Almost every Goodman furnace in an Ontario basement uses the flash-code board rather than a display, and the codes below are that board. Goodman also builds units with a two-character and a three-character display on newer modulating and variable-speed models, and those use a completely different vocabulary of letter-and-number codes. Before you look anything up, answer one question: does your control board have a blinking light, or a small screen with characters on it? That is the axis the codes actually change on, not the model year.
Counting is where people go wrong. The LED pulses a number of times, holds off, then repeats — so start your count on the first flash after the long pause and watch at least three full cycles before committing to a number. A continuous rapid flicker is not a high count; it is its own code, and it means the incoming 120-volt supply has line and neutral reversed. A steady, unblinking light is the good one.
Two practical notes that will save you a service call. First, the board stores the last five faults: press and release the fault recall button and it replays them newest first, which is how an intermittent overnight problem gets diagnosed. Second, a lockout clears itself after one hour, but you can also clear it by dropping the thermostat call for a few seconds — gentler than snapping the breaker. Codes vary by board generation and the diagnostic legend printed inside the furnace panel is the authority: where this page and that label disagree, the label wins. Our Goodman furnace repair page covers the parts we carry, and you can always reach us to read it out together.
Goodman furnace codes, decoded
| Code | What it means | Safe? | Try first | When to call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Steady on | Normal operation. The board has nothing to report. | keep running | Nothing. This is the light you want. | Not needed. |
LED off | Control failure — no 115 volts, no 24 volts, a blown board fuse, an open door switch, or the board itself has failed. | turn it off | Confirm the door is latched and the service switch is on. | If power is there and the light stays dead. |
1 flash | System lockout after the allowed retries and recycles were used up — flame never established, or it kept dropping out. Resets after an hour. | turn it off | Check that other gas appliances still work, then leave it alone. | Same day when the house is cold. This is the common no-heat code. |
2 flashes | Pressure switch stuck closed at the start of the cycle. On two-stage boards this is the low-stage switch. | turn it off | Nothing at home — a stuck switch defeats a venting safety. | Right away. |
3 flashes | Pressure switch stuck open — the switch never closed once the inducer started. | turn it off | Look outside for a vent pipe packed with snow or a nest. | If the pipes are clear and it still shows three. |
4 flashes | Open high limit. Depending on the board generation this covers the primary limit, and on some manuals the auxiliary limit as well. | turn it off | Start with a new filter, then look for registers closed off upstairs. | If it repeats once airflow has been restored. |
5 flashes | Flame sensed with the gas valve closed, or a short to ground in the flame-sense circuit. The blowers run continuously. | call now | Switch the furnace off at the service switch beside it and leave it off. | Immediately. Gas past a closed valve is a genuine hazard. |
6 flashes | Open rollout switch. Later board generations widened this code to also cover an open control fuse. | call now | Leave it off. The rollout switch is a manual reset for a reason. | Immediately. Rollout means flame escaped the burner box. |
7 flashes | Low flame signal. Goodman's own troubleshooting chart lists the symptom as normal furnace operation — it is an early warning, not a failure. | keep running | Book a service visit before it turns into a one-flash lockout. | Soon, but not as an emergency. |
8 flashes | Igniter circuit problem or improper grounding — a failed igniter, its wiring, or a poor burner ground. Appears on silicon nitride igniter models. | turn it off | Nothing at home. The igniter runs on line voltage and snaps easily. | Same day if you have no heat. |
9 flashes | High-stage pressure switch did not close when the inducer went to high stage. Two-stage models only; the furnace still runs on low. | turn it off | Note whether the house struggles on the coldest nights. | Before deep winter, while it is still a scheduled visit. |
Continuous rapid flash | Reversed 115-volt polarity. Some manuals add a grounding check, and reversed transformer wiring produces the same code. | turn it off | Nothing at home — this one is electrical work. | Yes. Common after a move, a panel change or a new install. |
Rapid flash while holding fault recall | Not a fault at all. Holding the recall button confirms the stored fault history is about to be erased. | keep running | Let go of the button if you did not mean to clear the history. | Not needed. |
The codes that usually mean a real repair
One flash — the lockout that follows three failed tries
This is the code we are called out for more than any other Goodman fault. The board attempted ignition the allowed number of times, never proved flame, and shut down for an hour. The parts responsible are nearly always the hot surface igniter at $200–$450 or the flame sensor at $150–$300. Listen at the furnace during a start attempt: if you hear the inducer and then nothing glows, suspect the igniter; if the burners light and die a few seconds later, the flame sensor is the first thing we clean or replace. Seven flashes appearing in the weeks beforehand is the giveaway that the sensor was already reading low.
