I am a single mom and have never worked with wire terminals or continuity testers before. This was a first. Without troubleshooting the components, I just ordered the heating element and replaced it (hoping this would fix the problem). This did not fix the issue; however, I was grateful I ordered this part because the original housing for the heating element was cracked and may have needed replacing down the road.
After replacing the heating element (which was very easy), I went down to a hardware store and purchased a continuity tester. I did this because the "get repair help" tab recommended testing continuity to find the bad part. I simply followed the instructions on testing each dryer component to see which one was faulty and it turned out to be the thermal cut-off kit.
Replacing the thermal cut-off kit seemed a little more intimidating because I had to cut wires and put on new wire terminals. Once I actually did it though it wasn't as bad as I thought. This repair finally fixed the problem, and we have fluffy, warm clothes again.
My recommendation is to follow the troubleshooting tips located in "get repair help" so you're not just throwing money around (lesson learned). Also, watch the repair videos a few times while you are waiting for your part (which won't take long at all, with GREAT shipping time). This helped me feel more confident and familiar with my dryer.
This isn't the first time I've used this site either. Our timer stopped working on the same dryer and I was able to successfully fix that issue as well. I LOVE this site and how well it's constructed to walk you through your appliances.