Replacing the Dryer Heater Coil

Replacement Part: Maytag Dryer Heating Coil # Y313538 (You may purchase a new heater coil and housing assembly # Y303404 but it costs much more than restringing a new coil into the old housing.)

UNPLUG THE DRYER

High Limit Thermostat and Heater Element

The dryer heater coil is located down under the drum and to the right when facing the dryer. Remove the cabinet front panel by unscrewing the two Philips screws down at the bottom of the panel and swinging the bottom up until the clips at the top are cleared. Locate the round metal heater coil housing (see drawing to right).

Confirm that the dryer is unplugged. The heater power travels through the high limit thermostat on top of the heater element, through the heater coils and back out the insulater terminal at the front. Use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance between either terminal on the high limit thermostat and the front heater element terminal. If you read around 20 ohms, the coil is good. If you get no reading, the coil is open and must be replaced.

Remove the heat baffle plate in front of the heater coil assembly by removing two sheet metal screws with a 1/4 inch nut driver. Now remove the wire coming up to the high limit thermostat from the wire harness (leave the wire from the high limit thermostat to the insulated terminal on the heater coil housing) and the wire from the front insulated terminal post back to the wiring harness to the left. Now remove the screws from the front and back of the heater coil housing. The housing should be free now and can be removed to install a new coil.

Remove the four1/4 inch screws that hold the heater coil housing together and lay the housing open to expose the coils. Locate the break in the coil to ensure that it must be replaced. Disconnect the old coil from both terminal posts and start backing it through the insulators. The insulators are fragile so be careful while removing the old coils. You can simplify the job by cutting up the old coils with wire cutters.

Start stringing in the new coil from the end opposite the insulated terminal posts. See the following figure:

Loop the new coil through all of the insulators as shown in the following figure. If you come up short for connecting to the terminal posts, don't stretch the coil - go all the way back to the other end and get some slack and work it back through the insulators until you get the coil evenly distributed. Connect the wire on the ends of the coil to the two terminal studs. Close up the housing and replace the four screws.

Replace the heater coil housing back in the dryer and replace the screws holding it in place. Replace the two wires going to the high limit thermostat and the terminal post. Replace the heat deflector plate. Put the front panel on and reinstall the two screws.

Plug the dryer in and verify that it is working properly.