Whirlpool range is 3 years old. Wife was using the range and wanted to use the oven. Pressed Bake, then Start, then the Increase (+) button. Got back several beeps in return, the clock set itself to 11:32 and started counting down backwards in minutes. Pressed Cancel/Off but didn't change anything on the readout. Place hand inside oven, no heat is building up. Clock continues to countdown. Press Bake again. Pressing the bake button now turns the oven light on and off. Pressing the oven light switch turns oven light on/off.

This oven has Timed Cook function and thinking it was stuck in that mode because the clock was counting down, I pressed Start Time, then Cancel/Off. Nothing happens.

Unplug the unit for 5 minutes. Plug it back in and notice the clock is once again set at 11:32. Tried to set the clock and discover that pressing the Increase (+) button does nothing, numbers won't go up, but pressing Decrease (-) button works. Numbers will only go down. Pressing the Broil button shows that the Warm Cycle is activated. Cancel/Off turns that off.

The burners are still working, so I figure I've got 220 volts. Still, I flip the circuit breaker off/on. Clock is back to 11:32 again. Weird.

I unplug the unit and remove the back panel, remove the connectors and unscrew the control panel. I use some steel wool on the male connectors of the control panel, hook everything back in and plug back into power. Clock shows 11:32 again. <Sigh>

I decide to access the diagnostic fault codes. This is done by pressing Cancel > Cancel > Start. "Test" is now seen in the control panel readout. According to the technician's service booklet that was taped to the back of the unit, I'm supposed to access the fault codes by pressing the Increase (+) button, but since pressing that doesn't work, I get nothing. Pressing the Decrease (-) button yields these codes (in sequence):

1
1 98
GOOD
026E
5105 (or could be S10S, I suppose)
U - 00

Can anyone tell me what these codes mean?

I suspect the control panel is defective, $294:

Whirlpool W10476353 Electronic Control Board - AppliancePartsPros.com

but hesitate buying it because I'm not certain. Also, the range has a defective front left burner (the big one) and that costs $150. So just to get this thing working properly is likely $450. If I have a tech come out and look at it, that's another $125. Might as well simply buy a new range!

Does anyone know a solution to my problem? One that doesn't cost a whole lot?

If I look at the parts diagram at the link the component is identified as part #12, yet there is no part #12 description, nor is it available to purchase.

Got it off the Whirlpool support website.

I believe the difference in model numbers is the difference between stainless steel finish or white.

I was afraid of that.

I know it is a bad element. The male connector on the heating element and the female connector on the wiring harness both fried. Physically burnt away metal. I have a photo if you'd like to see it.

So my quandry is to spend the $450 to repair the range and hope that indeed fixes it and nothing else goes wrong with it in the future. Or else buy a new range.