Why Is My Maytag Dryer Not Heating?

On this Maytag MGD5620TQ0 in Santa Ana, the dryer was not heating and the drum light stayed off. The gas valve coils had failed, so the burner never lit. A bad door switch was the second fault. Replacing the coil kit (PN 279834) and the door switch (PN WP3406107) restored heat and the light.

What stops a gas dryer from heating?

The burner needs the gas valve coils to open the valve, and when those coils quit, no gas reaches the flame. The coils are small electromagnets sitting on top of the gas valve. The igniter glows, the control calls for gas, and the coils pull the valve open so the gas lights. They spend their whole life heating up and cooling down a few feet from an open flame, and eventually the windings break down.

When that happens the dryer still tumbles and still blows air, but the air is room temperature. That is what I found on this Maytag. Diagnosis pointed at the coil assembly, and I installed a Kenmore coil kit, part number 279834, which covers this gas valve.

Why is the dryer light not working when I open the door?

That is the door switch, which is a separate part from anything in the heat circuit. On this machine the switch was not opening when the door opened, and the drum light was not coming on either. One plunger, two jobs: it tells the control whether the door is shut, and on this model it also feeds the drum light.

I put in a Whirlpool 3-wire door switch, part number WP3406107. After that the light came on with the door open and shut off when the door closed, the way it should.

Can a bad door switch cause a Maytag dryer not to heat?

It can stop a cycle from starting, because the control will not run with the door reading open. On this job both faults were present at once, the coils and the switch, so I replaced both parts and tested the dryer through a heat cycle afterward. The burner lit and the drum came up to temperature.

If you are chasing a Maytag dryer not heating and the door switch is also acting up, treat them as two separate findings and confirm each one. A new switch alone will not make a dead set of coils open the gas valve.

What did the parts cost on this repair?

Parts and materials came to $101 on this job: $76.00 for the Kenmore coil kit and $25.00 for the dryer door switch. Both are standard parts for this Whirlpool-built platform, which keeps the cost of a Maytag dryer not heating repair well under what a replacement gas dryer runs.

FAQ

Can I replace dryer gas valve coils myself?

This is a gas appliance, and the coils mount directly on the gas valve, so have a professional do it. The job involves disconnecting the burner assembly and the gas supply, and a leak at the valve is not something you want to find out about later. A tech can also confirm the coils are the actual fault instead of the igniter or a flame sensor before anything comes apart.

Will the igniter still glow if the dryer coils are bad?

Yes, and that is what makes bad coils confusing. The igniter heats up and glows orange on schedule, then cools off again with no flame, because the valve never opened to release gas. People see the glow through the burner port and assume the ignition side is fine. The giveaway is a glow cycle that repeats with no whoosh of a flame and no heat in the drum.

Do I need to replace both coils or just the one that failed?

Replace them as a set. The coil kit ships with both the booster coil and the holding coil because they have sat on the same valve, through the same heat cycles, for the same number of years. Part 279834 includes both. Changing one and leaving the other means pulling the burner assembly a second time when the survivor goes, which costs more in labor than the kit does in parts.

Need a dryer looked at?

If your dryer is tumbling without heat, or the drum light has gone dark, we cover Santa Ana and the surrounding area. Call and we will diagnose it and quote the repair before any parts go in.