Whirlpool Oven Not Heating Up? Here’s Why (And How to Fix)

Whirlpool produces excellent ovens famous for their advanced cooking technology, sleek design, and user-friendly features. They’re generally reliable whether you’re cooking a pot roast or baking some bread. However, you can occasionally run into issues with them. 

If your Whirlpool oven isn’t heating up, there are a few common causes:

• Faulty igniter
• Faulty bake element
• Faulty broil element
• Blown thermal fuse
• Incorrectly calibrated temperature

In this guide, I’ll go through every reason why your Whirlpool oven isn’t heating up, and explain what you can do to fix it. I’ll also let you in on the easiest way to fix your Whirlpool oven’s heating issue. (Check the bottom of the article.)

Let’s get started!

Faulty Igniter

The igniter controls the oven safety valve and ignites gas in the oven burners to start the flames in a Whirlpool gas oven. If the igniter is faulty, the safety valve doesn’t open, and your oven won’t heat up.

How to Test

1. Turn the oven on.
2. Look at the igniter for 90 seconds.

If your igniter glows but doesn’t light a flame, you need to replace it. You will also need to replace it if it doesn’t glow at all. 

How to Fix

1. Unplug the power cord.
2. Grab a Phillips head screwdriver and unscrew the screws in the bottom rear access panel.
3. Take off the panel and unplug the igniter wire connection. 
4. Open your oven and take out the metal racks. 
5. Remove the lower access panel.
6. Unscrew the mounter threads that keep the burner tube in place to remove it and the igniter from the oven. 
7. Remove the mounting screws that keep the igniter in place.
8. Take out the old igniter and position the new one where the old one was.
9. Fasten it with mounting screws and feed the igniter wire through the hole at the back of the oven.
10. Put the burner tube back in place and screw it in.
11. Replace the lower access panel, oven racks, and rear access panel. 

This video shows you how to replace an igniter in a Whirlpool gas oven:

Faulty Bake Element

The bake element creates the heat needed in an electric Whirlpool oven to bake food. Current runs through the bake element and generates heat from the bottom of the oven.

When the bake element is faulty, the oven won’t be able to get up to sufficient heat.  

How to Test

1. Disconnect the electricity, open the oven, and remove the oven racks.
2. Unscrew the bake element and remove the wires.
3. Check the bake element for signs of burning.
4. Set your ohmmeter to R X1 and put the probes on the electrical terminals. This is to check for continuity, with suitable readings from 19 to 115 ohms. 

We recommend using the AstroAI Digital Multimeter to test for continuity. If your bake element is burned or has no continuity, you will need to replace it. 

How to Fix

1. Unplug the oven from the powerpoint and remove the lower rear access panel. 
2. Unplug the wires connected to the bake element terminals and open the oven.
3. Take out the oven racks and unscrew the bottom panel. 
4. Unscrew the screws that hold the bake element in place and the front mounting bracket.
5. Remove the faulty baking element. 
6. Push the terminals of the new baking element through the holes in the rear panel. 
7. Repeat steps 1-4 in reverse. 

We like this simple video that shows how to replace a baking element in a Whirlpool range oven:

Faulty Broil Element

The broil element works similarly to the bake element, but it sits at the top of the oven. 

If the broil element is faulty or burned out, your Whirlpool oven won’t heat up properly. 

How to Check

1. Check if the broil element turns red when the oven is running. If not, it’s faulty. 
2. Visually scan the broil element for damage or signs of burning. 
3. Test the continuity by setting your multimeter to R X 1 and placing the probes on the broiling element terminals. Readings can be between 19 and 115 ohms. 

If your broil element lacks continuity or is burned out, you must replace it. 

How to Fix

1. Unplug your oven from the powerpoint, unscrew the back panel, and disconnect the broil element wires. 
2. Open the oven, remove the trays, and unthread the screws that fasten the broil element. 
3. Unscrew the front mounting bracket and pull out the broil element. 
4. Insert the terminals of the new broil element into the holes in the rear panel.
5. Follow steps 1-3 in reverse to reassemble your oven. 

This simple video walks you through how to replace a faulty broil element:

Blown Thermal Fuse

The thermal fuse stops the oven from overheating by tripping its fuse. 

If the thermal fuse is faulty, the safety system of the oven will completely stop it from heating. 

How to Check

1. Disconnect the electricity and/or gas and use your owner’s manual to find the location of the thermal fuse. 
2. Remove the oven panel and disconnect the wires from the thermal fuse by pulling on them.
3. Set your multimeter to R X 1 and place the leads on the corresponding sides of the thermal fuse. If the needle doesn’t move, then the fuse is blown. 

How to Fix

1. Disconnect the electricity at the circuit breaker and slide out the oven to gain rear access.
2. Unscrew the outer back panel and inner back panel.
3. Unplug the wires from the old thermal fuse, unscrew the mounting screws, and remove it. 
4. Place the new thermal fuse with the holes matching the mounting screw holes.
5. Fix the thermal fuse with mounting screws.
6. Push the thermal fuse wires into the terminals.
7. Follow steps 1 and 2 in reverse. 

This video shows you how to replace a blown thermal fuse:

Incorrectly Calibrated Temperature

It’s possible that your Whirlpool is heating up, but it is displaying the wrong temperature. 

If your oven is calibrated incorrectly, you will need to recalibrate it manually. 

How to Check

1. Place 8 biscuits from a cookie dough mix, evenly spaced, on a cookie sheet. 
2. Place the oven rack in the middle shelf of the oven and set the recommended temperature from the packet. 
3. Allow the oven to preheat fully until the chime sounds. 
4. Place biscuits on the oven rack and set a timer for the recommended time from the packet. 
5. Remove the biscuits from the oven no earlier than the minimum cooking time and no later than the maximum cooking time. 

If the biscuits are perfectly cooked, then the oven is calibrated correctly. If not, you will need to recalibrate the oven. 

You should consult the owner’s manual of your particular Whirlpool oven model, but this is a general guide for how to recalibrate. 

How to Fix

1. Press on the settings button on the screen of your oven. 
2. Press the calibration button. 
3. Press on the oven button and choose your desired calibration. If your temperature is too low, calibrate up, and vice versa. 
4. Press the start button to save the calibration. 
5. Redo the biscuit test from above to test the calibration. 

The following video shows you how to recalibrate the oven:

Vincent Steele

Vincent is a freelance writer based in Santa Ana, California. When he isn’t writing articles for Temperature Master, he can be found biking or hanging out with his cat, Shelly.