On Monday I turned the oven on 375 degrees, five minutes later it was burning hot and locked, with the error code E3-F3 which was a sensor error. Since I could not get the oven to turn off, I flipped the breaker to discontinue power to the oven. I flipped it back on about 20 minutes later to see if that would do anything. At that point, the readout said "cool" and "locked" like it does at the end of a self-cleaning session. About five minutes later it once again had the E3-F3 error code and was locked and the oven coils on the top were bright red and the appliance was very hot to the touch. I flipped the breaker switch again to turn it off. It's been off now for over a day. I just flipped the breaker to return the electricity and it finally unlocked the door and said that the self cleaning was done. I am nervous to try baking something for fear that it will happen again, but I guess that is the only way to see if there is still a problem. I doubt that ovens heal themselves though! Without even turning the oven on it heated back up to very hot and would not turn off. I once again had to flip the breaker switch. Remember, I did not turn my oven on to self-clean, I turned it on to bake cookies.

From your website, I have concluded that I need a new oven temperature sensor - RTD. I found the part, but how do I actually find where to replace it on my oven? I have looked through my use and care guide that came with it, but of course it doesn't show any technical info. My husband replaced the oven door locking motor in May of 2004, so I think that he can handle this if I can just figure out where it goes. Can you give me a website where I can find out that info or any other help? Thanks. I'm just trying to save a little money, but I guess who isn't these days.

Thanks for the information. I'm amazed at this website--it's great! Hopefully this will be resolved soon!

How do I locate the membrane switch ribbon? I finally gave up and called a repairman and he said that it was my oven control board. Now I'm trying to decide if it's worth another $290 to replace that on a 7 year-old oven. Apparently from what he said the control boards are not able to withstand the 8-900 degree temperatures when self-cleaning. Is this a typical problem? If I replace the control board, will I be able to self-clean again? This makes me very apprehensive. Is there an oven out there for which this is not a problem? I can't afford disposable major appliances. Any suggestions. It's cheaper to replace this board than purchase a new range, but is it the wise thing to do in the long run? Thanks! I still really want to bake some cookies!

This cooling fan--is it built into the oven? If so, where is it? I don't know that I've noticed it when I've removed the back of the oven. How do I tell if it is still working? So you're saying that to replace the control board after 7 years is not uncommon? Wow! I replaced the locking motor on the oven door after two years and now this. I will be in it over $500 in repairs by the time all is said and done. And then I have a range that's 7 years old with racks that the finish has been ruined because they were in the oven when it turned on. This is really frustrating. I'd prefer to have a new range, but that would set me back even more, so... If you've got any ideas, I'm all ears.

I need your help. We had the same problem with the same Kenmore range. We had brownies in the oven at the time. The brownies caught on fire and ruin the range. Sear refuses to acknowledge that this is happened before and will not replace our range.

Did you ever talk to Sears about this problem? We need to let Sears know that this model needs to be re-called and replaced. If you feel the same please email me at hfreeman55@yahoo.com.

hfreeman