[strawberry921]

I recently bought a Maytag Performa dryer from someone, and although it works fine on 'Timed Dry' mode, it doesn't dry the clothes fully on 'Intellidry' Mode. (I got hosed on the deal, but that's a different story entirely. Oh, well. You live, you learn, right? Anyway...) It heats and tumbles in any mode; that's not the problem. The way I understand it, it's not sensing the moisture, so I'm guessing it thinks the clothes are already dry and the knob moves too fast. The clothes come out damp.

I cleaned out the lint filter and area around it. Checked the airflow at the exhaust flap outside, and it seems to be alright. Then I unscrewed the contacts (metal strips) (edit: sensor assembly) from inside the drum and there was quite a bit of lint in there, so I cleaned it out as well. The ground wire connector looked a little oxidized (?), so I replaced it, hoping this was the problem. It wasn't.

My question is this: What other things could be culprits besides the actual sensor? Judging from the look of things once I removed the cabinet, it appears it had been sitting for a bit. I don't even know where to begin. I'm simply a woman that's kind of handy, but I don't have any experience with dryers.

Any help would be tremendously appreciated. The Model number is MDG3500BWW.

[strawberry921]

After doing some more research, is there even an actual sensor? Looks like there might be a timer that kicks on when the heating element is off and stops when it's on. Could that be it?

Thanks again.

[Gene]

Perform the troubleshooting as described in the Service manual.

Possible the problem is a bad sensor (#11 on the diagram) or a bad timer. If you need the correct part number for the timer then post the serial number of the dryer.

Here are the breakdown diagrams and Replacement parts for MAYTAG MDG3500BWW | AppliancePartsPros.com

Gene.

[strawberry921]

That is a very good resource! The timer is working, so it looks like it may be the sensor, although there are no electrical parts on it and the metal looks intact. I'll try cleaning it again (but with rubbing alcohol this time), then replacing it if that doesn't solve the problem, since it's not terribly expensive. While I'm at it, I'll replace the sensor wire as well just in case it's not getting a good connection.

I'll let you know if it remedies the problem. Thanks so much!