or bypassing — First, and the most under-diagnosed. An over-dosed drawer or a blocked siphon spills water down the front of the cabinet, which reads exactly like a door leak.
- Door seal damage or trapped debris — Second on a front-loader. Anything held in the seal fold props the lip open a fraction and lets water past under spin pressure.
- Hose connections at the tap and the machine — Third. Fibre washers harden, clamps loosen, and moving the machine disturbs all of them at once — which is why leaks so often follow a clean behind the appliance.
- Pump, sump or tub seal — Last. These leak under pressure, which is why the water appears at drain or spin and not at fill. They are also the ones that need the cabinet open.
Where to start, and why there
- Dry the floor and mark when the water returns — Fill, wash, drain or spin. This one observation eliminates more than half the candidate causes.
- Look at the front and the back separately during a cycle — A torch and a few minutes at each end of the machine usually finds it, and it saves dismantling the wrong end.
- Check the drawer and its housing for overflow marks — Streaks down the inside of the front panel below the drawer are conclusive.
What an owner can safely check
- Put paper towel under and behind, then run a cycle — Towel shows exactly where the first drop lands, which a wet floor does not.
Tools: paper towelAbout 60 min
- Clean the drawer and its siphon — Remove the drawer, wash it and clear the siphon cap that meters the flow. A blocked siphon overflows every time.
Tools: brushAbout 20 min
- Check the seal fold for debris and cuts — Pull the lip back all the way round with a light. Anything trapped there is both a cause and a consequence.
Tools: flashlightAbout 15 min
- Tighten and inspect the fill hoses at both ends — Hand-tight plus a nip with pliers, and look at the rubber washer while you are there. Replace a hardened washer rather than over-tightening.
Tools: pliersAbout 20 min
- STOP before chasing a leak inside the cabinet — A leak that is not at the drawer, seal or hoses is behind the panel, in a wet, mains-wired space.
Read this before you start
Safety
Unplug the machine or switch off its breaker before removing a panel, and close the water supply before touching a hose or a fitting. Components inside can hold a charge after shutdown. Never run the machine with a panel off or with the lock defeated — the interlock is a safety device, not an inconvenience.
When to book a visit
Call when the leak survives the drawer, the seal and the hose connections, or whenever the water appears at spin — pressure leaks come from the tub seal, the sump or the pump, and all three are behind the cabinet. In the meantime close the supply taps between washes: a fill-side leak that starts small can empty a mains supply into the room if a hose lets go while nobody is there.
Other faults on this appliance
Generalized information
Treat this as the generalized Aviva washer page. It is written to be true across the platform, which means it stops short of the details that only hold for one family — connector pinouts, specific board revisions, the order the cabinet comes apart in. Those live on the family- and model-level pages linked here, and where one exists for your unit, that page outranks this one.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
