Hi Zen
It will be a blocked pump or hose. It is pretty common on these Japanese machines, the pump in them is pretty small and blocks easily. Fortunately it is very easy to repair yourself. Most likely you have washed something that has shed a lot of fibre, such as dog blankets or a bath mat. The fibres mat into a ball and block the pump.
Here's what to do:
1. MOST IMPORTANT: disconnect the power - unplug it don't just switch it off.
2. Wipe off the end of the outlet hose so it's not too disgusting, get a good lungful of air and blow hard down the drain hose. Hopefully you will hear some bubbles as the air goes back into the machine. If it is blocked solid you won't be able to get any air past the blockage. If you got bubbles, you might try reconnecting the machine and see if you have dislodged the blockage. (unlikely but worth a shot.)
3. With power disconnected, first you want to manually empty the machine. Either take the machine outside so you can remove the tub-to-pump hose and let the water gush out underneath, or remove the hose from the machine with a large bowl underneath the outlet, you will have to refit the hose when the bowl is full, empty the bowl, then undo the hose again till the machine is empty. It can get very messy indoors.
4. remove the back panel from the machine - several screws.
5. look for the pump - follow the hose about 30 mm diameter from under the wash bowl to the pump. On Hitachis the pump usually has a "button trap" - a removable cover you can unscrew by hand to remove any buttons, coins, nails, etc that get strained out before they get stuck in the pump. a bit more water may flow out of here. Look inside for any such junk and any lint or fibre that has got stuck around them. if you remove any debris, look deeper inside for a plastic four vane impeller which spins the water inside the pump. Check there are no lumps of lint or junk blocking the impeller from turning. It may be deply recessed, so you might have to poke at the impeller with a screwdriver to check it can turn freely. Sometimes depending on the design of the pump in your machine, you might have to remove the screws holding the plastic pump cover so you can get into the pump to check if the impeller turns freely. On earlier Hitachis the pump has an external fan which you can turn by hand, this makes it much easier to see if it turns freely. If it is at all stiff to turn, there will be something blocking it. The pump motor is very weak in these machines, it doesn't take much to stop them turning.
6. Once you have the pump turning freely and all blockages removed, you can reassemble the machine, including putting the back cover on, then connect to power and test the machine now works properly
Good luck with it.
Chris.
