--- title: "Range burner will not light" description: "Maytag range burner will not light — this is the one repair on the whole site where the owner regularly fixes it before we arrive, and we would rather say…" url: "https://maytagmiami.support/symptoms/range-burner-will-not-light/" date_modified: "2026-09-07" Appliance type: "Cooktops, Ranges" --- # Maytag range burner will not light ### Clean it before you call us Turn the burner off and let everything cool. Lift the cap and the ring off — they come away by hand on these — and wash them in hot soapy water, drying them completely before they go back. Look into the small holes around the ring and clear anything in them with a straightened paper clip. Wipe the igniter, the small ceramic post beside the burner, with a dry cloth; it will not spark reliably when it is wet or greasy. Put everything back squarely and try again. If every burner clicks and none lights, check the gas is on at the range and that the tank or supply has not run out — the ignition system is working perfectly and it has nothing to light. ### What it usually means, by the kind of machine One complaint, several machines. This maker still sells a top-load washer with an agitator alongside one without, a front-loader, and a stacked pair, and it sells the same oven as a range and as a wall unit in gas and in electric. The behavior you can describe is identical on all of them; the first hour of the repair is not. A front-load washer has a drain filter the owner can open and a top-loader has nothing to reach from the front, and that single difference decides how the same afternoon goes. - **Gas range** — Lift the cap off the burner and check it is sitting square when it goes back — a cap a millimeter out of place will click all day without lighting. Then look at the small ports around the ring for anything that boiled over into them, and clear them with a straightened paper clip rather than anything that will widen them. - **Electric range** — A coil element that has stopped is generally the element or the receptacle it plugs into, and swapping it with a working element of the same size tells you which in thirty seconds. - **Electric cooktop** — A radiant zone that stays cold with the others working is a wiring or element question. One that heats but will not hold a setting is a control question, and those are two different visits. - **Gas cooktop** — Same as the range top with easier access from above. The caps come off in your hand and go back exactly one way. ### Why we say try it yourself first We would rather tell you how to clear a burner port over the phone than take money for doing it. A cooktop that has had a pot boil over and now will not light on that burner is not broken, and the honest answer is a cap, a paper clip and ten minutes. If it still will not light after that, the problem is genuinely in the ignition or the gas and it is worth a visit — but the order matters, and it saves people a call more often than it costs us one. ### Clicking that will not stop A range that clicks continuously even with every knob off is a different symptom and it does need attention, usually because moisture has got into a switch or the spark module is holding on. It is not dangerous in the way it sounds, but it will not stop by itself and it wears the module out. Turn the range off at the breaker and book it. A cap out of position or a blocked port The most common cause and not a repair at all. Boil-overs run into the ports and set hard. A wet or dirty igniter It clicks weakly or not at all, most noticeably after a spill or a thorough clean. It usually dries out and returns on its own. The spark module or the switch Every burner clicking constantly, or one that never clicks. This is the shared part behind the ignition and it is a real repair. A surface element or its receptacle Electric only. Elements burn through and the receptacle they plug into scorches, and both are inexpensive. The gas supply No gas at the appliance. Worth confirming before anybody is booked, especially where a shut-off was touched during other work. Take the cap off and look Square seating and clear ports. This is the fix most of the time. Try a different burner One dead burner is local. All of them is shared, and that changes who you should call. Swap two electric elements If the trouble follows the element, it is the element. If it stays in the same position, it is the receptacle or the wiring. Listen for the click Clicking means spark. No clicking on one burner points at its switch; no clicking at all points at the module. One burner clicks and never catches, or an element stays cold What it usually means A burner that clicks is getting spark — the gas or the port is the problem One dead burner is that burner; every burner dead is supply or ignition shared An electric element that stays cold is usually the element or its connection, not the control Clean it before you call us Turn the burner off and let everything cool. Lift the cap and the ring off — they come away by hand on these — and wash them in hot soapy water, drying them completely before they go back. Look into the small holes around the ring and clear anything in them with a straightened paper clip. Wipe the igniter, the small ceramic post beside the burner, with a dry cloth; it will not spark reliably when it is wet or greasy. Put everything back squarely and try again. If every burner clicks and none lights, check the gas is on at the range and that the tank or supply has not run out — the ignition system is working perfectly and it has nothing to light. What it usually means, by the kind of machine One complaint, several machines. This maker still sells a top-load washer with an agitator alongside one without, a front-loader, and a stacked pair, and it sells the same oven as a range and as a wall unit in gas and in electric. The behavior you can describe is identical on all of them; the first hour of the repair is not. A front-load washer has a drain filter the owner can open and a top-loader has nothing to reach from the front, and that single difference decides how the same afternoon goes. Gas range — Lift the cap off the burner and check it is sitting square when it goes back — a cap a millimeter out of place will click all day without lighting. Then look at the small ports around the ring for anything that boiled over into them, and clear them with a straightened paper clip rather than anything that will widen them. Electric range — A coil element that has stopped is generally the element or the receptacle it plugs into, and swapping it with a working element of the same size tells you which in thirty seconds. Electric cooktop — A radiant zone that stays cold with the others working is a wiring or element question. One that heats but will not hold a setting is a control question, and those are two different visits. Gas cooktop — Same as the range top with easier access from above. The caps come off in your hand and go back exactly one way. Why we say try it yourself first We would rather tell you how to clear a burner port over the phone than take money for doing it. A cooktop that has had a pot boil over and now will not light on that burner is not broken, and the honest answer is a cap, a paper clip and ten minutes. If it still will not light after that, the problem is genuinely in the ignition or the gas and it is worth a visit — but the order matters, and it saves people a call more often than it costs us one. Clicking that will not stop A range that clicks continuously even with every knob off is a different symptom and it does need attention, usually because moisture has got into a switch or the spark module is holding on. It is not dangerous in the way it sounds, but it will not stop by itself and it wears the module out. Turn the range off at the breaker and book it. ### It lights if I hold a match to it. Then the gas and the burner are both fine and the problem is entirely in the ignition. That is genuinely useful to know and it makes the visit shorter. ### It started right after I cleaned the cooktop. Almost certainly a wet igniter or a cap that went back a fraction out of place. Give it a few hours to dry and reseat the cap carefully before booking anything. ### Two burners went at once. That points at something shared rather than at two coincidences — the module on a gas top, or one side of the supply on an electric one. Worth a visit rather than a paper clip. --- **[Read full article: Range burner will not light](https://maytagmiami.support/symptoms/range-burner-will-not-light/)**