Amana furnaces split into two camps, and knowing which one you own decides everything else. Modulating and higher-end two-stage units such as the AMVM97 and AMVC96 carry a small character display on the integrated control that spells out codes like E0 and E7. Older and simpler Amana furnaces have a single red LED that flashes a count instead. This page covers the display boards, because those are the codes people cannot decipher from a flashing light.
There is a further wrinkle worth knowing before you look up a code. The earlier display boards show two characters; from the BA revision onward Amana moved to a three-character display, where the same fault reads EE0 rather than E0 and the characters are read left to right across three segments. If your display is showing three characters, add the extra E in your head when comparing against a two-character list. A blank display means no power or an internal control fault, and the letters IF mean the board has found a fault inside itself.
One more category catches people out: codes beginning with b are blower motor alarms, not furnace faults. They report what the variable-speed motor is doing — not running, drawing too much current, running with a locked rotor, or deliberately reducing airflow. Codes vary by board generation and the diagnostic label inside the furnace panel is the authority: where this page and that label disagree, believe the label. See our Amana furnace repair page for what we check first, or get in touch and we will read it out with you.
Amana furnace codes, decoded
| Code | What it means | Safe? | Try first | When to call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
On | Normal operation. No fault is being reported. | keep running | Nothing needed. | Not needed. |
Blank display | No power reaching the control, or an internal fault in the board itself. | turn it off | Check the breaker, the service switch and that the door is shut. | If power is confirmed and the display stays dark. |
E0 | Lockout caused by excessive retries or recycles — the furnace could not establish or hold flame. Soft lockout that clears after an hour. | turn it off | Confirm gas is reaching the house by testing another gas appliance. | Same day in cold weather. This is the usual no-heat code. |
E1 | Low-stage pressure switch stuck closed at the start of the heating cycle. | turn it off | Nothing safe at home — the switch guards the venting. | Right away. |
E2 | Low-stage pressure switch stuck open — it never closed after the inducer started. | turn it off | Inspect the intake and exhaust pipes where they exit the wall. | If the pipes are clear or the condensate trap holds water. |
E3 | Open high limit switch. The furnace is making more heat than the airflow is carrying away. | turn it off | Swap the filter and make sure the return grille is not blocked. | If it returns on a clean filter. |
E4 | Flame detected when no flame should be present — the board sees fire with the gas valve shut. | call now | Shut it down and leave the gas shutoff where it is. | Immediately. This is a gas valve fault, not a sensor quirk. |
E5 | Open fuse on the control board. Usually something downstream shorted and took the fuse with it. | turn it off | Nothing at home. A replacement fuse alone rarely solves it. | Yes — the short needs finding, not just the fuse replacing. |
E6 | Low flame signal. Amana's chart lists the symptom as normal furnace operation, so the furnace keeps heating. | keep running | Schedule service before it becomes an E0 lockout. | Soon, as a booked visit rather than an emergency. |
E7 | Igniter fault or improper grounding — a failed igniter, its circuit, or a poor ground path. | turn it off | Nothing at home. Igniters are line voltage and break easily. | Same day if the house has no heat. |
E8 | High-stage pressure switch stuck closed at the start of the cycle. The furnace holds itself on low stage. | turn it off | Nothing at home. A pressure switch stuck closed defeats a venting safety. | Right away, for the same reason as E1. |
E9 | High-stage pressure switch stuck open, so the furnace cannot move to high fire. | turn it off | Check the vent terminations, then note how the house is holding. | If it cannot maintain temperature overnight. |
EA | Reversed 115-volt line polarity. On single-stage labels this code also covers a grounding error. | turn it off | Nothing at home — this needs an electrician or a licensed tech. | Yes. Typical after wiring work or a furnace relocation. |
EC | Inducer motor overcurrent fault. Appears on modulating boards, where the inducer is drawing more current than allowed. | turn it off | Nothing at home. | Soon. An inducer pulling high current is failing. |
Ed | Rollout switch open on a modulating furnace — flame or hot gas came forward out of the burner box. | call now | Power it down and wait for a technician before resetting anything. | Immediately. Do not keep resetting this one. |
EF | Auxiliary input or auxiliary switch open. On many installs this is the condensate safety switch doing its job. | turn it off | Look for standing water under the furnace or a full condensate pan. | If the drain is clear and the code persists. |
IF | Internal fault in the control board. A ComfortNet thermostat reports the same condition as EE. | turn it off | Cycle power once. If it comes straight back, stop there. | Yes. This one generally ends in a board. |
b0 | Blower motor is not running when the board expects it to be. | turn it off | Listen for a hum with no air movement, then shut it down. | Right away. A stalled motor overheats quickly. |
b5 | Blower motor locked rotor — the motor is being told to turn and cannot. | turn it off | Nothing at home. Do not try to free the wheel by hand. | Right away. |
The codes that usually mean a real repair
E0 — the soft lockout everyone meets first
E0 is where most Amana no-heat calls land. Amana's literature draws a specific distinction that is worth understanding: a soft lockout comes from a system fault such as losing flame or a pressure switch failing, and it releases on its own after an hour. A hard lockout comes from a fault inside the control or from a flame rollout, and it does not. E0 is the soft kind, which is why the furnace often limps through a cold week on hourly retries. The parts behind it are usually the flame sensor at $150–$300 or the hot surface igniter at $200–$450.
