High Limit Thermostat

First guess is one of the thermostats. Used ohm meter to test all 5 thermostats. All looked good. (first clue) Bypassed all thermostats, dryer worked. Ordered thermostats. (a couple at a time) Replaced thermostats. Dryer did not work. Tested heating element. Looked good. (Second Clue) Replaced heating element. Still no go! Dryer started working then stopped. Very confused. Ordered timer. Replaced timer. Everything great! Works like a new one. Moral to this story, trust your meter! Should have been a very easy repair. Replaced belt while dryer apart.

Pull the dryer away from the wall, UNPLUG, and remove vent hose. Insert thin metal sheet under the front corners of the lid, push in (hard) while lifting up the lid. The lid will pop up and hinge over and out of the way. Make a drawing of the wiring layout for the lamp and switch on the door, disconect the 3 wires, and remove the entire front panel (2 bolts inside at the top, then lift slightly and pull the panel away). From the back there is a panel for access to the motor/drive belt assy. Remove that panel, reach in, and release the spring loaded pressure on the drive belt. Disengage the Belt. Back at the front of the machine, working inside the drum remove the 3 allen head bolts at the center of the drum. Support the drum - it will drop a little. You can now lift the drum from the front and ease it out with the belt. There is a thermostat at 1 O'clock on the coil rim at the back (2 wires attached to it). To replace, disconnect the 2 wires. Remove the one or two screws, and pull out the thermostat. Install the new thermostat, attach the wires (either way), DONE. Other thermostat is at the bottom in the exhaust duct. Change it the same was as the other, reconnect wires. Remove the belt from the drum and and start working the drum back into the dryer. Loop the new belt over the drum, slide the drum all the way back. I slide 2 long screwdrivers through the screwholes in the drum, and looking down from the top align them with with the holes in the mounting plate. Slide the drum all the way in, reinstall the 3 allen head screws. Reinstall the front panel. Reattach and check all wiring (compare the front panel wiring to your drawing). Lower and snap in the lid. At the back of the unit reach back to the belt and reattach it to the spring assembly. Reinstall that panel, reconnect the exhause duct, slide the unit back and plug in.

Note that the heating problem was the thermostats, but I changed the belt since I was there anyway.

Ok so it finally died. Breakdown is relatively easy. UNPLUG the dryer before doing anything else. Remove the dryer vent plastic hose from the dryer--replace if torn. Remove the screws from the back plate covering the switches. Go to the front of the dryer--open door and locate 2 screws at about 11 and 12 o'clock. After removing these 2 screws you should be able to lift the top off the dryer. Take note of the wiring connections--I took a picture of the wiring from my cellphone just in case. Go behind the dryer and locate the access to the electric motor to remove the belt that spins the drum. There is a wheel/belt tensioner--remove the tension from the belt. You are now ready to lift the drum out. While you have this drum out, now is a good time to vacuum all the lint out. Once the drum is out, you'll see the heating element. If the wiring element is broke, just replace the wiring kit not the entire assemby (save $100). While you're at it replace the high limit and safety thermostats (about $28 for both) very easy to replace--unscrew and just replug the wires back to the original terminal locations. To replace the Timer/heat selector, remove a screw that holds the assembly and plug the wires back per your diagram or better if you took a picture from your cellphone. Assemble in reverse direction. Good luck!

I discovered that the High Limit Thermo was in place, but had been bypassed years ago. After lifting the top up, I finally found the HLT on the top left side in the back. I removed it, then put the new one in with its 2 screws. I put new lugs on its wires and put them back on. The dryer tested GOOD. No more potential Bar-B-Que! I did print a picture of the wiring diagrams that were on the back of the unit. This gave me the color code of the wires, where they were to be found, and what they did. This also helped. This GE Dryer is at least 26 years old! Newer Dryers in the Videos actually require more work removing things to get to the Thermostat. When I finally found it, the job went quick.

Took to many parts off to find out only needed to remove four front screws under the lid. I lifted the lid and found the thermostat and replaced same dryer now works great again at normal temps.

Per suggestion of "Parts Select", I replaced the "high limit thermostat"....very simple task on the dryer: 1 - unplug from power source; 2 - remove screws securing top to front (open door, screws located beneath lip of unit); 3 - tilt top up allowing access to everything; 4 - remove connections to 'thermostat' (note which wires go where); 5 - loosen screws securing thermostat to unit and remove thermostat; 6 - vacuum any and all lint while unit is apart; 7 - install new thermostat and put everything back together; 8 - test dryer to see if repairs worked!