How to Check a 4-Wire GE Gas Dryer Thermostat

Shut off the gas valve to the dryer and unplug the electrical cord from the wall outlet. The electrical cord powers the igniter and other wired systems in the appliance.

Slide a putty knife into the crevice on the left corner where the top of the GE dryer meets the front panel. Pull down on the knife handle to pry up the corner. Repeat for the right corner. This releases the clips holding the front panel to the top, which can now be raised toward the wall. You can now see the top of the dryer drum. The thermostat is behind the drum near the right side when facing the front of the appliance.

Remove the two wires on one side of the thermostat by pulling on the slip-on connectors. Hold the wires to the interior of the cabinet with a piece of tape, which prevents them from falling into the dryer.

Set a multimeter to test for ohms and clip the two wands on the end to the two contacts on the thermostat. Depedning on your GE model, a reading of 5,000 to 10,000 ohms is within the normal range. If that side of the thermostat is defective, the meter will display zero.

Re-attach the two wires to the thermostat terminals.

Slide off the two wires on the opposite set of thermostat terminals. Test the terminals with the multimeter. If either set of terminals returns a zero reading on your multimeter, the entire thermostat must be replaced.