The short answer
Water left in the bottom of the Costway FP dishwasher family splits cleanly into two cases. If the machine never drained from the day it was installed, suspect the install — the knockout plug and the hose loop. If it drained fine for years and stopped, suspect the filter, the sump and the pump, in that order.
What you see on the FP family
- Standing water in the bottom of the tub at the end of a cycle — The defining symptom. A small film of water in the sump is normal; water above the filter is not.
- The machine hums at the drain step but nothing moves — The pump is being asked to run and is either jammed or pushing against a blockage.
- Dirty water backs up into the sink when the dishwasher drains — The shared path with the disposal or the standpipe is restricted. That is plumbing rather than appliance.
- It drains, but very slowly, and food is left on the dishes — A partial restriction. It shows up as a cleaning complaint first and a drainage complaint later.
Causes, most likely first on the FP family
- Filter and sump blocked with debris — Ranked first on the FP family — on the Costway FP dishwasher family it is the first thing to pull because it is free, reachable through the open door and the most frequent single cause. Labels, seeds, bones and glass collect in the sump and blind the filter. Once the filter is loaded, the pump cannot pull through it, and the machine reports a drain fault it does not really have.
- Drain hose kinked, sagging or missing its high loop — Second — and the one to check whenever anything under the sink has been touched recently. The hose has to rise above the tub level before it falls to the drain, or the machine siphons and the line stays wet.
- Disposal knockout plug or a blocked air gap — Third — it explains a machine that never worked far better than one that stopped. A new disposal ships with a solid plug in its dishwasher inlet. If it is not driven out the hose is connected to a closed port.
- Drain pump jammed or failed — Fourth — because everything above it is free and this one is not. The hum-versus-silence distinction tells you which it is. A chip of glass or a fruit stone wedges the impeller, and the motor hums without turning.
- Body: With only 3 codes in the FP family the ranking below is taken over a short roster rather than over everything the brand sells, which is why the top of this list is not where the brand-generic article puts it.
Check in this order, and why
- 1. Bail the standing water out first — A cup and a sponge. Nothing below can be checked through several inches of dirty water, and it also tells you how much there is.
- 2. Pull the filter stack and clear the sump by hand — Gloved, with the machine idle. On these models this is the single most productive step in the sequence.
- 3. Follow the drain hose from the machine to the sink cabinet — You are looking for a kink, a crush behind the machine and a loop that rises before it falls.
- Body: The 3 codes in the FP family are close enough in layout that the order below holds across all of them; check the plate on your own unit against the table before you order anything.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Standing dishwasher water carries broken glass more often than owners expect, so bail it rather than reaching into it and wear a glove when you clear the sump.
Models in the FP family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| FP10217 | costway:dishwasher:fp |
| FP10851 | costway:dishwasher:fp |
| FP10852 | costway:dishwasher:fp |
When to call a technician
Call when the filter and sump are clean, the hose runs without a kink and rises before it falls, the air gap is clear, and the machine still hums without moving water. That puts the fault at the pump or the check valve behind the lower panel, which needs the machine isolated and pulled on these models.
Other FP dishwasher pages
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
