Indesit IWB 71251 Washing Machine Not Completing Wash at Higher Temperatures

Hi Alan,

Thanks for sending over the information about your Indesit IWB 71251 washing machine. It would have been ideal if you could have made a short video of the control panel and uploaded it to YouTube, as seeing the exact light sequence flashing helps diagnose the specific error code. Without seeing those lights, it's hard for me to be 100% sure about the issue, but based on your description, here are the two most likely culprits:

1. Water Supply & Solenoid Valves (The Soap Powder Issue) You mentioned that the machine is not taking the soap powder from the drawer. This is almost always related to how the machine is filling with water.

• Kinked Hoses or Low Pressure: Check the water fill hoses at the back of the machine. When machines are pushed back against the wall, hoses can easily kink, restricting the water pressure needed to flush the soap powder out.

• Faulty Water Valve: The water inlet valves have small plastic mesh filters that can get clogged with grit or limescale. Additionally, the electrical coils (solenoids) that open these valves can burn out. For example, if the valve responsible for the wash cycle fails, the machine won't take the powder, resulting in a bad wash.

2. The Heating System (Not Completing Higher Temperatures) If your Indesit IWB 71251 is failing to complete washes specifically at higher temperatures, there is likely a problem with the heating system. If the water cannot reach the requested temperature, the cycle will stall, wash endlessly, or throw an error.

• The heating element might have gone "open circuit" or could have been physically damaged (often by loose coins in the drum).

• There could also be a fault with the NTC temperature sensor, which tells the circuit board how hot the water is.

⚠️ Crucial Tip: Watch the Videos Fully! I have included two highly detailed videos for you, and I strongly recommend that you watch them both fully before you start unscrewing anything.

• The first video breaks down exactly how the water solenoid valves work, how to safely pull out and clean the internal mesh filters without letting grit fall into the valve, and how to test the electrical coils using a multimeter to see if they are dead.

• The second video shows you how to access the back of the machine to test the heating element. It will show you exactly how to use a multimeter to check the resistance (a good 1700W element should read around 30 to 33 ohms) and walks you through the tricky process of removing the 8mm center bolt to extract and replace the element safely.

Finally, there is a test meter linked at the top of the page. Plugging your washing machine into this meter during a wash cycle is a fantastic way to diagnose the machine. It will show you the ampage and wattage being drawn—if the wattage jumps up by roughly 1700W-2000W during the main wash, you know the heating system is working. If it stays low, the heater is definitely at fault.

Since you didn't include a phone number, I couldn't reach out to help you over the phone. If you need more personal assistance or can get a video of those flashing lights, please feel free to reach out again.

All the best!