Two and three flashes — the drain and the vent, not the switch
Pressure switch codes on a 96% Goodman usually report a blocked path rather than a broken part. These furnaces produce condensate, and the trap silts up over a few seasons until the drain backs up and the switch cannot see the pressure it expects. Side-wall terminations also glaze over during freeze-and-thaw stretches. Clearing or replacing a plugged trap runs $150–$350, while the pressure switch itself sits in the $250–$500 band. Diagnose first: fitting a new switch to a blocked vent buys you the same fault and a second parts bill inside a week.
Eight flashes — igniter circuit, or a ground problem pretending to be one
Eight flashes points at the igniter circuit, but the code explicitly covers improper grounding too, and that distinction is worth money. A genuinely failed silicon nitride igniter is a straightforward $200–$450 replacement. A poor burner ground or a corroded connection produces the identical code, and swapping the igniter fixes nothing — the new part fails the same test the next evening. If the igniter has already been replaced once and eight flashes came back, the grounding path is the thing to chase. Where the board itself is at fault, a control board replacement runs $500–$1,200.
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Common questions
I opened the furnace door and the light stopped flashing. Did I lose the code?
Yes, and this catches almost everyone. Opening the blower door trips the door switch, which cuts power to the control module and clears the active flash code. Goodman prints this warning on the chart itself. Read the LED through the sight glass in the door before you open anything. If you have already opened it, use the fault recall button instead: the board keeps the last five faults in memory and will replay them for you.
How do I see stored fault codes on a Goodman furnace?
Press and release the fault recall button on the control board with no thermostat calls active. The LED goes dark for a couple of seconds, then flashes out the last five stored codes newest first with a gap between each, and finally returns to steady on. Holding that same button for five to ten seconds erases the history instead, and the board confirms the erase with a rapid flicker. Leave the erase alone until a technician has read the codes, because that history is often the only evidence of an intermittent fault.
What is the safest way to reset a Goodman furnace lockout?
Leave it alone for an hour. Goodman lockouts reset themselves automatically, so patience is both the safest and the manufacturer's own method. If you need it sooner, turn the thermostat call off for a few seconds and back on, which drops the heat demand and resets the sequence without cutting power to the board. Reaching for the breaker should be a last resort, since it wipes the diagnostic information a technician would use. And do not reset repeatedly on five or six flashes — those involve gas and flame escaping where they should not.
Does seven flashes mean my Goodman furnace is broken?
No, and this is the code most often misread. Seven flashes is a low flame signal, and Goodman's troubleshooting chart lists the symptom column as normal furnace operation. The furnace is heating your house; the board is telling you the flame sensor's current has drifted toward the low end of what it will accept. Treat it as a scheduled maintenance item rather than an emergency. Left long enough it becomes a one-flash lockout on a January night, which is a far more expensive way to deal with the same part.
Are Goodman and Amana furnace codes the same?
For a given control board generation, yes. Daikin owns both brands and publishes a single installation and service manual covering both, with a wildcard first character in the model number standing in for the brand. What changes the code table is the board — a flash-code board, a two-character display or a three-character display — not the badge. If you have an Amana, the Amana code guide covers the display-board vocabulary in detail, and our furnace repair service handles both.