What to check yourself
Step 1. Breaker off, water off
Before touching anything else. The pan with the sensor is under the pump and the harness, and the beeping means the machine has found water there.
This is an electrical enclosure with water in it. Breaker, not the panel button.
Step 2. Remove the kickplate and dry the pan
The bottom front panel comes off with two screws. Towel the pan dry and leave it open to air. The sensor needs to dry fully before the message will go, and that is a day or two rather than an hour. A power cycle before then does nothing.
Step 3. Check the flood float in the sump
Filters out, lift the small float in the sump and let it drop. Debris under it makes the control read the tub as overfull, and on some models that is reported as a leak. Clear it and the message may never return.
Check for glass before reaching in.
Step 4. Look at what you are putting in the machine
Foam is the most common source of pan water that is not a leak at all. The wrong detergent, too much of it, or a pod plus rinse aid in soft water climbs the tub and finds its way down. Run a rinse with nothing in the dispenser and watch the pan with the panel off.
Step 5. Check the door gasket, especially the bottom corners
With the panel off, run a cycle and watch the bottom of the door. A gasket that has hardened or has debris pressed into the corner lets a trickle out at each wash, and it lands in the pan. This is an owner's repair: the gasket pulls out of its channel and a new one presses in.
What a technician will look at
Described so you know what you are paying for, not as steps to repeat.
Find an internal leak
If the pan refills with the door dry, the water is coming from under the tub: pump shaft seal, sump seal, a split hose or a loose clamp. The technician runs the machine with the panel off and follows the drip back. A sensor that trips with a bone-dry pan is the other possibility, and it is tested the same way.
When to call a technician
As soon as the pan has water in it again after you dried it and the door gasket is not the cause. Internal seals are a machine-out job, and every cycle you run with water in the pan is a risk to the board sitting above it.
What the repair costs
| Repair | Part only | Fitted by a technician |
|---|---|---|
| Drying the pan, freeing the float, changing the detergent | - | Free |
| Diagnosis alone | - | $70 to $130 |
| Door gasket replacement | $18 to $80 | $50 to $150 |
| Leak sensor or flood switch replacement | $9 to $42 | $100 to $200 |
| Pump seal or pump replacement | $50 to $120 | $150 to $400 |
A new machine of the same class runs $500 to $1,500. Once a quote passes about a third of that on an older appliance, the repair stops making sense.
Codes people confuse this with
Questions people ask
- How much water does the pan hold before it reaches the floor?
- GE says the pan takes a little over half a litre, about 19 ounces, and a small leak evaporates from it. Beyond that the pan is designed to tip and drain forward, so you would see it at the front of the machine.
- Can I just leave it a week to dry and carry on?
- It will probably clear, and if the cause was foam or a one-off spill that is the end of it. If the pan fills again, the leak is real and drying it only postpones the visit.
Which machines this applies to
Applies to
GE, GE Profile, Café and Monogram dishwashers with Floor Protect with Alert: GDT, PDT, CDT and ZDT models. Machines with plain Floor Protect have the pan but no sensor, and show nothing.
Last checked
2026-08-28