You’ve got a dryer that won’t heat. You’ve checked the element — it tests good. The thermal fuse is intact. Both thermostats pass continuity. You’ve confirmed the dryer is getting full 240V at the outlet. The element should be firing, but it isn’t. Nine times out of ten at this point, the problem is the timer — specifically, the contact points inside the timer that close the heat circuit. They can oxidize, arc, or carbon up to the point where they’re no longer making a clean connection, even though everything else in the circuit is fine. Here’s the temporary fix that gets the dryer running until a new timer arrives.
Watch the Full Repair
Get Into the Timer
Unplug the dryer first. Pull the timer out of the console — usually one or two screws hold the timer body to the console frame. Take a photo of the wiring harness before you disconnect anything. The wires plug onto specific terminals and you do not want to be guessing on the way back together.
Once you’ve got the timer on the bench, look at it. There are two screws holding the timer motor onto the back of the timer body. Loosen those and the motor comes off. There’s a small gear on the motor that meshes into a larger gear inside the timer — when you take the motor off, set it aside carefully and note that the gear engages through the large hole in the timer body. You’ll need to line it back up the same way on reassembly.
Flip the timer over and take the back plate off. Now you can see down into the timer where all the action happens.
Finding the Dryer Timer Contacts That Need Filing
Inside the timer there’s a stack of contact points — little metal arms that get pushed open and closed by a cam wheel as the timer advances through the cycle. Each contact controls a different circuit: motor, heat, buzzer, end-of-cycle signal, and so on.
The contact you care about for “no heat” is almost always on the far-right side of the stack as you’re looking down into the timer from the back. (If you’re holding the timer the other way, it’ll look like it’s on your left — orientation matters. Match yours to how it sits in the console.)
Turn the timer shaft by hand and watch the contacts open and close as the cam rotates past them. When the heat contact closes, you should be seeing a clean metal-on-metal connection. If you see a black, pitted, or arced surface where the contacts meet, that’s your problem.
Cleaning and Tweaking
Take a small file — a jeweler’s file or a piece of fine emery paper folded into a strip works — and run it between the two contact faces a few times. You want to clean the carbon and oxidation off the surfaces. Don’t grind material away; just clean it up.
If the contacts feel loose or the connection seems weak, take a pair of needle-nose pliers and bend the contact arm gently to add a little spring tension. You want the contacts to press together firmly when the cam closes them. Too little tension and they bounce or fail to seat; too much tension and they wear out quickly. Aim for firm but not crushing.
Test Before You Close It Up
Put your multimeter across the two terminals that the heat contact bridges (you can trace them from the contact arms to the terminal pins on the timer body). Set the meter to continuity. Turn the timer shaft by hand to advance through the cycle and watch for continuity to come and go at the right points. When the heat contact is supposed to be closed, you should read 0 ohms. When it’s open, the meter should read open.
If you get clean continuity transitions, the timer is good to go for now. Reinstall the back plate, reattach the motor (line up the gear into the hole), and put the timer back in the console with the wiring harness reconnected per your photo.
This Is a Temporary Fix — Order the New Timer
Filing points works, but the cleaned contacts oxidize faster than they did originally. You’ll be back inside this timer in six to twelve months. Use the temporary fix to get the customer’s laundry going today, then order the replacement timer and swap it in when it arrives.
What You Need
- Jeweler’s File Set — Search on Amazon
- Fine Emery Paper — Search on Amazon
- Replacement Dryer Timer (Whirlpool-platform) — Search on Amazon
- Mini Needle-Nose Pliers — Search on Amazon
- Fluke 101 Digital Multimeter — Search on Amazon
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through the links in this post. It costs you nothing extra and helps support the channel.
Before you spend money on a service call, check my repair guides on Gumroad. Step-by-step diagnostic manuals for the most common washer and dryer problems. harperknowles.gumroad.com
Rather have a pro do it? If you’re anywhere in central Louisiana — Oakdale, Oberlin, Elizabeth, Pitkin, Pine Prairie, and Glenmora — Harper & Knowles handles this all the time. Call (337) 831-6757 or visit harperandknowles.com to schedule a service call.
About the Author: Chip Knowles owns Harper & Knowles Washing Machine and Dryer Repair LLC in Oakdale, Louisiana. New video every Sunday at 2 PM Central on YouTube.