Strange things happening?

Based on the symptoms, I would start by checking the washing machine door interlock

The door interlock is a mechanical/ electrical switch system which has a heat operated delay which tells the machine the door is closed and the water can be allowed into the machine

The interlock is located where the door catch clicks into the machine, usually this is a square hole on the opposite side to the hinge, the interlock can be changed by unclipping the outer part of the rubber door seal, part cost is usually about 20-40 GBP

If the interlock is faulty (intermittent in your case) the machine will act like the door is open, you can select programs etc but the machine will not start, obviously the question is why is there no interlock fault code

If you can get the machine into test mode there is an interlock test, I would try this next

Thanks its a new house and the machine its on its own mcb supply, and yes I have tried in the dryer socket, again on its own supply, but still the same, how do I get it into a test mode?, thanks for your help.

As long as it's a totally different socket and not the other one in a double socket that at least eliminates the wall socket, which can cause intermittent faults like that. It happened to my microwave, sometimes it wouldn't start but lights worked, sometimes it started but then cut out. Turned out to be a totally loose neutral wire inside the wall socket.

To be honest it sounds like a hard one to fix. As KD said the door interlock can cause the displays to work but nothing else works on the machine because it thinks the door is open. If the door interlock isn't working you will usually get the error that the door isn't closed or a light showing it isn't closed.

The trouble is other things can cause the same symptoms. On some washing machines even an open circuit motor can cause the exact same symptoms - control panel works but machine is dead - as can a fault on the PCB.

Test mode for Hotpoint Activecare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4lwgEYZMM

Remember 3 things when dealing with at intermittent problem: ruling out a cause is progress, you cannot fix the issue while the machine is working, it will not magically fix itself!

I would also try leaving the machine completely unplugged from the mains electricity for 2 hours once a fault occurs, if once reconnected to the mains it then works you are dealing with a heat related problem (this machine is still powered up but in sleep mode when the on/off button is pressed)

Also try pushing wiggling the door at the point where the interlock sits, if the machine then starts working you are dealing with a faulty interlock or related plug / wiring

Thanks for your help, I think its time the buy the DWs Christmas present, going to need a lot of paper, thank again.

I couldn't agree more Kd. Sadly these days if an engineer calls to fix any product in your home and they cannot see anything wrong with it within a few minutes they will do nothing and just tell you they can't find a fault, which is a disgrace. With an intermittent fault, a good engineer should know instantly all of the possible causes, and the likelihood of each one being the culprit in numerical order. So starting at the simplest possible cause (which is why I started at the wall socket) you have to eliminate every possibility one at a time until the fault is fixed. This can mean legitimately replacing the most suspect parts even though it may be currently functioning okay.

Most engineers today seem to think that the way to deal with an intermittent fault is to keep coming to the house and hope that you catch it doing it, which is pretty stupid.

It's a shame but realistically you can only fix things yourself if you are not trained on, or familiar with, if you can find a simple explanation - or you have a specific fault with a definite path to fixing. Intermittent faults are difficult even for trained engineers to fix.