What to check yourself
Step 1. Close the door harder, and listen
A Bosch door gives an audible click when the catch seats. If you do not hear it, it has not latched. This is the answer most of the time and it feels too simple to be real.
Step 2. Look for laundry trapped in the seal
A sock or a shirt corner caught between the door and the rubber gasket holds the door a couple of millimetres proud, which is enough. Run a hand right around the seal. An overfilled drum causes the same thing by pushing laundry against the glass.
Step 3. Check the catch and the strike plate
Look at the metal tongue on the door and the slot it goes into. A bent tongue or a slot packed with lint stops the lock engaging. Clean the slot out and check the tongue is straight and square.
What a technician will look at
Described so you know what you are paying for, not as steps to repeat.
Replace the door interlock
The interlock is a small electrical assembly behind the front panel that both holds the door and tells the control board it is held. When it fails, it usually fails outright. It is an inexpensive part but the panel has to come off and the wiring is live.
When to call a technician
If the door is visibly closing properly and clicking but the machine still reports E16, the interlock or its wiring has failed. Also call someone if the door will not open at all after the fault, since forcing a locked front loader door breaks the handle before it breaks the lock.
What the repair costs
| Repair | Part only | Fitted by a technician |
|---|---|---|
| Clearing the seal or the catch | - | Free |
| Door interlock replacement | - | $150 to $350 |
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
- Why does it happen with big loads but not small ones?
- Because a full drum presses laundry against the glass and holds the door a fraction open. If E16 only shows up on bedding loads, you are overfilling rather than looking at a broken lock.
Which machines this applies to
Applies to
All Bosch front loaders. Shown as E16 or E34 on North American models and F16 or F34 in Europe and the UK.
Last checked
2026-08-03