Whirlpool Dryer Switch Replacement

Matching the symptom to the right switch first keeps you from buying the wrong inexpensive part.

Push-to-start switch#

Behind the Start button, this is a momentary switch — you press it, it sends a start pulse to the motor relay, and once the motor spins up its own centrifugal switch takes over and the start switch drops out of the circuit. It's failing when nothing at all happens on a press, when you have to jab it hard or at an angle, or when it works only sometimes. Parts: WP3395385 or WP3977456.

Door switch#

The interlock that blocks the drum with the door open. Its symptoms overlap with the start switch, but the difference is audible: a bad door switch often lets the board click or the motor twitch, while a bad start switch gives you nothing. Part WP3406107.

Temperature selector switch (mechanical models)#

On knob or button consoles, this switch routes power through different heater paths — High ties both heating coils in parallel for full power, Medium and Low cut it back, and Air Fluff bypasses the heater entirely. It's failing when one setting heats and another doesn't, when every heated setting is cold but Air Fluff still tumbles, or when the selector clicks but nothing changes. Part WP3399639 (model-specific). Note: touchpad dryers have no mechanical temperature switch — the board handles heat through its relay.

Testing any of them#

1. Unplug the dryer — it's a 240V circuit, so this is non-negotiable.
2. Reach the switch (console for start and temp, front panel for door).
3. Disconnect its wires.
4. Set a multimeter to continuity.
5. Actuate it and watch the reading change.

The start switch should show continuity only while held; the door switch only with its plunger pressed; the temperature switch connects different terminal pairs per position, so check it against the tech-sheet wiring diagram.

Replacing the start switch#

Unplug the dryer, remove the console screws (2–3 at the rear) and tip the console, and the start switch is right behind the Start button in a bracket or clip. Photograph and disconnect its 2 wire terminals, release the switch, fit the new one, reconnect to the same terminals, and rebuild the console.

Replacing the temperature switch#

Same console access, but the temperature switch carries 4–6 terminals — photograph them, then move each wire one at a time from the old switch to the matching terminal on the new one so nothing gets crossed. Remove the old mount, install the new switch, double-check the terminals, and reassemble.

Parts and cost#

Two traps to avoid#

If the dryer runs only while you hold Start and quits the instant you release, that's not the start switch — it's the motor's internal centrifugal switch, which means a motor problem. And don't order a temperature switch for a touchpad dryer; there isn't one, so a heat-selection fault there is the control board or its relay. For a quick confirmation you can briefly touch the two start-switch wires together — if the dryer starts, the switch was bad — but never run it permanently bypassed. These switches are simple and long-lived (start switches often 10–20+ years, temperature selectors 12–20, door switches 8–12), failing mostly to contact corrosion in the damp dryer.

Whirlpool dryer repair — our technicians handle this regularly and arrive with the right parts, across Sacramento and the Bay Area. Get started