Thank you, Don. Had the EXACT same situation when we returned from vacation. The pump reset is scary until you read this. To be clear, Don and I had this part of the problem because we both tried to reset the machine by unplugging it, forcing the pump reset Don discusses above. Do as he says and plug it in and walk away for ten minutes. At that point you will be able to follow the directions and fix this bugger in 11 minutes flat.

Worth noting that after the pump stopped 10 minutes after I plugged it in, I believe I went right to the code when the control panel was dark. Nothing happened right away, and being impatient I hit the power button and entered the sequence again, but thought it may have reset by the time I finished the second try, or was already reset when I hit POWER after the first time I tried the code. My point is to try it dark and wait before trying it with the power on. I can't confirm which actually worked, but one did, and I am grateful for it.

Also, another reader mentioned that the three buttons are to be touched consequentially, not at the same time. X-X-X-x-x-x-X-X-X, like your dialing 1-2-3 on your phone.

And don't do like I did and PRESS the buttons. TOUCH the buttons. I realized I was PRESSING with some amount of frustration on a touch pad, which has no tactile movement, as if pressing it harder would produce a different result. It's a computer, so be gentle. Hope I did no damage.

After my hot water got shut off because of a leak. My washer did not detect water correctly and locked the clothes inside and showed an E1 F8 code and then the lights on the machine were out except the control lock door that was blinking. I tried doing research and was almost without home when I stumbled onto this forum. Previously I had tried turning off power and the electricity to the machine all together.... nothing.

I saw the post by a few people that read: wash temp, spin, and soil. I tried it a few different ways because I was not sure since they are sensor type of buttons. I finally tried pressing the buttons ever so slightly in order and repeating three times and within a minute the machine turned off and unlocked. This saved my life! My washer is not under warranty although only less than 6 months old. I was stressed. These new machines are tricky.

Thankfully everything is fine.
Thank you to everyone who contributes if is a life saver :)

Performing the button press sequence 3 times (Wash Temp, Spin, Soil) enters the Diagnostic Mode. Flashing is your fault code. Hopefully it is just the F8E1, otherwise you will likely have to find another thread.. You can then press and hold the 3rd button (soil) for 5 seconds, which will clear the fault code... thus showing 88. Then Press and hold the 1st button (Wash Temp) for 5 seconds. There will be all kinds of beeping during the pressing and holding of both, just ignore. Then the whole panel will turn off. OPEN THE SUPPLY WATER VALVES. Now you can turn your machine right back on and run it

I found your post after I spent 4 hours taking the whole washer apart. managed to clean out some moldy tubes while I was at it... and found a nickel (score!!). Thank you so much for posting.

I, too tried the three consecutive buttons to enter the diagnostic test. I received the error code F8E1. I removed the filters on the inlet valves and they were completed clogged with calcium deposits, so I cleaned and replaced. I then cleared the diagnostic code and ran diagnostics one last time...no codes, but machine still will not start wash cycle. At this point I entered the User Interface Test and the machine began running it's tests...when it reached the drain/pump phase, the pump would not shut off. I waited for 20 minutes before finally giving up and unplugging....any suggestions?

Thanks to everyone in this thread, but especially Noodle57 as this secondary set of steps helped get my washer back online. I too had accidentally run my washer (WFW72HEDW) with the supply lines off. Got the F8E1 and tried to power the machine off. However upon powering it back up it went into a state where the lock light was on, panel was unresponsive, and a drain pump was running. The three button presses mentioned in this thread brought the panel back to life and the pump turned off after about 10 minutes. Then the pressing and holding above brought the code back and cleared it. The panel reset and blinked through some stuff, and I was then able to return to normal operation.

Thanks again!