ariston A1626 heater element?

hi hope someone can help my ariston was running fine until it started making a grinding inside the drum so being a hands on kind of bloke, had it apart and found a cash card in the drum !!
after refitting everything back together was pleased there were no leaks but now the machine will only sit on a wash cycle , although have just manually filled the drum with hot water and set it off and now completes the cycle , how do i test the element ? or the main power supply as i am sure that this is the problem.
hope someone can help paul

paul butcher
January 2008