What's wrong with this stove??

cc-rider · #1 01/19/14, 08:16 PM

I'm posting this for a friend.

He has a Maytag mgr5875 kitchen range. The oven was working fine then slowly would take longer and longer to ignite the oven burner. You could smell the gas before it would ignite. It seemed to be OK once it got going.

The web said it was the thermocouple which we replaced, but it isn't doing anything at all now! There is a separate unit for the broiler, and it works fine. It's the bottom one that won't ignite.

If it isn't the thermocoupler thingy, what else could it be??

oneokie · #2 01/19/14, 08:24 PM

Electric igniter? They do go bad.

farmrbrown · #3 01/19/14, 08:25 PM

The bottom igniter.
You might try cleaning it, may have grease and dirt buildup, if not, then try to replace it.

Rustaholic · #4 01/19/14, 08:37 PM

Just replace the thermocouple.
I went through the same thing five or six year ago.
It work great now.

cc-rider · #5 01/19/14, 09:35 PM

We did replace the igniter. It didn't make a difference. Sorry...I was wrong in my original post...it wasn't the thermocouple we changed, it was the igniter. What else should we be looking at?

MichaelK! · #6 01/19/14, 11:16 PM

It might be the electrical connection to the igniter has corroded and is not conducting enough current to heat the igniter. It should glow orange-red when current is passing through it. Try unplugging and replugging the electrical connections several times, then give it another test.

Rectifier · #7 01/19/14, 11:32 PM

This is usually the igniter/glow plug. Usually, it won't open the gas valve until it is hot (it decreases in resistance when hot, this is what opens the gas valve)

So make sure it is glowing, if it is not, see if you have voltage to it. Maybe you knocked something loose or grounded it while changing it. You could have shorted it out and blown a fuse as well.

cc-rider · #8 01/20/14, 05:33 AM

So that means I can leave the oven floor off while I'm testing it? Otherwise, I can't see it. Which part will glow....the black coil-thing in the middle of the cage/protector? I don't think I blew a fuse because I would assume that the broiler is on the same fuse?

Rectifier · #9 01/20/14, 03:52 PM

Yes, take the floor off so you can see it. The inner part should glow. Mine was more of a ceramic cylindrical thing like a fuse than a coil.

Shygal · #10 01/20/14, 08:03 PM

Thank you for posting this, this is exactly what my oven is doing! Same exact oven too!

how do you replace those things and where do you find them?

cc-rider · #11 01/20/14, 08:29 PM

I'll ask. He mail-ordered the part. We found, however, that you have to specify a BOTTOM igniter...we accidently got the TOP one and the housing is different. It really was pretty simple to wire (comes with ceramic caps, insulation, etc.) I think he said he paid about $29 for it. They youtube'd how to change one (where to find it under the floor, etc.). Unfortunately, though, it still isn't working so we either got a bad one, or that wasn't what was wrong. We need to take the floor off again and see if it glows when we turn it on.