What E01 actually means
The fridge can no longer read the temperature in the fresh food compartment, so it has flagged a faulty sensor.
There's a small temperature sensor in the fridge section that tells the control board how cold it is. The board has decided the reading is missing or out of range — usually a broken sensor or a poor connection to it. The appliance often carries on cooling on a fixed default cycle, but it can't hold the temperature properly, so food may end up too warm or over-frozen.
What usually causes it
- Faulty fridge compartment temperature sensor
- Loose or corroded plug on the sensor wiring
- Damaged sensor wire inside the cabinet
- Fault on the main control board
What you can safely check yourself
Work through these in order. Anything beyond this — panels off, testing parts, anything to do with the wiring — is an engineer's job, and not one to attempt with the machine plugged in.
- Turn the appliance off at the wall for a minute, then switch back on — this clears codes that were logged as a one-off
- Check the doors are closing and sealing properly, as heavy frosting can affect readings
- Make sure vents inside the fridge aren't blocked by packed-in food
When to call someone
This one usually needs an engineer once you have tried the checks above. We cover Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, and it's £66 including VAT for an engineer to come out and diagnose it — £84 in total if it's repaired on the visit with no parts needed. Any parts needed are quoted on site before we fit them — you decide. Every repair carries a 90-day workmanship guarantee.
Outside our area? The explanation above still stands — take it to a local engineer and tell them the code. Knowing it saves them time and you money.