Kenmore range burner ignitors not working

Eagle One

I have a Kenmore Gas Range (Model # 665.75776890). One of the range top burners had an ignitor that was not working consistently for a long time and probably ever since we moved into our house about ten years ago. I put off that 'repair' for a while since you could just light a match to the burner to get it going and the other three were working fine. Eventually, I got around to looking at the burner closely and checked for a faulty ignitor and wiring. It seemed like everything was fine but I ended up breaking the ceramic ignitor a bit when I was trying to clean it so I decided to lay down the $28 to get a new one since I thought that would remedy the problem anyway. Well, it didn't. There was no change in performance with the new ignitor in there.

After removing the burner caps, I can see 3 of the 4 burners will spark when ANY of the dials are moved to 'Lite'. The front right one, which is the one with the new replacement ignitor will only spark about once or so for every 4 or 5 times the others spark (if at all). So, it IS sparking but not enough to light the gas. Additionally, I have noticed that occasionally the other 3 supposedly good burners will not always light or will be delayed in their lighting.

I have a feeling that the module in the back of the range that controls the sparking for the ignitors may be faulty. Would that be the most likely culprit? Is there anything else that could be causing the problem? Does anyone know the part number for that spark module?

gregzoll

Most likely The Spark Module http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDeta...r=665.75776890 It is $95 through Repair Clinic.

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Eagle One

Wow, that is more expensive than I thought and is a lot to put down on a hunch. I was willing to guess on the ignitor for $28 but not sure about this. Is there anyway to test the spark module to be more sure that is the problem?

Protocol.

If you've replaced the wiring and the ignitor, then the spark module is most likely the cause as gregzoll said.

DangerMouse

Check the "cap". Ours only works in one position.

DM

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hardwareman

probably ignitor but you also must remember if the surface where the ignitor arcs to needs to be clean. No rust, no grease, if there is anything there it will not get a good ground and will produce no spark or little spark

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Eagle One

Ok, I just tried replacing the spark module last night and there was NO CHANGE. Three of the four burners spark when I turn any of the dials to LITE but the front right burner is not. I also tried a new ignitor for that burner, the ignitor area is clean but still no sparking.

What could the problem be now?

gregzoll

Circuit board would be the next thing to check.

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Eagle One

Is there something with the burner dial on the front that should be checked?

gregzoll

No. The problem lies with the first part, or the circuit board. For all of the tume and effort, you may want ro have a appliance repair company come and narrow down tro exact problem, then go from there.

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hardwareman

burner is not providing a good enough path for ground. take the whole burner assembly off and clean maybe even rough up the contact surface a little bit with sandpaper. if the other burners spark when you turn that one on you know the switch is good, you replaced the ignitor and the module, there is nothing else, it has to be the grounding part of it.

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Yoyizit

FWIW

I decided to lay down the $28 to get a new one since I thought that would remedy the problem anyway.
>Before spending a dime, ask yourself "Is there any way possible that this is not the problem?" You'd be surprised what answers you come up with when you play the Devil's Advocate to your own ideas.

I can see 3 of the 4 burners will spark when ANY of the dials are moved to 'Lite'.
>So if four burners have some common way of making sparks, and at least one burner makes sparks, that common way is almost certainly not the problem.

The front right one, which is the one with the new replacement ignitor will only spark about once or so for every 4 or 5 times the others spark (if at all).
>This voltage should jump over most bad connections but something here does seem to be flaky.

I have a feeling that the module in the back of the range that controls the sparking for the ignitors may be faulty.
>Can you clearly articulate the basis for this feeling? This exercise may prevent you from going down wrong paths.

Eagle One

Well, the burner is now fixed. It wasn't the spark module. The ignitor on the burner that wasn't lighting was shorting to metal below the hole in the stove top where the ignitor fits. The insulation on the wiring was not covering the wire enough even though that was new. Looking at everything more closely there, I realized that I had installed the new ignitor wrong. It was sitting slightly too high at the burner so when I put the burner cap on, it was too close to the top of the ignitor and didn't allow for sufficient air to create a spark. I corrected everything there, put the old spark module back on and will get my money back on the new on that I bought so no loss there.

Thanks to everyone for the comments! That helped steer me in the right direction.

DangerMouse

Glad you figured it out, and thanks for letting us know what the problem was!

DM

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DangerMouse

hmmmmmm

DM

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