How to Troubleshoot & Replace Whirlpool AP6013514 / WP8577274 Dryer Thermistor

Replaced it along with the Thermister. 

This was WONDERFUL! I'm a 75 year old woman. I enjoy tools & fixing anything I can. I found the part with AppliancePartsPros.com. Not only the part I thought I needed BUT a video on how to install it! Got the part, brought my laptop to the basement, followed the video (pausing it from time to time), took it all apart. At that point, I noticed a HUGE amount of lint clogging the fan blades (which may have been the problem in the first place). I took lots of time cleaning & blowing out all of that. I then reassembled my dryer with the new thermistor in place. ALL FIXED - I really want to thank Appliance Parts Pros for not only the right part but the super-fast delivery & the video which gave me the confidence to move forward with my repair. THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

My husband disassembled the dryer and found that the heating element had shorted out. We weren’t able to purchase the element from AppliancePartsPros.com due to the item being out of stock, but we were able to purchase other components and found the heating element from another online supplier. Replacing the heating element essentially requires a deep disassembly of this dryer. Since we had already had it torn down and considering the dryer was almost 10 years old, we figured we would replace some of the electrical components while we were at it. We replaced the thermal fuse, thermal cutoff, thermostat, and thermistor. We also bought an extra thermal fuse so we would have one on hand if we ever needed one. The videos available from AppliancePartsPros.com were very helpful. Don’t forget to clean the inside of the dryer using compressed air and/or vacuum during this process. Runs like new! 

Installed a new shift actuator for spin at the suggestion of a troubleshooting guide from AppliancePartsPros.com. Out of an abundance of caution, I ordered a new drive belt but found it was not necessary. 

The first thing I did was turn off the breaker then I unplug the dryer from the wall, I used my multimeter and set it at continuity, removed the wires from the heating element, and checked it first if you hear the sound you know that it is good, and I heard the sound, then I went on to the thermal cut off pulled the wires off and checked them, again if you hear the sound you know that they are working, but this time I didn't hear anything so I now knew that they were bad, it was not too hard to do. I went online to AppliancePartsPros, used my model number you can find it inside the door, and it came right up, looking at the diagram I found the part and the number ordered it, and got it in 2 days! Been working like new !! 

Watched a video for my model. Take off the front bottom panel and blower housing. Removed screws to release old parts. Installed new parts and reassembled everything. The hardest part was space limitations for hands and being on knees, over 65 here! 

Found YouTube Bens Appliances and Junk and his video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edaqxh2AmCg&t=1357s. After following the troubleshooting steps, we found the broken heating element. We used the link on the youtube video and buy parts from this site. We then followed the instruction to reassemble the dryer. 

Replaced the thermistor and moisture sensors. Followed the video instructions on their website which were very easy to do. My dryer now works like new. It save me several thousand dollars as I was ready to buy a new one. 

Followed the step by step video instructions 

Researched that it was probably the heating element. I’m not a pro-diy but would have cost too much to have a professional repair; would have bought a new machine. Gave it a shot. Ordered the element and any other thermal-related items that seemed like could cause the issue. $180.00 and some learning curve from watching YouTube. Have a fixed dryer and an appreciative wife! Thanks.