E7 — igniter fault, or the ground path pretending to be one
E7 names two very different problems in one code: a failed igniter and improper grounding. That matters because only one of them is fixed by a new part. A silicon nitride igniter replacement is $200–$450 and takes one visit. A poor ground or a corroded connection throws the identical E7, and a new igniter changes nothing — it simply fails the same check the following evening. If E7 has already cost you one igniter and came back, the ground path is the thing to chase rather than the part.
The b-codes — your blower motor, not your furnace
Codes starting with b are alarms from the variable-speed blower motor rather than faults in the heating sequence, and reading them as furnace problems sends people down the wrong path entirely. b0 means the motor is not turning when it should be, and b5 means a locked rotor: the motor is energised and physically cannot spin. Both are reasons to shut the furnace down rather than keep resetting it, because a motor drawing current without turning gets hot fast. A blower motor replacement runs $500–$1,500, with the variable-speed ECM motors these boards drive sitting at the upper end of that range.
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Common questions
My Amana display shows three characters, not two. Which list applies?
The three-character display arrived with the BA revision of the modulating and variable-speed boards, and it shows the same faults with an extra character. What reads E0 on a two-character board reads EE0 on a three-character one, E7 becomes EE7, and so on across the range. Read the characters left to right as they appear. If you are comparing against an older two-character list, mentally drop the extra E and the meanings line up.
What is the difference between a soft lockout and a hard lockout on an Amana furnace?
Amana defines both terms in its own service literature. A soft lockout follows a system fault such as loss of flame or a pressure switch failure, and the board releases it automatically after one hour so the furnace tries again. A hard lockout follows a fault inside the control itself or something serious like a flame rollout, and it stays locked until it is dealt with. That difference tells you how urgently to act: a furnace clearing itself hourly is still broken, and a furnace refusing to clear is telling you not to force it.
Is an Amana furnace just a rebadged Goodman?
They share a manufacturer and, within a given board generation, an identical diagnostic chart. Daikin publishes one installation and service manual that covers both brands' model prefixes with a wildcard character standing in for the brand letter, which is why no genuinely Amana-only code list exists. The practical consequence is good news: parts and diagnostics are well understood and widely stocked. The Goodman code guide covers the flash-code boards if that is what you are looking at.
What does EF mean on an Amana furnace?
EF is an auxiliary input or auxiliary switch open, and on most installations in this area that is the condensate safety switch. A condensing furnace drains continuously through the heating season, and when the trap or drain line blocks, water backs up and the safety switch cuts the furnace rather than letting it overflow. Check for standing water in the pan or around the base before assuming a part has failed. If the drain is genuinely clear and EF stays, something else on that circuit has opened and it needs tracing.
Can I keep using the furnace while it shows E6?
Yes, for now. E6 is a low flame signal, and Amana's own chart lists the symptom as normal furnace operation — the furnace is heating, and the board is warning you that the flame sensor's reading has drifted low. It is a booking, not an emergency. Left through a winter it becomes an E0 lockout, and that call tends to come on the coldest night rather than a convenient afternoon. Getting it cleaned during a routine visit is far cheaper than an emergency one, and what a proper tune-up includes covers what should be checked at the same time.