How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP3134638 / 279457 Heating Element Connecting Wire

Replaced the heating element, dryer thermal fuse, thermal cut off and dryer thermistor. For trying to repair for the first time, the job was not very difficult. Hardest part was replacing the dryer thermal fuse and dryer thermistor because of their location. Had to remove the cover for the dryer lint screen. 

You-Tube got me started, and I came upon DIY solutions by A.P.P. about the connecting wires. It was exactly what else I needed, and put in an order. If I had known about A.P.P. beforehand, they have the replacement element for a better $. Will keep them in mind for sure, for the next appliance DIY. 

I ordered a heating element wire and the thermal cut off kit. I am a woman with little experience in fixing appliances but my electrician couldn't come for 4 days and I needed my dryer fixed so I thought for $38 I would give it a go. The videos were perfect, the repairs took 10 minutes (most of that was moving the dryer out and cleaning all the dust off the coils YUCK!) And viola! Dryer works perfectly. Saved about $200 on service call, parts and labor. Celebrated by buying some wine - who says girls can't fix stuff??!! 

The dryer would heat, but not very well. It would take a few cycles just to heat a load of laundry. I took off the back, and there were two partially burnt out wires attached to the heating element thermostat. I purchased 2 heating element connecting wires, spliced the existing wires, and connected them to the new wires. It took 20 minutes. The dryer works great now. Saved a lot of money doing it myself. 

The heating element in my dryer was completely shot. All I needed to do for the repair was half a quarter inch driver and set of needle nose pliers. I went ahead and replace the thermal cutoff as well as the thermostat because they are all hooked up in a series and I figured I would start off with everything being replaced and new. The repair was simple and only took about an hour 

Ordered 3 parts and everything works great. 

Used an ohm meter on the heating element to diagnos it. 

Replaced the thermal fuse and heating element. Cleaned out the lint. 

I ordered the heating element which was not bad but they get corroded after that many years and they're not as efficient if you get a new one it will save on electricity the thermal fuse was blown that is why it wouldn't come on but you might as well change all three items they're just bolted together very simple quarter inch screws very easy to take apart very easy to reinstall on a Whirlpool that I have you only take the front panel off the very bottom with two screws and everything is right there I'm sure it's different on other dryers but they work the same it's always good to buy OEM products everything fits exactly like it did before if you're doing this job make sure you get the little pigtail I realize it's $ but when you look at your other connections right at the heating element you will see how hot they've gotten over the years to where they're brittle and ready to break two of them would be best but you can get by with just one 

Watch the YouTube tape on how to replace the heating unit. I pulled the unit from the Maytag dryer. I inspected the heating coil and found a brake in the coil. I put a new coil in. I saved the thermostat infused diet ordered for a future maintenance. The dryer runs great. As long as I had the corrected parts on the YouTube video, I was golden.