[semiskilled]

My Maytag DG312 (series 01) gas dryer has worked flawlessly for over 20 years. Today I turned it on and the drum rotates but there is no heat. What could be the problem? Something with the gas valve or igniter I presume. What part/parts might need to be replaced? Any tests I can run to determine which part has failed?

[AmpDraw]

Igniter would be a good guess, but you'll have to test it out to know for sure or you could be buying a lot of un needed parts along the way. Do you see the igniter glowing? If the igniter isn't at least glowing your problem is well before the gas valve or coils on the gas valve.

Here's your parts breakdown...

Maytag DG312 Parts List

If its not glowing unplug the igniter and just look at it first, be careful, its very fragile, in many cases it will be obvious just by looking at it. If it looks ok then you'll need a voltage meter to check and see if you're getting power to it or not while running.

Could also be the high limit thermostat on the combustion cone, the Thermal Fuse, the Operating Thermostat...

If the igniter is glowing it can still be bad, or it can be one of the coils on the gas valve, possibly even the gas vale itself

[kayakcrzy]

If you have a ohm meter, unplug the dryer, and take the front off. The kind of hide those screws. The will be about an inch off the floor on the left side and right side. They will be phillips head screws. Then grab the bottom of the front and pull it out towards you at an angle, and the front will drop out. If you look on the flame tube you will see a thermostat mounted on top it will have two wires to it, take 1 off, and put your meter on ohms, and ohm it out. If you get a reading it is good, if not replace it. Then look at the ignitor, sometimes you can see the break in the coil, or a white mark, which will mean a break. I bet it will be one of those two. If it were the gas valve the ignitor coil would come on. Even if it is a gas valve, you can replace the holding coils only, and it will be a ton cheaper. If you need me you can reach me at my website at ApplianceEducator.com Tom