79078789400 Kenmore Range - Instructions

Step one - Diagnose. Used a clamp-on ammeter around the igniter lead to check if 3.6 amps or greater were present during ignition. Only about 2.5 amps were measured, indicating that the igniter was bad.

Step two - Ordered the part.

Installation - Removed the racks and bottom oven compartment cover plates, exposing the igniter/burner assembly. Removed the bottom drawer, cut the wires of the existing igniter (leaving plenty of wire left for the new one). Removed the igniter/burner assembly through the oven compartment. Removed the old igniter from the burner, installed the new one. Re-seated the igniter/burner assembly, routing the wires appropriately. Stripped the existing leads (cut in previous step), spliced the new leads in, soldered the connection (soldering is optional). Taped up the splices with electrician's tape. Turned on the oven to verify that the new igniter glowed and the burner lit. Turned off the oven and waited for the burner to cool. Replaced the bottom cover plates and rack.

Final step - Baked some bread.

Unplug power, remove draw, marked and cut wires, unscrewed and removed old igniter, replaced and screwed new igniter into position, reconnected wires with supplied porcelin wire nuts, replace draw, plug in and tried...working great.

After reading a lot of reviews online, I came to the conclusion it was the bake igniter. The "glow rod" would glow but would not ignite the oven. The broiler would ignite and the top burners would work. I removed the racks, took a screwdriver and removed the 2 screws in the back corners. I then slid the bottom shield towards the back then lifted up and the shield came off and exposed the flame shield. I removed the screws the hold that in place on the front of the oven with my 6 way screwdriver. I used the nutdriver part. Lifted that off which exposed the the actual flame tube and bake igniter. There were two screws, used the nutrdiver on the 6 way screwdriver, holding the bake igniter on. The screws are on the side of it. Removed those and the igniter came free. I pulled out the warming drawer and followed the wire from the igniter to a wiring harness. Pulled that apart and pulled the whole thing out through the oven. Got the new part, reversed order of removal. Fired right up. Pretty pricey part. But, saved 500+ dollars for a new range. Actual removal and install of new part, maybe 20 minutes if that. Super easy.

Started by replacing element which was clearly broken. Still no heat. So then I changed the oven sensor. Was disappointed that when I received the sensor I had to cut and splice the connector that was on it with the old one that came off the old sensor. Did that and still no heat so I had to buy a new clock/timer. Went to another store for that because of the connector not being the right type and there was no picture of the clock/timer like the other website. Overall ok, normall troubleshooting steps, just wish I didn't have to cut and splice the connector on the new sensor I purchased from here.

Disconnect appliance from electricity source! Removed oven grates and the solid oven floor by removing the two screws and lifting up. Removed the piece of metal covering the oven igniter. Unscrewed oven igniter, snipped the wires close to the old igniter (read some of the better descriptions on how to do this). Reconnected new wires to the existing ones and used the ceramic wire covers that came with the new igniter and pushed the wires back through the opening in the rear of the oven. Screwed the new igniter in place. We actually had to unscrew the little metal box on the back of the oven to get to the wires which was easier to work there with connecting the wires. It was a little difficult reaching into the stove since we didn't remove the oven door.

First I removed the two screws that hold the bottom panel I then pulled the panel out and put the new panle in and put the two screws back in

I opened the door of the gas range and slid the rack in. No one can do this! I am amazing.

Checked internet for possible reasons why oven would not heat.

Found Partselect.com website. Searched and found that ignitor was probably the problem.

Put in my oven model number and found ignitor. Ordered ignitor.

When new ignitor came in I simply removed two screws that held old ignitor and disconnected two wire.
Put new ignitor on, replaced screws and wires.

Repair done and oven works great.

Removed oven door. (Open to first position then lift the door straight up). Located igniter in bottom of oven, followed connecting wires to connection block below oven behind the oven drawer. Disconnected the existing wires. Lifted the burner out of oven to disconnect defective igniter. Screws were fused to the burner. Used vice grips to remove screws requiring the screw holes to be retapped. Bought new screws to replace trashed screws. Installed new igniter to the burner rail then set burner rail back in place. Fished the leads from new igniter back down to connector block. Reinstalled leads. Reinstalled oven door. Tested functionality of oven. Everything worked. Reinstalled metal plates back in oven. Reinstalled cover over connection block behind bottom drawer. Reinstalled drawer. With the exception of fighting with two screws fused to the burner rail it is a very straightforward repair and shouldn’t take much more than 1/2 hour.

Our original oven ignitor went bad. The gas supply won't even open, unless the oven senses the proper voltage / resistance across the ignitor, so that gas won't be flowing without ignition.

PartSelect was very good about providing me with the proper part, after I got the part number from their schematics and wiring diagrams, on the website. The first replacement part actually arrived, broken, from shipping, but when I called them, they immediately reprocessed the order, and sent me a new ignitor, to arrive the following day. I was very satisfied with their professionalism, as I've been in the past with them, as well.

On to the actual repair:

I removed the broiler drawer from the drawer slides, reached under the main oven chamber, unscrewed the two screws holding the ignitor in place, and cut / disconnected the two wires supplying the power to it.

I then put the new ignitor in place and screwed it back to the mount, used the wire nuts that came with the new ignitor to reconnect / splice the wires, and put the broiler drawer back in place.

Oven fired right up!

Entire process took less than 35 minutes. (Likely would've taken a bit longer, but this is the second replacement for the ignitor, since we've owned this oven, so I already had a good idea how to do it. (The first replacement for this particular part was NOT from PartSelect, so we're hopeful this one lasts a while longer than the previous one.)

Thanks, PartSelect!

Disconnected power, I removed the igniter from oven. Measured the resistance (275 ohms) and then the current draw. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU ARE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS SAFELY. I made a harness and connected the old igniter to 110 V ac, Current draw thru the meter settled at 2.7 Amps. Too weak to fully open gas valve. Valve requires 3.2 - 3.6 amps to fully operate properly. New igniter measured 300 ohms and current draw was 3.4 amps. Installed new part and everything works fine. Correct part and good service from this site

The top of the door trim broke causing the side and glass to be loose. Easy fix by removing the broken trim and installing the new one.

Approximately 2 minutes to replace.

Sensor very accessible. Pull off the back panel, disconect the sensor and slide out from back of oven. The original plug was cut off the sensor, as well as the new one to get the proper connector type on the new sensor. Soldered and heat shrink, and presto we had our new sensor ready for install. Install was about 5 minutes which included putting the back panel on the range. Pretty easy and works like new. Total time for project was about 20 minutes.

I searched the item I needed and followed a link to PartSelect.com. I paid a little extra for shipping and literally recieved the part in two days. The part was an absolute perfect fit and my wife and myself have never been happier. Home cooked meals again thanks to the folks at PartSelect.com. It couldn't have been an easier.

Make sure you unplug the oven before you begin. I removed the old igniter. The top wire on the igniter goes to the back of the oven and plugs into a flat blade type connector. Instead of using the twist wire nut I used a flat connector because it was easier to put on and is foolproof. Make sure you cut the plastic insulation off the connector so it does not melt when the oven is in use. I used a wire nut on the other wire and that was it. Very simple and the oven works great again.