21243 (1988) Kenmore Range - Overview

The oven seal replacement was very straight forward. Two screws held the door to the arms coming from the oven. I slid the door up off the arm and moved it to a workbench. This whole process should take about 15 minutes, a little longer if your unit is older and you want to clean as you go. Mine was fairly dirty and I gave it a cleani ... Read more ng as I removed parts. Unscrew all screws on the outer frame of the door, including two small ones on the side. Remove the outer frame and then the glass front and set them aside. A few more screws to remove the glass from the inner door, and even more on the remaining part of the door. You should also remove the screws holding the tiny brackets as well to release the portion that holds the oven seal in place. This is very straightforward, just keep pulling screws out until you can remove the old seal.

Once the old seal is out, insert the new one using the wire embedded in the seal as your guide...the gap in the seal goes to the bottom. Put everything back together and re-install the door. My door hinges were spring loaded and took a little effort to move them down so the door can be slipped on. This is a two person job since the hinges do not lock in place, they spring right back up flush with the oven and you cannot install the door. Re-install the two set screws holding the door to the hinges and you are done!

With the new seal in place, it felt a little puffy and the door did not seem to close as flush as it used to. This makes sense since the seal is new. I kept the door locked (like you would to use the oven cleaning cycle). I even kept it partially locked during cooking.

Frankly, the hardest part was the cleanup of nasty grease and dirt that built up over the past decade or so.

Best of luck!

Parts arrived in three days and it was an easy swap of the hinges but the same problem still existed: the oven door wouldn't close completely, so the oven light stayed on and the convection wouldn't work either unless the door closed all the way. The replacement hinge's springs apparently aren't strong enough to close it and the springs a ... Read more ren't adjustable - which is a design flaw. I did correct the problem though, by using three dollars worth of 1" round magnets, which I placed inside the door: they stay put and are strong enough to pull the door tight.

Unscrewed and pulled the door off and then took the three layers of the door apart in order to clean off the burned-on goop and remove the old and insert the new seal. The last screw was rusted in and the drill stripped it so that it was impossible to remove. I levered the remaining two layers apart, holding them open with screw drive ... Read more rs, and inserted the new seal. Had to be careful with the shaping of the metal core of the seal and the distribution of the sealing fabric. Phew! I saved the screws from each layer separately by taping them to the counter in the order of removal. This made reassembly easier. Getting the door back on was a bit difficult and I needed another pair of hands to help me.